A/N: Well, how goes it? Thanks for all your comments and I, of course, want more!! And you just knew this was coming, didn't ya? With evil villains come evil plans. So, are y'all ready for more as well? Then, just to help motivate ya, here's Chapter 3 comin' at ya to do just that! And, oh, you know the "IDNOAC" thing. Enjoy!
TrueHeart--Chapter 3--Hatching Plans
Now that Spectra and Bertrand had decided to try to turn Danny Phantom's life upside-down, the trick now was on how to do it. The two began to plot their scheme, but found it was more difficult than they thought.
As they sat in Penelope's lair, beating their heads for some kind of plan, Bertrand was the first to come up with an idea. He brightened at his idea and said. "Oh, then, I know what to do, Penelope…!"
She turned to look at him.
He smiled when he got her undivided attention. "I think I have the perfect thing to upset the Ghost Kid's smooth sailing! I discovered it while working on that masking formula, and I just know you're going to love it! I would have told you sooner, but didn't want to until I perfected it. But that was only just recently."
"Oooh, and what's that, Bertrand?" she asked, genuinely interested this time. Bertrand was always dabbling with something, and usually that something ended up being something good.
"Well, you remember that I told you how it took some time to get rid of the scent of that flower's perfume?"
Spectra wrinkled her nose at the memory, and at her comment, "Not really. But I was wondering why you had smelled so badly for a time. I thought for a moment that you'd gotten a hold of a can of that stuff the Ghost Kid's geeky friend, What's-His-Name, used to spray all over himself. You know, that stuff that had repelled all those ghost bugs in my last plan to get the perfect me."
Getting a little irked, but ignoring her first comments, Bertrand replied, "Yeah, I know. And the kid's name is Tucker Foley."
"Oh, yeah, that was it," she agreed when she heard that name. "So, anyway, how come the Ghost Kid didn't notice the smell?" She sniffed him over and then added, "Or, did you sweat it off before you came here?"
He rolled his eyes in irritation, before dryly saying, "Penelope, don't tell me that you already have forgotten all about how I got that plant and how I discovered its unique little properties?"
She paused a little, and suddenly realized that she hadn't paid particular attention to his explanation about that ghost plant. With a dismissive wave of her hand, she uttered, "I know you told me before, but you had better tell me again. I must have been too busy at the time; and you do blather on and on, sometimes taking forever to come to the point, you know."
"Geez, Penelope!" he grumbled a little, but went right on with his story even when he saw her frown in annoyance….
"As you know, I have been having a harder and harder time getting to Pandora's Fountain of Youth. On the last occasion, I had just filled my bottle with the youthful water when the Minotaur found me. His kick was quite impressive and I ended up pell-mell into a large briar of flowers. The only thing that took the sting out of that patch of thorny flowers was its unusual smell."
"No kidding," she interrupted him, remembering the particular distasteful odor.
He flared a nostril before continuing. "But an odd thing happened when I took a whiff of the flowers. I noticed that for an instant, my ghostly aura disappeared! I took another deeper waft of the perfume, and my entire ghostly aura wasn't visible for several minutes! I just had to investigate this!"
Spectra yawned a little and forced her eyes open, trying to keep interested.
Bertrand noticed, but continued nevertheless. "So I took a few samplings of the flowers to my lair and started to experiment with them. And I found out a couple of important things."
Spectra sat up a little with that piece of news.
He smiled this time now that he had her attention again, and said, "For one thing, the plant couldn't survive in my lab no matter what I did. And, I just knew I needed a way to collect the perfume of plant where it grew—which was a little ways from Pandora's Fountain of Youth. So, I made a machine to do just that."
"I haven't seen you use any machine," the shadow ghost said, getting bored once more.
"I'll get to that in a minute," he replied. "Anyhow, after I got a device to do just that, I went right out and collected the perfume samples, concentrating them into a little vial I built right into the machine. And when I concentrated the samples, the effects of the resultant deep amber perfume lasted longer, but the smell worsened and was overpowering!"
