A/N: Truephan here: Well, well. Two weeks just flew by, didn't they? And this New Year is rapidly aging….Hmmm… But, hey, speaking of flying, were y'all wondering what was happening with the Specter Speeder and its rescue team? Well, how about that? So did pearl and I! And guess what? After all that intensity happening to the hybrids, we felt it was time to let things cool off and tune in with that rescue team. Did we say cool off? Well, I guess it all depends on your perspective… And, oh, before we forget, we like to thank you all for all of your reviews so far. They have been terrific! We would also want to make sure we thanked 'Wooooww' and 'Liz' right now because we couldn't send you a personal one since neither of you have an email listed... Anyhoo, pearl? Any other thoughts?
Pearl: As Truephan said, we're back with a new chapter and with Team Phantom and Skulker… Heh-heh. We're having so much fun forcing them to work together… But, I won't keep you from reading onward! Enjoy and see ya at the bottom!
Disclaimer: We do not own Danny Phantom. But the OCs are our own.
Chapter 13: Toward the Realm Beyond Time
Now in his new suit, courtesy of his employer, Skulker had arrived at Fenton Works in no time. But when he had, Danny's friends and sister, who had been gathering as much ghost weapons and equipment as they could think of, plus the tools they thought they would need to fix the Specter Speeder, had instantly paused in what they were doing at the sight of the newly improved hunter.
Skulker had been almost tempted to ask them if they liked his new outfit, but refrained from doing so. After all, he didn't need their approval, nor did he care what they thought. Still, he had shown them a few of its new features that he believed would be useful against 'level nine' ghosts. Skulker wasn't sure why his previous suit had registered Iluzisto at a 'level seven', but the hunter believed in being prepared. And if the books and residue left behind by that creature's weapon said that the spirit was a 'level nine' then the hunter was going to prepare for that.
However, the Ghost Child's helpers' reaction to his new suit was odd. And he couldn't help but wonder why the two younger humans had glanced warily at each other at the sight of it…
Of course, the hunter had no idea Sam and Tucker recognized it as the one the 'future Skulker' had worn—minus Technus as his operating system. Jazz, on the other hand, had just frowned at the hunter's upgrade, disliking the fact that when this was all over, Skulker was going to have even more weapons and technology to harm her brother.
Ultimately though, the teens felt that it would certainly be of help to them in their current quest, especially when it was equipped to handle 'level nine' ghosts. They didn't know if his new equipment would be as effective on spirits—which was what they knew Iluzisto was—but Skulker had assured them it would at least keep their dangerous foe at bay.
Once over their surprise with the hunter's upgrade, the teens all went back to work, including Skulker who had moved right away to the Specter Speeder to begin its repairs.
Tucker had soon joined him, and also helped him out as much as he could since the boy's expertise, of course, didn't include being a 'ship mechanic'. Still, he was a fast learner and what he had to suggest during the repair was often time the right choice—not that Skulker would admit that. But thanks to their teamwork, they got the speeder in working order in under an hour.
However, in all that time, all the parties—especially Tucker and Skulker—had filled in all the others on all the details of each of their experiences with Iluzisto while working on repairing the Specter Speeder. Or, in the girls case, finishing gathering and prepping the ghost equipment they believed could be useful for their journey.
After hearing from Tucker and Skulker about how hideous and vicious the illusionist spirit had been, Sam and Jazz had muffed their horrified gasps about their dangerous foe. They were also secretly glad that they hadn't had as much contact with him as the males had—or had the chance to look at him up close and personal.
They were just finishing up repairing the console, during which the girls had joined in as 'assistants', when they began to talk about Iluzisto's odd powers…
"I didn't say that Iluzisto wasn't real, I said that somehow he was able to create fake things," Sam said, handing Tucker a wretch.
"I-I agree with you, Sam," Tucker replied, as he tugged on the stubborn nut on the badly damage console of the Specter Speeder. "Those bats suddenly disappeared when I thought they were going to eat me alive."
Skulker reached over and grabbed the wretch from Tucker, easily loosening the nut. Handing the wretch back to the whelp, he then growled, "Well, they really almost ate me after-alive! My old suit still has lots of scratches and dents to prove it!"
"Well, then maybe it could be real for ghosts," Jazz piped in as she handed Skulker a welding kit.
The Ghost Hunter shook his head, refusing the kit. But as he whipped out his own large ang glowing welder from within his armor, he replied, "I also highly suspected that as well. What I have yet to comprehend, however, is why the volcano was not real for me? If Iluzisto's illusions can indeed harm ghosts, as we believe, then I, at least, should have collided with that illusion of the volcano. Instead, by the time I looked at it, I could not even react before we plowed right through it and ended up in empty space—unharmed."
"He has a point," Tucker agreed, and all four of them paused again, trying to make sense of it all.
"Wait a minute," Jazz finally said and the other three stopped what they were doing and looked at her. "When we first went out to help you, Skulker, you said you were fighting some kind of big squid. But we didn't see anything…"
"Are you saying that I was making that all up, whelp? My eyes still sting a little from its ink!" Skulker challenged, tensing and coming to a stand, his stance now ready for attack.
Not at all frightened by his apparent threat, Jazz frowned instead in irritation and impatiently replied, "No! I didn't say that! What I mean is that the volcano might not have been real unless you were seeing it yourself and then thought it might be real."
"Well, I certainly thought those bats were very real and yet they didn't hurt me," Tucker replied, struggling with another tough nut.
"Me, too, Jazz," Sam added. "I shot them several times and then when that didn't work, I tried to fight them off with my fists, but then, suddenly, they weren't there anymore. They vanished."
"But that's my point," the red-hair girl insisted. "Like you said, Sam, you, Tucker and I never got hurt by those things, but Skulker did. So, maybe that ghost's power really works only on ghosts, not humans, like Skulker said."
"That still does not explain the 'volcano' thing," Skulker challenged. "And Iluzisto is not a ghost, he is a spirit, human," he corrected her before resuming his work on the Speeder.
Jazz scowled, but before she could say anything, Sam's face brightened at her next thought. "Or, maybe it does!"
Again, her three companions stopped their work and now looked at the raven-haired girl.
"Maybe it works on ghosts only if ghosts want it to! Maybe the 'volcano thing' didn't work on Skulker because he didn't have time to react and therefore didn't believe it was real. Think about it: this ghost—spirit—obviously has the power to make illusions. Well, what if they don't become real for ghosts unless they believe it?"
Skulker and the teens fell to silence again.
Then the Ghost Hunter said, "That is a good theory. At least, it does explain everything. But, of course, we cannot be certain. Also, I have heard many rumors about Iluzisto, but that was not one of them."
"Okay, then," Tucker concluded as he unloosened another nut, "But, we all agree that this 'Iluzisto' dude can play tricks on all of us, even if we're not certain whether they are real for ghosts only if they want it to be, right?"
The other three nodded, but then Sam said with a little excitement in her voice, "But if our guess is right and Iluzisto is able to trick other ghosts and make things even real for them, then that might explain how that spirit captured Danny."
"And Plasmius," Skulker added.
"Sounds plausible," Jazz agreed with a light shrug.
Sam handed a tool to Tucker before saying, "I think it's the most logical conclusion. "But at least if we come upon that spirit again—"
"Which I hope we won't," Tucker interrupted.
