Only like one or two more chapters before the movie events begin so bare with me. I know it's been long but it's really important for them to know and trust each other first before the movie events (with a few twists) begin. And who knows? Maybe Callaghan will have a partner in crime~
~CWA
(P.S. Updating this as a sort of New Year's treat, will update again on Saturday as usual too, big thanks to The Skeleton Girl whose kept me very amused with their constant reviews)
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
A Week Later
Danny Fenton
I can't help but smile to myself a bit as I get to work on the portal. The sleeves of my leather jacket have been rolled up slightly, but not rolled up enough to reveal any scars I may have on my arms. A concentrated gleam enters my eyes as I work hard on my project. At the rate I've been working on it, I know that I'm already ahead of schedule so it should actually be done by the end of next year, but considering that most projects take a bit more time than that (the point of the college was to work on two to four projects during the eight year robotics course), I'm actually doing pretty good.
A small impressed whistle causes me to turn my attention away from the portal only to be met with the sight of Professor Callaghan. To be entirely honest, the man has always put me on edge. There's something about him that I can't place- a flux in his aura that doesn't seem quite right, the few comments he makes about his daughter (whom he really never speaks of aside from the comments), the foreign, implacable gleam in his eyes that contradicts the grin on his face. And there's something about the way he eyes the portal that makes me uneasy like he has some purpose for it or is interested in it in a way that's not meant for its actual purpose.
"Good morning, Professor," I greet warmly, forcing a grin onto my face as I shove down the paranoia, "It's coming along pretty great, isn't it? Should be done by the beginning of next year, hopefully, or the end of next year at the latest."
"I can't wait to see what it'll do when you're finished," Professor Callaghan swears, "You show a lot of promise, Mr. Fenton, and it's warming to see you grow into that potential with such an ambitious project…. But the real question in the end is if it all this work is going to pay off? Will this actually work?"
His eyes harden slightly causing me to stand at attention, my jaw tensing as my shoulders square. I lift my head a bit and meet his gaze easily, not backing down.
"It will work, Professor, I know it will and I'll have a functioning portal to the Ghost Zone up and running in no time…."
I see the Professor eye the portal in a way that makes my stomach turn. It reminds me of the way the Guys in White would eye my parents' inventions. Mom even used to say that with every great invention comes someone who wants to take it away. I pray that Professor Callaghan isn't that person, but despite everyone seemingly loving him, I can't get rid of that gut feeling that tells me that there is something bad about him. Maybe not evil, but just bad. As if he's up to something.
"Ghost Zone," he repeats a bit to himself, "I wonder if there's any other dimensions that it will be able to go to..."
"With all due respect sir," I cut in, "That's not possible. At least not from this portal. From the way I've wired it, built it, programmed it, there's only two things that this portal absolutely has to do. That's power on pure ectoplasm and go to the Ghost Zone. From the Ghost Zone, it's theoretically possible to go another dimension, but I wouldn't recommend it- you could end up in a world of dinosaurs or one without oxygen and that's never a good thing."
Professor Callaghan clicks his tongues at my word, an almost disappointed look in his eyes appears briefly before his expression changes. He turns to me with a small smile as he dips his head,
"Ah, well I wish you the best of luck, Mr. Fenton."
"Thank you, sir," I dip my head in reply, but as he turns to leave, I call out to him, "Oh and Professor?"
He stops briefly to turn around to face me. Normally, I would leave this part out and not even mention it, but the way he eyed the portal unnerves me to the point where I need to make sure he knows that he will not be getting his hands on this portal. Not if I have anything to say about it.
"-There's a passcode on the portal too," I give him a cheery grin as if it's good news for him, "It's a long, tricky one to keep out anyone who may try to sabotage it. Even all my notes and blueprints for it are locked up tightly in a secret place."
His smile falters slightly as he furrows brow before he tells me that it's a great idea (though his voice is rather strained) and leaves the lab. I watch him leave with a satisfied grin on my face, knowing that I've destroyed any hopes he may or may not have had about the portal being something he can get his paws on. In reality, there is a passcode. But it's not a long, tricky one- it's Fentonworks along with a hand-print scanner and voice recognition that I've already installed into the portal to keep anyone from getting into its programming or wiring. Don't even get me started on what may happen if another ghost, or God forbid one of my enemies, tries to open or steal it. When it's actually up and running, it'll even be more efficient at security.