Penelope scrunched up her face again and commented, "You don't have to tell me twice! It's a wonder, then, that the Ghost Kid didn't detect you miles before his silly 'ghost sense' clued him in! Still, maybe it was best that the plant died. And come to think about it, it's been a while since I smelled that on you. Did you really sweat it off before you got here after all?"
"Hmph!" he said indignantly, but immediately dismissed her comment. What he had to say was more important to their plans. "Oh, I didn't tell you! I finally worked out the smell all together! Unfortunately, the steps it took to do that got rid of the nice scent before the bad one…But now, it doesn't have a scent at all! And that's why I could get very close when I spied on those two human couples," Bertrand added with the same smug smile. He then said, "And also, I made another accidental discovery during the process of getting that odor out of the masking formula."
"How's that, Bertrand?" the female ghost asked, perking up once more. She hated to admit it, but she liked surprises.
He then added, "Remember how you tried to siphon off all those pathetic teens' misery in order to keep looking young and vivacious?"
"Yes, and failed miserably, no thanks again to that annoying Ghost Kid!" she said. But then she frowned. "What's that got to do with your cover-up juice?"
He nodded, and continued, "Well, I discovered that the little device I used to siphon off the scent of that flower's perfume could do more than that! While I was concentrating some of the perfume of even more samples I had tried to grow, I noticed that at times the yellow gas wasn't pure. It would have layers of a purple hue of an unknown substance within it. Of course, I couldn't have this contaminate mess up the masking formula, so I drew it out and analyzed it. And guess what I found?"
Penelope said with a long yawn, "I can't imagine!"
"It collected a substance we're both interested in!"
The shadow ghost's eyes brightened once more.
Bertrand's eyes twinkled with delight when he added, "It collected misery…well, really, what it's made of. And, in fact, it lets you suck the misery out of the humans without you even needing to be near them!"
"What? Really? Then how?" she asked, her mouth already curling to an evil smile with the anticipation.
"I'll show you," he answered, motioning for her to follow him to the backroom lab--the one Bertrand had convinced a reluctant Spectra to build. Bertrand had a lab in his own lair, too; but since the couple spent more time here than his place, he had wanted one here.
He went right up to the simple, small black contraption. It had only a few gauges on it and no lights. He tapped it on its side while saying, "This remarkable little machine has the ability to detect pheromones in the air. You know, the chemical substance released by animals—or for our interest, by humans—that serves to influence the behavior of other animals, uh, I mean, humans. That's what the 'misery' stuff is made out of, along with other kinds of emotions! And this little baby actually homes in on those substances, sucking them right into this holding area." He tapped on that side of the machine again to emphasize his point before continuing, "And then it concentrates and refines them so that each effective, beauty-filled dose you get could last several months."
"Pheromones, huh?" Penelope repeated. "I knew they had a role with moods and all, but never in my wildest imagination…." She suddenly stopped and grinned in delight at her assistant. "Bertrand, I lov—I mean—you're a genius!" she exclaimed. She was glad she caught herself. Her own ego unconsciously felt more at ease with the use of an ego-boosting compliment than that of endearment.
Bertrand smiled at her seldom-used compliment. "And there's a bonus or two to the whole thing as well!"
"Oooh, and what's that?" Spectra cooed.
"The sensor is particularly sensitive to pheromones associated with all the angst surrounding young lovers who are breaking up! Apparently, those kinds of pheromones are especially powerful and it takes less of them to fill the reservoir with those intense ecto-beauty secrets just for you, Penelope!"
He walked up to the machine and just as he pushed the button, informed her, "All I have to do is push this button…."
It began to hum and shake a little with the effort. Then, the papers lying around it fluttered a little just as it sucked in the surrounding air. In a few moments, a bell dinged and the machine stopped.
"What happened?" Spectra asked, suddenly concerned that the machine seemed to not be working.
"Oh, there's nothing to worry about!" he calmly replied. "It's just that it's already full and also ready to deliver you your first dose! As we both know, now-a-days, human couples are breaking up all the time! The purest pheromones come from when established or married couples break up. Both are equally powerful!"
"How do you know that?" she said with one of her eyebrows rising with slight suspicion.