Sam frowned in slight irritation and insisted, "I'm sure we all hope we don't either, Tucker, but it's very possible that we might —so, we'll have to keep that in mind so that he won't have the advantage over us like he wants if it should happen again."
"Good point," Skulker replied with an amused and satisfied grin. "You three just might make decent prey one day!"
The three teens smiled weakly at his back-handed comment, but said nothing, and went back to fixing the Speeder, spending the rest of the time in silence.
However, when it came time to finally depart, Jazz insisted on checking, double-checking, and re-checking her self-made checklists to make sure they had everything for their precarious trip.
Needless to say, after an hour of this, everyone was already testy and getting impatient with Danny's sister…
"Okay, since we're going to be gone for at least two to three days by Tucker's estimate and work, then—," Jazz began to say to her three companions before she was interrupted.
"And by my estimate and work, too, human!" Skulker objected, crossing his arms with a defiant and indignant huff. "After all, the technology-savvy pup here did need my help with that; and do not forget that I was the one who modified this flying machine to get it to run as quickly and efficiently as possible."
Tucker was about to object himself to remind the hunter that it was the both of them that had fixed the speeder when Jazz quickly butted in.
"Okay, by your and Tucker's estimate and work! Is that better for you?" she asked sarcastically. But not giving the ghost a chance to answer, she rolled her eyes and added just as annoyed, "I swear, if I didn't know any better, I'd say that, for a high and mighty hunter, you were way too sensitive about things."
"I am not getting emotional over this, if that is what you are implying, human!" Skulker growled, this time putting his fisted hands on his hips. "As a matter of fact, emotions are for the weak, which I am not! I am, however, indeed a high and mighty hunter, and being sensitive to my entire surroundings is what makes me the greatest of my craft!"
"Okay! Okay! You've made your point!" Jazz said with a little exasperation. "Now, can we get back to our plans?—And notice that I said 'our'?"
Skulker ignored her sarcasm and merely decreed, "Now that we hav cleared that matter up, of course! But make haste, you have taken enough time with all your… proceedings as it is!"
Sam rolled her eyes before looking at Jazz, waiting for anything of significance that the red-head would want to say.
Jazz continued after a deep calming sigh, "Like I was saying, since we're going to be gone for a while, then I wanted to make sure that everyone is sure that we have everything we need… So, do we?"
This time, all three of her companions looked at her in disbelief, before frowning.
Not again!
Finally, Sam dryly said, "That's about the millionth time you've asked that, Jazz! We're about as ready as we'll ever be!"
"Yeah, Jazz," Tucker said, finally able to object to something. "You've only made us check and re-check everything to the point that now I think I know things about the Specter Speeder that I never wanted to know about! I might get nightmares about that, you know!"
"I, too, agree, this time," Skulker echoed firmly, crossing his arms again in exasperation. "Your obsessive repetitiveness is beginning to disturb me, whelp. I would know about that, since I am a ghost!"
But not only was the Ghost Boy's sister troubling him, she was also quickly becoming the annoying little helper again!
Jazz rolled her eyes at their lackluster response and went right back once more to doing a quick once-over at her well check-marked checklist. She walked inside the speeder and began to go through the storage units, checking off things on her list as she went. But then when she came back out, she proceeded to walk around the speeder and check even more things off…
At first, her three companions remained silent, watching her as she did what seemed to be her millionth inspection.
However, after a few more minutes of tense silence on at least Sam, Tucker and Skulker's parts, Skulker couldn't take it any longer. At last, his eyes and hair flared and he growled at Jazz, "Human? I am about to tie you up and drag you into that flying contraption if you do not put down those papers and that writing utensil so that we can leave!"
Jazz was startled from concentrating on her checklist and looked at the ghost with widened eyes. But then, she quickly composed herself and said with a terse voice, "And I thought hunters were supposed to be the most patient people in the world!"
"They are—when they're hunting—not waiting to start hunting—and most certainly not when waiting for some human pup to finish her checklist so they can start hunting!" Skulker spat back, just before he glowered at her.
Jazz, in turn, huffed and rolled her eyes.
Sam and Tucker tried to stifle their amused snickers at the scene in front of them. The red-head and the hunter almost looked like Danny and Jazz did when the siblings were arguing. Almost. Still, they were with Skulker on this one—just like they would probably be with Danny if he had a similar argument with his sometimes over-bearing sister.
But then Sam impatiently said, "We could spend the rest of today and tomorrow re-checking everything and still miss something, Jazz. Let's just get going, okay? We can discuss all about our final plans on the way so that we can be as ready as we can be once we get to our designation; that is, if we know exactly where that is…"
"Hey, I know!" Skulker and Tucker objected at the same time, both feeling very insulted by her remark.
"I mean, we're not sure exactly where the entrance of the Observants' realm is," she corrected herself throwing a slight scowl to the males.
"That's better!" the two males smugly replied, reflexively closing their eyes in self-satisfaction, and not at all bothered this time that they had accidentally agreed with her.
But then Skulker added just as smugly, "Of course, I am certain I will have absolutely no trouble finding said entrance. But…," The hunter shot Danny's sister a pointed look. "If you are all done with this droning nonsense then I say we leave."
'Team Phantom' rolled their eyes but agreed nonetheless. But just as Skulker took a step towards the speeder to board it, followed by the two younger teenagers, they were delayed yet again…
"Wait. Uh, guys?" Jazz began.
Danny's friends and the hunter reluctantly looked at her—though the latter also looked ready to pull out one of his cannons and blast the older girl for keeping them from leaving yet again.
Jazz frowned at the looks on the younger kids' and ghost's faces, but still said, " I know we're all very uptight about everything, but can we just try to muddle through everything and get along until we get back to normal?"
All three of her companions arched up one of their eyebrows in an 'are-you-kidding-when-are-things-ever-normal?' kind of look.
When the older teen saw that response, she sheepishly added, "Okay, near normal, anyhow. But you know what I mean, right?"
This time, Sam and Tucker nodded and weakly smiled.
Skulker, on the other hand, did not offer any other comment—or objection. Instead, he snorted a tiny bit before turning back around and finally walking off to board the speeder.
Jazz, in turn, grinned back, before following her brother's friends to the speeder as well. Once boarded, the older girl placed her checklist down and headed for the pilot's seat, which had already been in their plans.
The three humans had already agreed on a rotation schedule of duties for the trip. But it hadn't included Skulker because the ghost was adamant about refusing to pilot the Speeder, or to follow any human regiment for that matter. So, the human trio took that as a definite hint to do it themselves. For a two-hour shift apiece, one of them would be the pilot, the other would be the navigator, and the last would be getting rest.
They had decided that Jazz would be the one behind the controls for the first leg of this trip, with Sam as the navigator. And Tucker would be 'off duty', which for him would include snoozing or messing around with his PDA.
Once settled at the controls, Jazz turned and asked, "Tucker, are the coordinates…"
"Yes!" all three of her companions instantly said in exasperation. They had already anticipated her re-checking if the coordinates to where they thought the entrance to Observants' realm was had been put into the Speeder's computer.
"GEEZ! Okay! I'm pushing the 'go' button now! Happy?" she sarcastically added before activating the command.