And unlike the original portal, this one's 'on button' is not on the inside.
"I'm not saying Professor Callaghan is a bad guy," I insist, "Just that he gives me the creeps and it's unsettling the way he looks at my portal."
I sit on the bean bag chair inside of the garage with Hiro and Tadashi, stretching my arms behind my head in a way that flexed my muscles. I wink at Tadashi when I see that he's momentarily staring at the muscles you can see through my jacket causing him to flush slightly. The others are with us as well. Honey Lemon. GoGo. Fred. Wasabi. Everyone decided that a break from our projects would be a good idea and somehow we flocked to the garage instead of inside the cafe- granted, that was because the cafe was insanely crowded today and no one wants to squeeze into a much too small table.
Somehow or another, the conversation started to wander toward Callaghan. I'm not sure who began it. But whoever did has opened a huge can of worms between everyone. Nervous looks are exchanged. A few whispers stretch across the room. Everyone becomes tense and unsure of themselves.
"He's not creepy," Tadashi insists, "Just interested."
"-But Danny has a point," Honey Lemon points out, "Callaghan has never been this interested in someone's project before- not to the point where he looks like he's gonna snatch it away right from under Danny's nose. It's not normal."
"He's just trying to encourage the idea that it's not impossible," Tadashi counteracts, "To make Danny more confident."
GoGo pops her bubble gum with a dry look on her face, jabbing her thumb toward me,
"Have you seen him, lately? He doesn't exactly need an ego boost."
"Amen to that," I praise GoGo, agreeing with her with a hearty cheer and a raised fist in a here, here gesture.
GoGo rolls her eyes at me slightly, plopping down on the bean bag chair with me. She gives me a brief, try and stop me from sitting here, I dare you. I shift slightly in my seat to make more room for her, flushing slightly. Personally, I'd rather it be Tadashi sitting next to me. But nooo he's sitting in his own little recliner with Hiro casually resting on its armrest.
Considering it's not exactly a large garage, we don't have that many seats to spare. Wasabi's larger frame takes up a good portion of the couch and Honey Lemon has to sit next to him with her knees to her chest because she's too tall. Fred is lounging with them, stretched across their laps with his head resting against the arm rest. It's strange with all of us sitting like this, but there's some part of it that just feels natural.
"Maybe he's expanding his horizons toward dimensional theory," Honey Lemon speaks up softly and unsure of herself, "Maybe he just wants to try something new and since Danny's portal is a fresh idea that deals with that, Callaghan can't help but be interested."
Tadashi nods, pleased that someone is taking his side on the matter. I, however, just scowl slightly.
"It's more than that," I continue, "He seemed disappointed to learn I had security on my blueprints and on the portal. More so when I made it clear it won't be going anywhere else but the Zone."
"But," Tadashi argues lightly, "The disappoint could be because it has potential to be more than just a ghost portal."
"He's got a point there," Wasabi chimes in, taking a large bite of pizza.
I roll my eyes slightly and adjust my seat more, sending a brief annoyed look to GoGo who seems perfectly fine as she spreads out across my lap. Tadashi sends a brief annoyed look toward her as well, but she just pops her bubble gum at him in reply, signaling she really could care less because she's comfortable. I swear GoGo is a mix between being my sister (a nonblood relation variety) and an attention seeking cat. And just like with a cat, it's best to accept your fate. Sighing, I start petting her head, causing her to shift with a content look on her face, as I look to Tadashi.
"Maybe, but he was so interested in my theoretical papers about dimensional theory that I sent in with my admission- more so than with my actual project that I sent in."
"Speaking of," Fred turns to me with a grin on his face, "What project did you make to get in? You never did tell us."
I wave my hand in the air slightly in a nonchalant manner,
"Nothing big- just this device that I like to call the X-Scan. With a simple scan- no medications, no x-ray machines, no pain, just one simple scan that someone can do at their house and you could have a total and complete summary of brain activity as well as a scan of the actual brain. It takes a more medical purpose and helps detect tumors and cancers a lot faster with more ease. Not to mention the help it'll be to doctors and paramedics with brain-related injuries."