Closing his eyes and rocking on his feet, he said with a smug smile, "Well, I haven't been hanging around you all this time without not being able to pick up some insight into human behavior, you know!"
She shrugged indifferently and said, "Maybe. But still, your little machine can suck up human pheromones all the way over here in the Ghost Zone?"
He smiled weakly and replied, "Well, yes and no!"
"What do you mean?" she said, suddenly frowning in disappointment.
"Well, if it's used here, it can suck in any amount of pheromones; but they are undefined, mixed with all kinds of pheromones, including those of animals!"
"Ugh!" Spectra uttered, her nose wrinkling up in disgust.
"But all that mixed-up stuff won't hurt you. The dose just won't be as pure or last very long."
"Oh," she replied in disappointment.
He frowned in worry when he saw her reaction, and quickly added, "But if we can get the device closer to the poor, deliciously unhappy couple, then the results are guaranteed. The quality of the dose will be at its most potent and concentrated state."
This time Spectra smiled and said, "Amazing!"
"Yes, yes it is!" he agreed with a smug smile. "And fortunately, the machine's small enough to be practically undetectable. We should have no trouble getting it very, very close. Now, would you like a sample of it?"
"Oh, I don't know…" Spectra began, scrunching her face up with the prospect.
"Don't worry, Penelope! I told you it wouldn't hurt you…" He looked at her face and knew how he could get her to try it. Pointing to her upper lip, he gasped, "Oh my! There's a teensy-weensy wrinkle right there!"
"Oh, no! Where?" she uttered, mortified. She instinctively began to desperately search for a mirror.
She sighed in relief when it looked as if Bertrand had found one; but when he turned, he was offering the device that was still in his hands to her.
She tweaked up half her face up in irritation at his ruse, but then reluctantly nodded.
He chuckled in triumph. He immediately studied the gauges and smiled again before he walked over to the shadow ghost and pushed another button. It emitted a puff of a very pale purple aerosol mist onto her and she squinted her eyes at the small onslaught.
"Oooh, it smells—and feels--wonderful!" she cooed, shivering a little at the tingle she felt going up-and-own her ghost spine.
When she opened her eyes, she was looking in a mirror that Bertrand had finally whipped out just for the occasion. She was just in time to see the small wrinkle around her lip disappear. She grinned in delight.
"You think that's good?" he asked with a wicked smile. "That's just a weak dose and will only last fifteen minutes. A powerful dose is a deep purple in color, like a fine wine, and will last for over a month. But that's not all! In its purest form, it can be bottled for further use." He pointed to a small nearby bottle filled with the dark plum mist. "That's all I got of it right now. And you can't do that with the weaker doses… " He grinned wickedly and added with a sarcastic tone, "That is why it would be better to be near the unhappy couple when the final 'happy' blow to their relationship comes."
Spectra smiled, quite pleased at this development. Now she didn't care about Pandora's fountain anymore. She gushed, "How delicious! So, I should have an unlimited supply! Humans can be such fools. They don't realize that with a little bit of work—and some unselfish giving--most relationships can be saved! Oh, well, don't say that I mind that they cheapen the word, 'commitment' at all! Their bad, my good!"
Bertrand snickered, "You're right! Lately, all people think about is their own fun. When it gets tough, they just bail out! After all, working through the hard times would cause some discomfort, which, of course, is bad for satisfying their own pleasure. Hmph! Don't they know that growth comes from all that work? Oh well, who cares? It definitely must not have been real love or promise in the beginning for those humans!"
He paused a little, and when he looked up at Penelope he saw she was regarding him with a raised eyebrow.
"You have the oddest need to go off on rants, don't you?" she asked dryly.
He cleared his throat in embarrassment, and quickly changed the subject, "Oh, I forgot something else. This machine can also detect the amount of energy that could be potentially gathered by it from the couple's break-up beforehand!"
"What do you mean?" she asked, returning to her mirror and admiring her improved image.