And they were finally on their way…
As the Ghost Zone's purple, green and black surroundings flew past them, the three humans and the ghost settled down; but their thoughts had returned to their conversation while repairing the Speeder. Now that the kids had a theory of how Danny and Plasmius had been captured, they knew that they needed to work on a plan to get them out before they got to the entrance of the Observants' realm—if Tucker and Skulker's estimate was correct.
Exactly that was still bothering them. Although they knew about the realm's having some kind of entrance, the problem was that there seemed to be an endless supply of false rumors about where exactly that entrance was.
In fact, the Observants had generated those false pieces of information themselves in order to protect the entry into their own unique—and timeless—dimension. And it had worked, since it was very rare for any ghost to stumble upon it from the 'in time' side of the Ghost Zone; or for any 'unauthorized personnel' to accidentally discover it on the 'outside time' side.
But in his many hunter travels throughout the Ghost Zone in search of unique creatures, Skulker had narrowed down that possible entrance to the Realm Beyond Time to, really, the most obvious choice—the Forbidden Region, which was, coincidentally, also the furthermost one!
Tucker had also cross-referenced the possibilities based on the Ghost Zone Global Position System—or GZGPS, for short—program in his PDA, and had to agree with the cyber ghost that his conclusions had made the most sense.
And it was to those coordinates that the humans and the Ghost Hunter were headed.
So as they traveled, they talked about all sorts of scenarios on what they were going to do once they found the entrance. None of the plans were great, but they all unanimously agreed that no matter what they finally came up with, they were going to get Danny and Vlad out of that realm. Besides, since they had lots of time until they got there, they knew that they would eventually come up with that plan.
Ultimately, though, since none of them had ever been to the Realm Beyond Time, there was only so much they could plan. So the fact of the matter was that 'the most likely scenario' was that they would have to make up their 'rescue plan' as they went along…
Luckily, the first part of their trip was a relatively calm one after they had their fill of battering around a few preliminary plans. The teens had already shifted pilots twice by this time and the teens' system of duties was working very well so far.
Skulker, too, though not admitting it to the humans, was also doing his part. Though he had been silent since their earlier conversations, he had kept his eyes peeled to their surroundings, checking them to confirm as to where they were—and for any signs of trouble.
When it was about noon in the Real World, and shortly after the teens had had their simple lunches, Skulker finally said something. And when he did, Jazz, Sam and Tucker gave him their immediate attention.
"This area that we are approaching is very dangerous. I think it wise if we have everyone on alert," he said, tensing and pulling himself up to a more erect position.
The three humans didn't need to be told twice and immediately sat up, anxiously scanning the area of the Specter Speeder.
All seemed well for the next few minutes and everyone unconsciously relaxed.
Suddenly, Skulker yelled, "Look out!"
Fortunately, Tucker was at the wheel and he also had seen what the ghost warned him about almost at the same time. He reacted instantly; and just as quickly, deftly jerked the Speeder to a hard left and then to a hard right, just missing the large herd of Pegasus ghosts that had suddenly flew into their path from below the ship.
Fortunately, all the parties except Skulker had been strapped into their seats. But Skulker had avoided any mishaps by floating upward off the floor of the speeder, riding the violent shifts like a surfer on a wave.
Sam and Jazz stared back at the herd as it became rapidly smaller in the distance. Their presence hadn't even startled the ghostly group of winged horses as it continued on its calm, graceful way.
"That wasn't too bad," Tucker said with a smirk, as the Speeder auto-corrected its course.
"Don't say that!" Jazz objected with a gasp.
"Yeah, Tucker, we don't want any bad karma here. We've already had enough of it so far!" Sam dryly added, as she continued to scan the horizon. But then she jolted at the next sight. "Too late!" she yelled as she pointed desperately just to the left of the ship.
A very large herd of giant ghost bulls was headed right their way! But it wasn't just any herd of bulls…it was a stampeding herd! And it was not only stampeding, their flight path was wide and extremely erratic! There was simply no way of knowing where it would go. And that was definitely not good for them!
"Haven't they heard that bulls don't run except in Pamplona and in the summer?" Tucker shouted in exasperation as he slowed the Speeder. There seemed to be no escape and it looked as if their ship would be crushed within the next few moments!
So much for the Speeder being fixed!
Suddenly, the ship began to shake at the sound of the loud pounding of ghost hooves upon an unseen ground, echoing throughout the atmosphere. The teens reflexively cringed as the same din pounded their ears.
"Can't you make us and the whole ship intangible, Skulker?" Jazz desperately yelled out.
But before the ghost hunter could answer her, Tucker piped in, "Wait a minute! We're human and the Speeder is a 'Human-World item'! We should be able to just phase right through these beasts!"
"No, that will not work this time, pup!" Skulker argued back.
But then, Sam had an unexpected thought. She yelled, "We don't have time to argue! Quick, Tucker, remember what you did when we were in that fish's belly? Do you think it might work again?"
"It can't hurt! And hopefully, we'll avoid getting hurt, too!" he cried as he immediately stopped the ship and hooked up his PDA to the console. In no time, he executed the commands and an electrical field instantly surrounded the exterior of the ship. But this time, it was different than the one he had produced inside the giant angler fish. It expanded more outward from the ship, like it had several layers of electrical bands, as if the Speeder was surrounded by concentric electrical springs.
And it wasn't a moment too soon, because in the next instant, the lead bull was zapped by the outermost band of the Speeder's electrical field. The ghostly beast roared in anger at the sting and pulled himself partially upward on his hind legs, splaying his front hooves as he did. But this time, when his forelegs came down, his hooves struck the Speeder, plowing through multiple bands of electricity as he did. And when he did, both the beast and the ship felt their respective jolts! The beast snorted in more anger at the intense electrical bite and the Speeder was pushed backward from the blow.
But instead of charging the ship in protest, the lead bull roared his command and the other bulls took flight right behind him. They all lowed from the electrical jolts emanating from the Speeder as the sides of their ghostly bodies brushed past the ship when they turned abrupt tail and continued their stampede in the opposite direction.
The foursome sat momentarily stunned at the close call. But Tucker was the first to react; well, really, there was no choice to that. His PDA had commanded his attention when it began to overheat in his hands after exerting all that power to maintain the electrical force field. He quickly punched the 'disconnect' command—that is, as quickly as he could, considering that he was now juggling the PDA as it were a very hot potato!
A few moments after that and the PDA was cool enough for Tucker to hold it more firmly. He then sighed in relief after he gave it a quick inspection, and saw that no significant harm had been done to it again. He quickly shoved it back into his pants and was about to say something to break the silence when Skulker beat him to it.
"Looks like you know a thing or two about cattle prods, whelp! Glad you had one handy!" The Ghost Hunter said with a smirk.
This time, the three humans laughed in response, though their laughs were more in relief than anything else.
Still smiling, Tucker then shifted the Speeder into 'forward' and they were back on their way.
Shortly afterward, however, Jazz thought about what happened when they were almost trampled and asked the ghost hunter, "Just what was that all about back there, Skulker? Why couldn't you have made us intangible?"
"Yeah, come to think of it, why couldn't we have just phased through it all like I thought? After all, we're the ghosts here in the Ghost Zone," Tucker added, though he kept his eyes forward the entire time.
