A/N: Well, well, have you missed me out there? I've certainly missed all of you! I forgot to tell y'all that I went out-of-town again this weekend and just got back! Wish I could say it was all for pleasure, 'cause it wasn't. But it wasn't a total bust, (some of it was salvageable fun!) and NOW it's time to have REAL fun! Anyhow, I don't think we need a recap, do we? OK, then here is Chapter 10, and as you can see by the title, the wheels on Spectra and Bertrand's evil plans begin to turn! Enjoy.
TrueHeart—Chapter 10—The Plan Begins
The next day was an unusually balmy one in Amity Park. However, the forecast had predicted that would soon change. A cold front was fast approaching the small town, herding scattered dark clouds with it, as well as a threat of chilling storms. Too bad that an even darker storm would soon penetrate the walls of Casper High…
In the meantime, the two ghost animals had tossed and turned all night, tormented by nightmares that denied any rest in their sleep. The lynx was the first to stir, opening his eyes slightly; but he did not rise. He was still too dazed from the effects of the potion that Spectra had given him and his wife. The wildcat tried to fully open his eyes and lifted his head a little. He was lying on his side and looked downward at the sleeping, curled form nestled just against his chest. His feline eyes frowned, confused as to why this creature would be so near him. He could not see the bird's head, for it was tucked under one of its outstretched wings. Still, he did not move. He couldn't move. The elixir made him feel as heavy as lead, as if an unforeseen power was pressing down upon him. He lay his head back down and sighed.
Then, suddenly, his ears perked up. He thought he heard voices, but he could barely make out what they were saying. He sighed again; and resting his head on his paws, listened in, wondering who was talking and why. But in the very next moment, his eyes burned a solid red as he perked up in attention at the command he next heard.
"Listen!" the strange female voice said, but Derek didn't know that the order had actually been directed at Bertrand in the next room. Still, the lynx listened as commanded and unconsciously made a mental note about their conversation.
"Now, it's almost time to get going," Spectra told Bertrand. "We have to start before school begins. You know, that is when all those kids loiter around and try to impress each other. That would be the perfect time for our two pawns to plant their seeds of destruction in the Ghost Kid and his girl."
"Oooh, I just love it when you get dramatic! Bertrand gushed, and then continued, "And each of those two new brats are in the same classes as the kid and his girlfriend, so we can still have them needle them throughout the whole day! By the time it's over, those two little teens won't be able to stand the sight of each other!"
"Let's hope! And don't forget to keep the machine ready! Don't want to miss any of Danny's potent pheromones that might be lost in the process!" Spectra said, unconsciously licking her lips. "I can just taste them now! And you say that they might last for years? Hmm….maybe…" She didn't wait for Bertrand's response as she added, "Still, it'll be good to have Danny too weak to do anything about it in the end, don't you think? Now, shall we wake our quaint little guests?"
Bertrand nodded with an evil smirk, following closely behind her as she led the way.
They hadn't gotten far before Spectra spied one of the many mirrors that decorated her lair. She quickly stopped at it and inspected her human image. Bertrand barely avoided running into her as she did.
She didn't even look away from the mirror when she suddenly yelled, "Bertrand!"
"I'm right here, Penelope!" he said, his voice clearly irritated that she had practically assaulted his ears.
But she answered him, not noticing his irritation at all. "Oh, there you are! Quick, can you get that machine? I need a new dose!" She didn't even pull herself away from the mirror to look at him.
"Whatever!" he grumbled, as he turned to retrieve the machine.
In the silence which followed when Bertrand had left, Derek had rested his head back down upon the couch. He took this break in conversation as a command to mean that he was to disengage his attention. He closed his eyes and began to feel woozy.
Bertrand came back a few minutes later with the little box. He quickly turned it on and scanned the gauges for a moment before suddenly chuckling, "Oh, goody! Another married couple is splitting up!" He pushed a button and the machine rattled a little to life. Finally, a bell dinged and it stopped. He inspected the results, which were mauve in color. Not the best sample, but considering how far the machine had to search to capture those pheromones, not bad, either. He quickly took the vial out, affixed the aerosol top to it, and administered the dose to Penelope, who had not left the mirror.
"Ahhhh!" she sighed, now satisfied to have her perfectly flawless face back.
"That should last for a day at least," Bertrand commented.
"Only a day? Oh well, then, that should hold me until we get the big guns!" she said, still admiring her looks. Finally satisfied with the results, she then turned to Bertrand and said, "Now, let's get going."
She quickly headed to the room that held the enchanted couple. Derek had drifted back to sleep and Sarah was still deep in it when the shadow ghost and her assistant came in.
"Aww, isn't that sweet?" Spectra said dryly, as she observed their nestled forms. She quickly floated to them and loudly cleared her throat.
The animal ghosts didn't even flinch.
The female shadow ghost quickly became irritated and forcefully yelled, "Get up!"
This time, the dazed couple startled awake and immediately rose from their position.
Spectra smiled at seeing their completely scarlet, flaming eyes looking blankly at her. Just as she scooped the dove up, she motioned for Bertrand to fetch the lynx. She didn't need to signal her assistant to follow her, and she started to leave the lair.
He frowned, but did as she wanted. He quickly soared after her.
They had not gone too far when Spectra stopped and surveyed the area. Satisfied at the location, she smiled as she willed out her Spectre claws without hesitation and rent a hole in the dimension. She looked into the portal right after that and laughed. Not only had her hunch had been right, but there was also a bonus of luck with it! She saw Danny and Sam and Tucker and Valerie on the sidewalk, making their way to school. "How perfect is that?" she couldn't help utter in pure delight. And then quickly pointing to the lynx and then the dove, she snickered, "Bertrand! It's time to get this unhappy couple together,…." She just as quickly pointed to the humans she was viewing from her portal and concluded, "…to get those happy couples un-together!"