"I never thought you would ask!" he snickered. He pointed to one of the gauges and Spectra could see what appeared to be typed names under it. "Now, the shakier or newer the relationship the human couple has, the less pheromone energy that is released when they break up. But the stronger the relationship had once been before the couple split up, the more of the energy is ripe for the gathering. So…might I suggest that we target the Ghost Kid and his girlfriend? I've already monitored them and the results indicate that the energy between them is extremely high and increasing! And here's that other bonus I was talking about earlier: The Ghost Kid's reading is even more interesting. Apparently his human pheromones are enhanced by his ghostly ones, so… "
"That means more bang for our bucks!" Penelope interrupted with a sly smile, getting his drift.
"Exactly!" Bertrand beamed. "His very unique 'samples' will be the ultimate prize….and the ultimate bonus!"
"What do you mean?" she asked, even more intrigued.
"Well, this is just a theory, you know, but according to all my calculations…."
"Yeah, yeah, spare me the details," the shadow ghost replied with an annoyed wave of her hand.
He frowned a little at her obvious lack of interest in this part, but he shrugged it off and continued, "Anyway, like I said, his pheromones are very exceptional. And all things point to the strong possibility that once we have siphoned off the Ghost Brat's enhanced pheromones, each dose might last for years! But here's the juicy part. We already know that humans get weaker once we have siphoned off their misery pheromones, but since the Ghost Kid's ghost pheromones are so intertwined with his human ones, I surmise that if we can keep gathering up his one or the other kind of pheromones, what's left will be unstable. He'll become so weak that he might not ever recover from losing them, which means…."
"He won't be able to interfere with our future endeavors!" she interrupted once more.
He smiled and nodded in agreement with her.
She paused a moment, hardly able to contain herself at her next hungry thought. She unconsciously licked her lips and gushed, "How delectable! But how about more? While we're at it, can we can work on ruining the relationship of that Foley kid and his girlfriend. He has been a thorn in my side too long, ever since he was able to get those ghost mosquitoes out of those teens! That should be a bonus for me and bonus energy for me--again--to see his relationship bite the dust. And especially when it involves that girl. She's got more pent-up frustrations than a swollen tick! Arrgghh! Now you've made me think of more bugs, Bertrand!"
"Sorry, Penelope," her assistant said with a wag of his head. "But you really have to put more work into working on that phobia, you know!"
He cringed when she scowled at him. He knew that she had been doing just that when she had been using bugs--and that she tolerated him as one. But he quickly added, "The machine confirms that their energy is increasing, too, but it's not as strong as the bigger prize with the Phantom Kid and his girl."
"Oooh, I just love the plan, but the question is 'how'? How are we going to break them up?"
"That's easy," Bertrand smugly replied. "You know how volatile teens are! We can always just get another messed-up teen to mess everything up for them. We could overshadow some unsuspecting fools and get them to make the others jealous. We still have that special 'shielding' perfume left so that the Phantom Kid won't detect that they're being overshadowed."
"That might work. But, then again,…." She began, but then stopped when she caught a glance of the laughing ghost animals as they floated by. "What was that?"
"What was what?" Bertrand kind of echoed back, looking toward the nearby window when he heard a little laughter as well. But there was nothing at the window.
"I just thought I saw the weirdest thing! There were two black ghosts that just went by our window."
"So?" Bertrand responded, quickly unimpressed with her report.
Spectra flew to the window in time to see the dove and lynx floating away. They were obviously playing with each other. Her ghost eyes widened; and she immediately turned back to her assistant in disbelief. "And one of them is some kind of black cat and the other is some kind of bird!"
"So?" he repeated, still unimpressed.
She turned back to the window and reported, "But where are the human ghosts? I know I heard laughter,.,." She gasped when she looked more closely. "It's them! They're together and they're laughing!"
"So?..." he began.
But she forcefully interrupted him, "Will you stop that? That's just it! They're different ghost animals—together. And laughing! When was the last time you've seen a cat and bird together as friends and both laughing as humans? That can't be possible! They must be more than just ghost animals! Hmmm….The psychological complexity in itself must be immense! C'mon!"
Bertrand rolled his eyes as she darted outside. Did she always have to spout out all that psycho-babble all the time?
But he quickly followed her to the outside of the lair.