The two girls looked at the ghost hunter just as Skulker frowned. Two very good questions. And the ghost hunter had two very good answers. He hesitated to reveal them, however. He really didn't want these humans to have any more knowledge than they had to in order for them to accomplish their goals. And he would not want to be the instrument of their having any future advantage here in the Ghost Zone. Still, he knew that under the agreed upon terms of this mission—that is, that he would cooperate as much as possible with the whelps in order to help his employer—he would have to give them some sort of an answer… Or did he?
He tersely replied, "I do not know."
But Sam had seen the change in his eyes when the ghost said that and challenged, "Yes, you do know. Why won't you tell us?"
The ghost hunter's eyes and hair flared angrily at her; but then, he calmed a bit. He knew that he never was very good at lying unless he had prepared himself mentally to do so. And the truth was that the human's questions had taken him slightly by surprise. Still, the whelp's tenacity was annoying.
He paused at a decision to answer truthfully or not. But when he could see that the younger female human still had her eyes locked on him, expecting an answer, he rolled his eyes and relented. "Okay, I will explain this only once, so even if you do not understand it, I will not elaborate. Take it or leave it!"
The three teens glanced briefly at the cyborg ghost before silently checking with each other. They nodded when they could tell that they all had agreed to the ghost's terms.
Her face still lined with gravity, Sam finally said, "Okay, we're ready."
Skulker huffed a bit before he said, "I will answer the first question. I could have made us intangible. However, there is no guarantee it would have protected us. Intangibility doesn't always work well in the Ghost Zone when it comes to the interaction between ghost or human things. And even though I think this new suit of mine had made the necessary adjustments to do so, I thought it best not to risk it. After all, I have not had a chance to properly test it, and I would not be a worthy hunter if I had done so at such a precarious and very risky moment."
The three teens blinked in his answer. They, of course, still had questions, but had agreed not to ask. But their thoughts were stolen away by Skulker's next response.
"And as for the second question, the one made by the techno-savvy whelp, that is," Skulker began with a frown. "That has a more complicated answer."
He paused a bit, trying to gather his thoughts. Even he wasn't too sure of that explanation. But then again, it wasn't the first time that the human and ghost worlds both complemented and contradicted each other. He internally smiled in more understanding in what he was about to say. After all, separately, each of the two worlds' laws made sense within each of their dimensions. However, when it came to each of the two worlds' crossing paths, then, anything could happen to thoroughly mix up each of their laws.
Finally, he replied, "Normally, you and your flying machine should have phased through any obstacles here just as easily as we ghosts phase through the things and creatures of the human world. However, by your own admission, you have been in the ghost world many times."
"I haven't," Jazz was quick to point out.
Skulker's hair flared a bit at her interruption and he growled, "I'm getting to that, whelp!"
"Sorry," the oldest teen said in chagrin, wincing a bit. "Go on."
"That's better!" the ghost said triumphantly before clearing his throat. "Like I was saying, you have been in the ghost world many times. And the Ghost Zone's laws governing physics and the like are very inconsistent when it comes to humans, because this isn't your…normal habitat. In other words, humans were never meant to come here."
The teens frowned at his answer, but kept silent as Skulker continued.
"However, in this case, the problem is this flying machine. Or, rather the fact that it has been personally fixed by me. I used my tools and my materials to repair and enhance it. Therefore, it is now a thing equally human and ghostly. Or, as ghost hunters would put it, I have left 'ghostly contaminants and residue' on it; and therefore, it can no longer just phase through everything in here as before. In short, this machine is now subjected to the same laws here as any other ghostly thing."
The three teens' eyes went wide in fear. Did the ghost purposely sabotage the Speeder then?
But seeing their response and guessing their thoughts, Skulker grunted, "Calm yourselves, humans! I did not repair this flying machine to make it less effective here! What I did had to be done for us to pursue our quest without a waste of time or resources. You may be able to undo all that I have done at a later time and regain its original properties."
Jazz, Sam and even Tucker sat a bit stunned at what Skulker had just told them. Even still, what else could they have done? They would not have acted any differently for Danny's sake. They glanced at each other again and instantly knew that even if they were aware of all of this before they had gone into the Ghost Zone again, in the end, they would have not have changed anything that they had done so far. After all, too much was at stake.
Even so, they understood enough of what Skulker had said not to question him—in spite of having promised they wouldn't in the first place. Instead, they mulled it all over in silence for quite a long time….
Finally, it was time to change positions, and Jazz was now at the controls and Tucker was navigator. But no sooner had they been back on schedule and had tried to relax, Tucker gasped and quickly pointed forward.
"What's that?" he blurted out, rising to his feet when he spied the large purplish glowing thing just appearing on the edge of the horizon.
The other three pairs of eyes immediately shot toward the direction in which Tucker had pointed. But because it was hard to make out, Sam, too, stood up a bit, trying to get closer to the window to make out what was approaching them.
Meanwhile, Skulker frowned in worry as he squinted his eyes, trying to analyze what that object could be. But then, he noticed in his side vision that a few small floating pieces of rock were being pulled a little ahead of the ship—and towards the unknown thing ahead.
That wasn't right!
He checked his instruments, scanning the area with concern. The purple glow was getting bigger! But there was more bad news.
The hunter's eyes widened in slight fear when he read the conclusions of his scan, before he unconsciously blurted out, "This is not good!"
"You mean that it's not bad, right?" Tucker squeamishly offered, desperately hoping that he had heard what the hunter had said in error.
"No, it's exactly what I said! Not good! That's a Suĉanta vermo (1)out there!"
Confused, the three teens blinked silently back at him.
When he saw their reaction, he added with more annoyance in his voice, "I think your human version would be a lot smaller and be called a blood-sucking worm…or leech. But our kind is very large, very dangerous and equally as hard to escape from its attack."
The girls and boy felt a sickening knot in each of their stomachs when they heard that.
"I think I liked it better when you called it a 'something vermo'!" Tucker finally whined.
Then Sam was able to pipe in. Addressing Skulker, she asked, "But if it's all that hard to escape from them, how do you know about them?"
Skulker frowned a bit at her apparent, but unintentional, insult. He still answered her just the same. "I captured a couple in the past. But they both were just babies. They are much smaller and easier to handle when they're that young because they are only the size of this flying machine."
The three teens gulped.
"Then, I hope it's a newborn," Tucker sheepishly uttered.
Skulker replied, "If we are lucky! But, we are still pretty far from it. Maybe we can chart an alternate course around it."
Before anyone could say anymore, however, the Specter Speeder suddenly jerked forward, as if it were being pulled in by a tractor beam; which, in fact, it kind of was.
Slight embarrassment suddenly painted Skulker's face as he commented, "Or maybe we are even closer and it is an adult!"
This time, the Speeder made its own comment to the cyborg's remark. It lunged forward, shaking with the sucking force that now fully engulfed it and unnaturally increased its speed.
"We can never get a break, can we?" Tucker whined some more to himself.
"Maybe I can throw it into reverse," Jazz hurriedly suggested, ignoring the boy. And before anyone could reply, she did just that.
The sudden effort of Speeder to obey Jazz's command jerked the ship so violently that the other occupants slammed right into the floor, and even Jazz was momentarily pinned against the steering wheel.
"Jazz!" "Whelp!" the three immediately screamed.
"Sorry," Jazz began, grunting in her struggle to gain control over the steering wheel again. She then added with a slightly reprimanding tone, "But you should've had your seat belts on, you know!"
Before Sam and Tucker could say anything, the Speeder spewed out a very unnatural sound.