Tadashi makes a thoughtful expression on his face, mumbling a bit to himself and I can see the ideas begin to form in his mind at how he can use it for Baymax. He doesn't need to voice it for me to know what his plans are. At this point in our relationship, I just know what he's thinking. Then again, it's not like he's really subtle about it either. I hear Hiro mutter something about Tadashi and I being meant to be before we even met. Wasabi quirks an eyebrow as I explain my project,
"Really? You made some sort of super scanner?"
"Ohhh do you think it could like scan the whole city or something," Fred chimes in with an excited grin on his face, causing me to snort.
"Only if you made some adjustments on it and somehow got it like miles above the city," I briefly say to Fred before Wasabi's comment processes in my brain causing me to turn to him, "And what do you mean? What's so surprising about me building a super scanner?"
"More like you building something that's more… hospital in nature," Honey Lemon explains carefully, slowly pronouncing her words, causing me to crinkle my nose.
GoGo stretches, similar to that of a cat, before she curls back into my lap with a tired, slightly bored expression on her face. I continue to stroke her head, not even questioning the fact that she seems to like it. Though my hand stops, hovering her head slightly, as I see Tadashi giving her and I some sort of glare. I flush slightly and carefully place my hand away where it's not touching GoGo, causing Tadashi to give some sort of smug look in GoGo's direction. She just crinkles her nose and pops her bubble gum in annoyance, shifting her place on my lap once again with a huff.
"It was originally for spiritual purposes," I explain, "-possessions and recognizing people with precognition abilities mostly. The medical stuff is mostly just a secondary purpose."
"See now that sounds like you," Wasabi waves his hand a bit accusingly toward me and Hiro snorts, hiding a smile behind his hand.
Tadashi's face drops at the mention of the scanner's true purpose,
"Possessions, really Danny?"
"It comes in handy more than you think," I defend, "I mean there are signs of possession that most people can spot if you know them- red eyes, different voice, acting strangely, etc. Granted, that's ghostly possession. Demonic possession is a whole other topic all together."
Fred's soaking all of this in with a thoughtful expression on his face and a pen in hand. I almost sigh when he begins writing notes on his hand and arm due to a lack of nearby paper. He looks to me to continue, but I give him a really look. From the corner of my eyes I see Honey Lemon and Wasabi giving him similar looks that causes Fred to just give us a cheeky, excited grin.
"It's a good thing to know," Fred stresses, "How else are we supposed to know that someone is possessed? What if one of us ever get possessed and start doing bad crap? We need to know this stuff, people!"
Pft. If a ghost was ever dumb enough to possess any of them when I'm around. Any ghost that does knows that they will be getting an ass-kick of a lifetime for even possessing someone with ill intent…. Even more so for that someone that being one of my friends.
Honey Lemon looks at Fred carefully and hesitantly, unsure how to respond to his comment, but eventually she just closes her mouth deciding that she really doesn't have anything to say to that. Wasabi shakes his head, muttering something about me being a bad influence on Fred as GoGo moves from my lap just briefly enough to give Fred a quick slap to the back of the head with a 'we're not going to get possessed, dumbass' before returning to the comforts of my lap.
Hiro and Tadashi are the only ones to only be paying only half-attention to the conversation as they mutter to themselves quietly. Hiro seems a bit annoyed at his brother and Tadashi has this look on his face like he just had the best idea in the world. I quirk an eyebrow at them and shift myself out of from under GoGo, causing her flip me the bird as she readjusts herself. With the brothers so absorbed into their conversation, they don't even realize that I've made my way to them.
The others watch in a mix of confusion and amusement as I give a large, shit-eating grin and put my face right beside Tadashi's. Hiro is the first to spot me and the two fingers that are at my mouth, causing his eyes to widen as he quickly covers his ears as I give a loud, shrill whistle that startles Tadashi, causing him to yelp as he falls out of the recliner. I catch him with ease, dipping him gracefully with a cheeky grin on my face.
"So when's the wedding," GoGo chimes in teasingly, causing Tadashi and I to both go red before we quickly part ways.
Leave it to GoGo to use my own plan against me.