Skulker was about to comment, but before he could get a word in edgewise, the three teens had already gone into their 'figuring-things-out-quick' mode.
"That definitely doesn't sound right," Tucker said with dread. He ran over to the console and looked at the readings. He gasped, "You have to stop commanding the ship to go in reverse, Jazz! The engines can't take it!"
"But we can't just fly right into that thing and let it eat us!" the red-head objected, still trying to maintain a hold on the controls.
But in spite of her efforts, the Speeder was now shaking in agony—and still inching forward.
"That's a great idea, Jazz!" Sam suddenly countered. "Maybe we should just ram ourselves right down its throat—literally!"
Grunting out her words, Jazz responded, "Remember what happened the last time we did that!" She was referring, of course, to the ghost angler fish and how they had unwittingly ended up inside of it.
"No, Jazz, I agree with Sam!" Tucker piped in.
"Huh?" all three of his companions reflexively uttered.
Tucker smirked in self-confidence as he explained, "But only if we ram more than ourselves down its throat. How about a 'level nine' energy beam thrown in for good measure—and insurance?"
"I am beginning to like the way you think, whelp!" Skulker smugly replied.
"Uh, gee, thanks—I think!" Tucker sheepishly said. But he went right into his calculating mode and added, "Just hold it off as long as possible, Jazz!"
Her voice straining from her continued struggle to control the wheel with both hands, Jazz grunted, "As if I weren't trying before!"
Without another word, Tucker and Skulker went right to work.
In the meantime, Sam saw how Jazz was tiring from the effort to control the ship. Jumping to the red-head's side, the goth girl said, "Here, let me help you, Jazz!" Sam immediately grabbed part of the steering wheel and helped steady it.
As the girls fought the controls, feeling that each second was an eternity, Tucker and Skulker concentrated on working as quickly as they could.
Finally, just when the males were ready, the Speeder began to convulse more violently.
Tucker and Skulker looked up and gasped in surprise.
The Suĉanta vermo was growing uncomfortably larger by the second as the Speeder unwittingly neared it. They weren't particularly relieved to see the adult creature's humongous shadowed mouth, lined with concentric rings of razor sharp teeth, as it pulled the bucking Speeder and other debris toward it.
Tucker finally snapped out of it and swallowed hard before saying, "Okay, Jazz! On my mark!" He pushed the commands on his PDA immediately afterward and just before he pushed the last button, he yelled, "Okay… ready…. three… two… one… Put all the power into ramming it—NOW!"
"Okay!" Jazz loudly grunted before releasing the steering wheel with one hand and shifting the controls to 'forward' with the other, gasping when the steering wheel jerked wildly when she had let go of it, even with Sam's help to steady it.
And then, several things happened in very quick order: the ship thrust forward; the unbuckled Sam, Tucker and Skulker were pushed to the floor from the sudden, violent change in speed; a large orange beam leapt outward from the Specter Speeder; and the mouth of the Suĉanta vermo was just moments from inhaling its morsel flying straight at it.
Sam, Tucker and Skulker struggled back to their feet and anxiously peered out of the glass nose of the ship at the sight.
But just as the creature opened its mouth wider to welcome its larger meal—and the orange beam— Skulker did a double-take when the creature came into more focus and yelled, "NOOO!"
The three teens jumped in fear. Why was the hunter so upset when the beam was a second away from hitting its mark?
But before they could ask, the large orange beam struck its target with a disgusting-sounding splat. All that was left of the purple Suĉanta vermo —green mouth and all—was now coating the outside of the Specter Speeder.
"Yech!" the humans instantly uttered in disgust, just as Jazz slowed the machine to a stop and they all looked at the pieces of worm goo floating in the atmosphere.
All three humans were now aware of their very rapid heart rates and breathing from the ordeal; and each of them tried to calm themselves.
But right then Skulker exclaimed, "I cannot believe that I just let you whelps destroy a green-mouth Suĉanta vermo! I have not gotten one of those in my collection yet!"
The teens stared at the hunter in disbelief, though now they understood why he had suddenly cried out in alarm just before the beam had struck the creature.
But then Tucker snapped out of it and said slightly annoyed, "Are you, kidding, dude? That thing almost ate us! It's better its green guts splattering onto us instead of us being splattered into its green guts!"
"And, besides, it looks like it'll still be around for you to 'hunt another day'. Look," Sam said dryly, half-heartedly pointing a thumb back towards the side mirror on the door.
Skulker quickly looked in its direction and just as quickly perked up at the sight of the pieces of goo moving together and shuddering as they slowly began to reform into the ghost worm. Apparently, it hadn't been destroyed, after all!
Tempted, the hunter reached back to grab his hunting sword. However, Jazz quickly saw his intentions and got them moving again, finally leaving the ghost worm behind.
Skulker quickly protested. "What are you doing, whelp? I was just about to—"
"Sorry, Skulker. you'll have to do without that unique prey. There's no time for it when we have other prey to find, remember?"
But Jazz readily blinked when she realized what she had just called her brother and Vlad.
Sam and Tucker shot her a creeped out look, and she smiled sheepishly back. It seemed the hunter's antics were already beginning rub off on Danny's sister…
But still smarting over the fact that he had lost a very unique prey, Skulker hadn't heard Jazz's comment and just pouted.
Finally, the three teens were calm enough to push onward. Tucker inputted the next command, and the ship returned to its original course. And it was only then that the three humans could resume their duty roster.
A couple of hours later, and after the kids had been able to squeeze in their simple dinner, Skulker suddenly announced with a bit of pride that they had just left the most dangerous part of their journey behind 'without much incident'.
The teens' eyes widened in slight surprise at the ghost's comments. Each of them could only think how they had had more than enough of that 'without-much-incident' thing than they had ever wanted.
Still, as they traveled on, Sam, Jazz and Tucker kept to their duty rotation, encouraging Skulker to rest with each change. But the hunter had refused each time. Finally, the teens shrugged and gave up asking. They had concluded that Skulker must not have needed much sleep, especially since he kept insisting upon that point.
But when it was Sam's turn to pilot the Speeder, all three of the teens noticed something different about Skulker. The Ghost Hunter was beginning to sway in his stance, his robotic eyes drooping uncontrollably. A moment later, he even lost his balance and just caught himself after almost falling on top of Tucker.
The boy gasped and jumped out of the way before glaring in irritation at the ghost.
But Skulker didn't notice.
After the second time the Ghost Hunter had just missed squishing him, Tucker said with exasperation, "Will you please go to sleep?"
Skulker's ghostly green eyes immediately flared and he said—quite crankily, of course—"I am not tired!"
Tucker just as crankily insisted, "Yes, you are!"
"No, I am not!"
"YES, you ARE!"
"NO, I AM—"
"ENOUGH!" Jazz firmly said, interrupting the two. "We're all getting cabin fever and we still have several hours of travel to go! Can't you get along until then?"
Skulker then glared at her and growled, "I do not have to get along with any of you! I am here only to help Plasmius!"
"Fine!" Jazz hotly replied, surprising the ghost when she marched right up to him. She wagged her index finger and firmly continued, "But until we're out of this agreed upon 'neutral zone' that thankfully was created so that you could rescue Plasmius, and we could help Danny, we need you to stay in it until we've accomplished our mission! Now, will you do us all a favor and just go to sleep?"
"You are all in on this, aren't you?" Skulker challenged.
"In on what?" Jazz asked, totally bewildered by his remark. "What are you talking about?"
"About wanting to see me sleep!" He countered, his eyes narrowing in suspicion. "How do I know you and the rest of the Ghost Child's helpers will not try something against me? At least, that is what I see here with your and their insistence that I drop my guard!"
"Okay, why in the world would we be 'trying something against you', especially under these circumstances?" Sam asked in exasperation.
"Yeah, dude, we kinda need you right now," Tucker added, but quickly cringed when Skulker glared, clearly taking the comment the wrong way.
"Are you saying you are going to try something against me when I am dispensable?" the hunter hissed, reaching behind his back for his sword.
"Whoa!" the red-haired girl said. But seeing the hunter still on the defense, she sighed and said with as much calmness as she could muster with the annoying ghost, "Look, your nerves are obviously edgy because of your lack of sleep. And if your reason for not getting the rest you need is because you think we're going to try something, then you're worried over nothing. As you put it, 'we are 'Danny's helpers', so why would we do anything to risk saving him?"
But seeing the hunter was not completely convinced, she quickly thought of another approach. "And, besides, what kind of hunter would you be if when we finally get to the final hunt for Plasmius and Danny, you're no good to any of us—including your employer?"
Skulker's eyes flared at her words and Tucker shuddered a little. But then, the Ghost Hunter calmed a little and replied to Jazz, "You know, I liked you better when you were seen and not heard before all of this. But I cannot deny that you do have a point…" He paused and then made his decision. "However, if you all truly wish me to rest then I require some kind of…private area. I do not want an audience while I sleep."
In truth, however, Skulker just wanted to preserve his dignity. After all, no respectable hunter ever let down his guard around others, especially around potential prey. That, and… he had to do something in specific when he slept…
"Why would we want to watch him sleep?" Tucker thought, not getting the hunter's logic at all, let alone where exactly they were going to get him a 'private area' on a small ship.
Sam, who was still steering the Speeder, just rolled her eyes and groaned under her breath.
Jazz, however, had gone right to farthest part of the cabin and started pulling things out of the largest storage compartment that had been built into the ship. That compartment should be large enough to accommodate the ghost.
Skulker let a small smile of triumph escape his robotic lips and quickly entered the area.
The teens heard a lot of noise coming from behind the closed door of the makeshift bedroom, including occasional bumping on the door. The final smack into the door pushed the door slightly ajar, but the three humans didn't dare suggest to close it again. After that, it grew quiet; and the three left awake assumed that Skulker had finally settled down for a much needed rest.
Not too long afterward, Jazz and Tucker noticed that the door had swung open even more. They whispered to the other whether they should close the door. But what happened next helped them make a decision.
The Specter Speeder hit some turbulence and the jolt was enough to cause the door to swing totally open. But, oddly, that did not wake Skulker.
Another jolt later, and the door threatened to swing violently back. Fearful of the noise that would result at its loud closing, Tucker and Jazz both instinctively ran to the door and caught it before it could achieve its goal.
But, of course, they couldn't help but steer their eyes into the compartment when they did. And in the next instant, they were silently closing the door while gagging their snickers at what both of them had deduced from the quaint little scene behind the door.
Now they could understand why Skulker had objected to sleeping in front of them. He had to sleep outside of his armor!
Clearly, he had not wanted to be teased about that, or the fact that he would be sleeping in his favorite polka-dot pajamas…
Skulker had been asleep several hours after that, and the teens had still stayed on their path and schedule. None of them had dared to wake the ghost in all that time, especially since they seemed to not have encountered anything pressing that had required his attention. In fact, most of those hours of travel had been spent in silence—and 'without incidents'.
They had readily avoided the 'River of Revulsion' and 'Carnivorous Canyon' on the way. They nearly plowed right into the 'Pit of Despair' which hadn't even been on the map. But luckily, Sam had been driving the ship at that point and had instinctively steered away from all the fluffy flowers and other pastel-colored cutesy things that the ghost monster which had lived within the 'Pit of Despair' had lined on the outside of the pit to lure unsuspecting victims.
And Tucker had spotted another Suĉanta vermo while he was the navigator and successfully plotted a course to avoid it.
Finally, Sam, who was now in the pilot seat again, yawned before saying to Jazz, "We can't be too far from that entrance we're looking for." She pointed ahead and added, "Because there's the 'Hanging Cliff Heads' Skulker mentioned we'd be passing."
"Yeah, hard to miss those," Jazz said with a small cringe, seeing how the floating cliffs they were just passing really had green skeleton heads literally hanging from them.
The break in silence had jolted Tucker from his sleep and he got up and silently went up to the two other teens. When he scanned the horizon ahead, he was quick to see that they were passing the 'Hanging Cliff Heads', and knew that they were close to their designation.
With another yawn, he mumbled to Sam, "My turn!"
"Okay," the goth girl replied as Jazz yawned, ready to take her nap.
Sam and Tucker exchanged positions and Sam dutifully resumed the task as navigator and look-out while Tucker positioned himself behind the pilot's wheel.
Meanwhile, Jazz had just settled in her seat when the door to the small compartment opened and Skulker emerged within his robotic suit, looking a bit sleepy-eyed, but only in slightly better spirits.
"Why did you not wake me?" he growled a bit, making Jazz jolt a little.
Since she was tired from all that driving, Sam reflexively growled back, "From the way you just said that, I think I'll ask, 'Why didn't you just stay asleep?'"
Skulker's eyes flared, but that was the extent of his irritation with the girl. After all, he admired her spunk. Besides, she was right again—annoyingly so! Still, he growled back, "Better watch it, whelp! You are unique enough that I might start hunting you when this is all over."
Sam rolled her eyes, but grumbled, "All right! Sorry! But you could be a little more pleasant until that time!"
Skulker huffed a little at her quip; but smiled underneath at the small triumph at getting her to apologize.
They had traveled for a few hours past the 'Hanging Cliff Heads'; and the teens had rotated once more during that time. Jazz was now piloting the ship; Tucker was navigating and Sam was trying to sleep.
Skulker was busy comparing his calculations within the PDA in his suit against the map, and Tucker was helping him analyze the data when suddenly, the Speeder was riveted by a large purple beam.
Jazz gasped at the completely unexpected assault.
And since Sam had been too tired to have even buckled herself into her seat, she was jolted right out of her chair and landed with a thud onto the floor.
As the raven-haired girl got up, Skulker looked ahead in the distance and immediately knew what had happened.
"That is a Gimnoto!" (2)he cried.
"Not another icky-sounding sucky thing!" Tucker lamented, as he frantically searched the horizon. He then glanced down at the instruments and gasped, "And our power's down to sixty percent!"
"I am not surprised. That creature out there is what you humans would call an 'electric eel'! But, of course, this is a ghostly one. Very rare. Very dangerous!"
Tucker whined, "And very big, of course! They're pretty bad in the Real World, too!"
But Skulker didn't hear what the boy said and commented out loud, "And what is it doing way out here?"
Another violent jolt to the ship answered him and this time, Tucker was thrown to the ground.
As he pulled himself up, Tucker yelled, "Now, I'm wondering why we're way out here, too. I don't want us to join that 'very rare' list!"
The ship shook abruptly once again when it was hit by another purple beam.
"Oh, no! What did that thing do? Now we're down to thirty percent power!" Tucker yelled as he checked the monitors again.
No sooner had the boy announced the grim news when the Specter Speeder slowed down without being commanded to do so.
"No time to talk about it anymore! Let's just get out of here!" Jazz firmly said as she tried to pour more power into the ship.
But the Speeder barely responded.
"Don't do that!" Skulker commanded. "It lives off energy and you are just feeding it more when you powered on the juice!"
"Any suggestions, then?" Sam sarcastically quipped back as Jazz decreased the power.
"Yes, as a matter of fact, I do!" he growled back. "First of all, shut down all power!"
"What?" Tucker cried in disbelief.
But then, the boy and two girls gagged their gasps when they finally saw the large Gimnoto nearing their ship. It was more hideous and, of course, as Tucker said, much, much bigger than the ones in the Real World. Its electrically-charged, ghostly-green body charged right at them, snapping its craggily purple teeth in anticipation of sinking them into the ship's hide.
"Do it, whelp," Skulker whispered urgently to Sam.
Although she wasn't sure if that was the best thing right now, Sam still obeyed Skulker and hurried to turn off all the power.
The Speeder instantly glided to a fast halt and floated helplessly.
And at the next second, the ghost eel slowed, confused by the sudden loss of power from the Speeder. It closed its mouth, ignoring the green saliva that oozed out of its mouth as it inspected what had been its more-than-ready prey. Then, suddenly, it was curling itself upon the ship, as if it were the cloth of a wizard polishing his magic crystal ball.
"I guess it's sizing us up for where it should bite into first," Tucker quietly gulped.
"Shh! Stay quiet," Skulker hissed as he pulled out a metal cube from a compartment on his new suit's right arm. With a press of a button, a connecting window opened at the bottom of the cube and he then calmly hooked up his 'new toy' to the console. The hunter was internally glad he had taken the time to check out his suit's new features, so he was fairly confident this would work…
After pushing a few buttons, he harshly whispered to Sam, "Now, on my command, turn the ship back on, got it, whelp?"
"Yeah, got it," Sam grumbled, wanting to call him a jerk for his brusque command. But she stopped short of it because this was no time to argue. She kept her hand on the main power switch and waited.
As the giant Gimnoto slinked its body more tightly around the ship, and the teens heard the pained metal screech of the ship's hull in response, they all grew more anxious, wondering what was delaying Skulker in giving Sam the cue. But then, all of the sudden, the Gimnoto let go; and at first, the teens sighed in relief. But their relief was short-lived because the ghostly eel then attacked the Speeder's glass nose, clamping down upon it with its vise-like jaws.
The glass began to split, and the humans immediately slapped their hands over their mouths to firmly gag their screams of terror when all of the sudden, Skulker yelled, "NOW!"
Sam startled at his commanding voice but immediately flipped the power switch. At that moment, Skulker activated a second button on the cube, making it instantly glow a bright red before the console absorbed the energy, which traveled straight into the ship's defense system.
Suddenly, the creature, which moments before was breathing down their throats, was engulfed in a large red beam which had emanated from the Speeder. In less time it took for the three teens to bring their hands off of their mouths, awed by the sight, the Gimnoto shriveled into a red wisp.
Tucker glanced down at the console and gleefully announced, "Now we have one-hundred and ten percent power!"
Skulker then disconnected the cube and said with some disappointment, "What a pity!" But then he readily smirked as he lifted the deactivated metal cube up to his eyes level. "Still, I am glad that my employer added this useful little device with the feature of being able to absorb the power of my victims into my suit—or, to whatever I connect it to, which, in this case, was this flying machine."
The hunter stored the cube back into his suit compartment as he added, "Then again, it was I who had the foresight to run a complete check through on this suit's new features. After all, it would do no good to get an upgrade and not know how to use it, especially when I have to be ready for all sorts of creatures like the Gimnoto. Plus, we did need the power it stole back!"
Sam finally sat back into her chair and Jazz and Tucker plopped down on theirs, all of them sighing with relief.
"No time for that, whelps!" Skulker insisted. "Let us be on our way!"
The threesome frowned, but knew he was right. The teens hurriedly changed their positions. Sam took over the controls and immediately shifted the Speeder into the 'forward' position; Jazz took over as navigator; Skulker turned his attention to the control panel on his arm; and Tucker sat down, trying to get some sleep.
And they were back on their way toward their designation.
After about another hour, Tucker's eyes opened ahead of schedule. The Speeder had slowed down and that change had pulled him out of him sleep.
Besides, now that the Speeder's engines weren't roaring, he couldn't help hearing the tense discussion among his other companions just as the ship stopped.
"You said this was an accurate map!" Jazz said in irritation, speaking to Skulker.
"It is. We are in the Forbidden Region and this is where the entrance should be!" he countered.
"And according to the readings, these are the correct coordinates that Tucker had inputted. It should be here!" Sam reported, her face taut from concentrating on the instruments.
Tucker got up and walked up to the Specter's windshield. Just then, Sam inched the Speeder closer to where the entrance to the Realm Beyond Time should have been. Neither he nor any one else could see any markings or any sign that an entrance had been there—ever.
In fact, only wide open space greeted them.
Sam then remarked, "This doesn't even look like anyone has ever been here." But then she had a wild hunch. "Hey, there might be an explanation for that!"
"What are you talking about, Sam?" Jazz asked while the two males turned their attention toward her as well.
"Don't you remember, guys? All that stuff that happened to us at Skulker's Island? And how we agreed that it was both real and not real?"
"And what's that got to do with us now?" Tucker inquired, not getting her point at all.
Sam frowned in annoyance but continued, "If that Iluzisto jerk can do all those illusionary tricks at Skulker's Island, who's to say that maybe he can do it here? He's an Observant, right? So, maybe he did something to keep anyone from entering the Observant Realm."
"You might be right, Sam," Jazz said, approaching the girl. "But how could he do that and not be here?"
"I don't know, I'm just guessing," the goth girl defensively replied.
"You don't think he's here, then?" Tucker gulped, jumping to conclusions.
"Of course not, whelp! We would have already been fried if he was!" Skulker growled.
Tucker gulped again.
So, don't you think we should check to see if there's some illusion at work here or if there really isn't anything here?" Jazz piped in, pointing at the empty vastness just outside the window.
"Now I can properly test this new suit! Let me check it out!" Skulker volunteered, instantly activating his suit. A moment later, he was intangible and phased through the hatch before the teens could object. Once outside, he rematerialized, a huge triumphant grin on his face.
The three humans watched as the Ghost Hunter moved cautiously toward where the entrance should have been, but all he found was empty space.
Disappointed, he was just about to turn back to return to the Speeder when he noticed something odd in the area just to the left of him. It seemed to project outward slightly. He floated toward it and finally hit a small barrier. He was both confused and intrigued about it because on the outside, the area looked just like the rest of the swirls of the open purple, green and black atmosphere. He pushed on the barrier a little with both of his hands this time, inspecting it. He grunted, dissatisfied that in spite of his search, there was no opening. He felt more thoroughly this time, when suddenly, he got an electrical shock.
He shook the sting from his arm and frowned before pushing some buttons on his arm. His face scrunched up in frustration again at the results; and this time, he returned to the ship.
When Skulker had rephased through and then rematerialized in the cabin, the three teens looked anxiously for him to speak. They had seen by all of his reactions out there that he had found some sort of evidence.
Skulker looked at the three and said with a disappointed voice, "Well, I think we had the right coordinates. But someone has placed a shield here to keep anyone from traveling any further into the Forbidden Region. We could blast through it, but, of course, that would mean that every Observant in the realm would know that we are at their front door."
"Couldn't you just use that special feature about your suit and phase us all through the barrier?" Tucker asked.
"Don't you think I thought about that, whelp?" he growled before adding, "But these Observants are not to be underestimated. That shield is very advanced. I don't think we could get through it with our technology. And even if we could, it would do us little good. If there is an entrance past that shield, it is very well hidden because there is no visible proof of one, as you all can clearly see. I can only assume that the entrance to the Realm Beyond Time is not your typical door or portal. It's something… unseen… Perhaps only observable and obvious to the Observants and others who have authorization to enter their spirit realm…"
"Are there any other entrances?" Jazz asked, pressing the issue.
"Maybe, but probably not," The Ghost Hunter replied. "This was the only rumored one I know of, but apparently they no longer want that to be an option. So, I am sure that they must use their advanced technology to enter our world. And it looks as if they may have indeed used Iluzisto's skills to hide the fact from the casual traveler."
The humans' shoulders instantly dropped with defeat at his report. How were they going to help Danny if they couldn't even get in and get a fighting chance?"
"There's got to be another way," Jazz mumbled, doggedly gritting her teeth.
Knowing that it was really not an option, but desperate to get in, Tucker asked, "Maybe we could just blast it in after all?"
He cringed when his companions frowned in irritation at his remark.
"Did you not hear me, whelp?" Skulker said in a threatening voice. "It would take some kind of magic that we obviously do not have to get through! And, as I said before, we cannot use an entrance we cannot see!"
"Sorry!" Tucker immediately said and dropped his head in defeat.
But hearing the word 'magic' joggled Sam's memory. "Wait! That's it!" she replied, her voice oozing with excitement.
The other three startled a little at her seemingly random outburst.
She smiled sheepishly before elaborating, "Sorry, guys. But I just thought of a way to get in!"
"You have?" Skulker gulped incredulously.
"Yes, but we have to go back to the Far Frozen and—"
"Get the Infi-Map!" Tucker said, excitedly completing the sentence for her.
"The Infi-Map?" Skulker repeated, his eyes widened in surprise and confusion. "What about that old myth?"
In all his time here, the hunter had heard many stories about the mysterious map, but everything he heard had hardly been substantial. In fact, he didn't even know why this map was so special and powerful—which had been the only consistent part of the myth he had heard from all the rumors.
"The Infi-Map isn't a myth!" Sam hurriedly corrected him. "We've seen it. It's an ancient and powerful map that Frostbite keeps that not only tells us where all the hidden portals are, but—"
"—can also take us anywhere we want to go!" Tucker again interrupted his friend.
Both Sam and Tucker looked hopefully at the other two, searching their eyes for their reaction.
Skulker was a bit embarrassed that he had just been corrected, and even more so with that fact that these humans knew more about this ghostly relic than he. But quickly hiding his humiliation under thick annoyance, he asked, "If it is ancient and powerful, then why would Frostbite give it to you?"
"We don't know if he will," Sam admitted.
But she hadn't realized—though her companions had—that her jaw was set in determination and her hands were fisted and shaking slightly at her sides as she spoke. At least Jazz and Tucker knew from her stance that nothing was going to keep her from that map.
Then Sam added, "But he has to! We have to try!"
At first, no one answered her. They honestly thought it was a risky plan at best.
But then, Jazz said, "I agree with Sam. We should try to get the map."
"I agree, too!" Tucker replied in all seriousness.
Sam smiled weakly in appreciation and then all three teens turned to Skulker.
An eyebrow arched at the sudden attention and the ghost said, "What? Obviously, I am out-voted, and you are certain you can obtain what we need. Signs of determined hunters, for sure. And I should know!"
The others sighed in relief and Tucker immediately started plotting their course to the Far Frozen. But it was then he suddenly remembered something.
He turned to face his companions with a worried frown. "There is one small, or more like, serious problem…"
Sam and Jazz quickly frowned back, though it was the goth girl who warily replied, "What problem?"
Tucker sighed. "All this time, we've been traveling East bound in the Ghost Zone."
"And…?" Jazz asked, not following since neither she nor Sam had plotted their route.
"And the Far Frozen is at the North side—actually it's very far North. Trying to get there from here would take us at least two days!" Tucker exclaimed in his sudden distress.
Sam and Jazz's eyes widened in alarm, but before they could respond, Skulker finally spoke up.
"Not if we take the shortcut," the hunter said, a smug smile growing on his lips. Now, it was his turn to correct and educate these humans…
"There's a shortcut?" Tucker gasped out loud, though a hopeful smile slowly grew on his and the girls' faces.
"Of course, whelps! There are shortcuts to almost any place in the Ghost Zone. One just has to know how to find them," Skulker replied arrogantly.
But then he smiled as he added, "And, luckily, the shortcut we need, is just about half-an-hour back—near the 'Hanging Cliff Heads'. It is a sure ticket to the North side of the Ghost Zone. Of course, once we get there, you whelps will have to lead the way to the Far Frozen…I must reluctantly admit that I have never traveled there…"
"Dude, we got that part covered. Just get us to that shortcut!" Tucker beamed.
Skulker smirked, but didn't reply as he took charge of the navigational system and typed in where they needed to go. Once he was finished, the Specter Speeder immediately obeyed his last command and started turning on its own axis to reverse its direction.
But as it slowly turned away from the shielded and unseen entrance to the Realm Beyond Time, Sam's body silently and unconsciously moved toward it as her eyes kept glued to the empty area where they had hoped to find an entrance. When the angle of seeing it became steeper, her hands and face went up and flattened against the glass nose until she could see it no more. She then let her arms fall to her sides in sorrow as she lowered her head, desperately trying to stop her quivering jaw.
They had been so close, and now getting to Danny was even farther away…..
(1) Suĉanta vermo —Esperanto for 'a sucking worm'.
(2) Gimnoto —Esperanto for 'electric eel'.
Pearl: What? You didn't think our evil muses would make it this easy for them, did ya? *Vlad muse laughs wickedly*
Anyways, on a personal note, I'm sorry for the lack of updates. I was bummed the last past weeks because of my wrist. It's hard to focus on writing when your wrist is hurting with every letter you type; so my 'writing spirit' had drastically been affected. But, I'm doing a lot better now. And I am very close to finishing with the editing for the next chapter of CM. So, you will have that to you in a couple of days—gotta get it over to Truephan, first, though… heh-heh! Anyhow, thanks for your patience and get wells! Also, thank you for your support with this story and the others. We hope to hear your thoughts on this chapter! Ta for now!
Truephan here: Doncha know! I have been driving Pearl crazy with all my nagging for her to rest her wrist. But, heh-heh, look at the result! We got to get another chapter of this story for y'all! *winks*. In any case, we sure hope y'all liked this chapter and will sprinkle us with some of your wonderful reviews! And, my, just look below! A bright blue button to push! Can't wait to hear from you and have Pearl completely fixed up for some of her other story chapters, of course! Until next time, then!