No sooner had she said this than she cradled the bird closer to her, and raising an eyebrow at Bertrand, silently questioned him to see if he was ready. Bertrand, in turn, secured the lynx within his arms, and answered her with a silent nod.
Maintaining their stealth mode, the four ghosts quickly arrived at the school, and landed next to the only huge tree near the front entrance.
Turning to her assistant, Spectra said with a worried frown, "Oh, Bertrand, one more thing I didn't think of before we left. You didn't forget to bring the masking spray, did you?"
"What is the masking…Oh! Do you mean the 'De-ghost-a-fier'?" Bertrand replied.
Spectra rolled her eyes and wryly answered, "Why did you feel you had to give it such a ridiculous name?"
He said with a smug, "Well, it does mask your ghost signature, so it really 'de-ghosts' ya; so then, voilà, I call it the "De-ghost-a-fier'!"
Spectra rolled her eyes again; but refusing to get upset, settled for a dry response. "Whatever. Did you bring it?"
"Of course!" he replied, momentarily closing his eyes in self-satisfaction. "You know we wouldn't get to 'first base' without it. The Ghost Kid would know right away that those two humans were overshadowed without it."
"Good! So, let's hurry up and spray ourselves with it," the shadow ghost impatiently said.
"Us?" he asked in bewilderment. Pointing to the two stupefied ghost animals, he added, "I brought only enough for our two pawns. I didn't think we were going to go incognito. I thought we were just going to let these two do all the dirty work for us. Besides, the 'De-ghost-a-fier' is a very precious commodity, you know, and we have to conserve it as much as we can. The plant I use for it is very hard to come by, as you well know."
Spectra clicked her tongue to the roof of her mouth before commenting, "Oh, well, then, we'll just have to make sure that those two 'pawns' are clear on their mission and let things play out. It's just that I wanted to be there to witness first hand the look on the Ghost Brat's face when the blow to his relationship comes. And, of course, to pick the ripest pheromones when it all happens."
"Don't worry, we'll be close enough right here to reap the awards," Bertrand replied, patting the tiny machine that he had brought along. "You know that this little baby will suck those pheromones up like a vacuum cleaner!"
"Just as well, then. It'll have to do for now. And speaking of 'now', let's get these two hosed down with that 'De-ghosta-stuff' and prep them. We want to be sure that they are completely covert when they work their charm on our targets."
Right after Spectra said this, she quickly materialized enough to see the two ghost animals under her command. She wanted to be absolutely sure that they would not misinterpret her.
Bertrand brought the passive lynx right up to Spectra's eye height and held him there. Spectra, in turn, did the same with the dove. Glancing intermittently between the two of them, she locked her evil gaze at them both and firmly commanded, "You will each have a human to overshadow. You, Derek, will overshadow the boy, and…" The female Spectre suddenly stopped and growled, clearly irritated, "Bertrand, they won't know which boy or girl unless we point them out! What are you going to do to make sure that they know?"
Scrunching his face back in a bit more irritation, Bertrand shortly said, "Alright, Penelope! I can turn into a fly and buzz the names in their ears and point them out when I see our other victims. I might be small enough to keep the Ghost Kid from detecting me. Besides, it would be better to get the machine as close as possible."
"You had better be right about all this, Bertrand! I don't want anything to mess this up!"
"Nothing's going to mess this up! It's perfect, as all of your plans are!" he said with a prideful smile.
She smirked sarcastically back before returning her gaze to the two silent ghost animals. She cleared her throat and firmly said, "Now, listen to me! Bertrand will whisper in your ear and tell you which girl and which boy you are to overshadow. Then, you are to…"
She stopped again in aggravation. "How will they know who the Ghost Kid and his girl are?"
"Easy! The two brats they're going to overshadow know the Ghost Kid and his goth girl. Just mention their names to Sarah and Derek and they will remember them once their minds connect with the two teenagers we're going to use!"
"If you say so, Bertrand," Penelope said with at satisfied smile. "OK. Last time!" This time, she handed the dove to Bertrand, who frowned now that he had to hold both of the ghost animals. But Spectra ignored his reaction; and reaching toward the ghost animals with both of her hands, cupped each of their chins within them. She held their chins firmly, pulling their hazed gaze right into hers as she commanded once more, "You will listen to Bertrand. He will tell you which girl or which boy to overshadow. Then, you, Sarah, will flirt with Danny Fenton."
The dove's eyes flared slightly with the command.
Seeing that the dove understood, the shadow ghost turned to the lynx. "And you, Derek, will try to steal Sam Manson's heart." She waited for the lynx's eyes to flare before she added, "Now, listen, both of you! Do as good a job as you did wooing each other…" She paused with her next thought, "I mean, like the young people today do! Oh, just listen to the minds of the two humans you overshadow and you'll know what to do! Do you understand?"
Derek and Sarah's eyes blazed a little just before Spectra relaxed and let their chins fall out of her hands. The two ghost animals quickly nodded in understanding when she did.
She smiled wickedly just before she commanded, "Now, make yourselves intangible and invisible and go! And report back here when your task is done!"
The moment the words left her lips, all three of the other ghosts turned intangible and invisible. Bertrand quickly changed into a fly again, and just before flitting right after the departing mesmerized ghost animals, noticed Danny and Sam, followed by Tucker and Valerie, in the near distance. He quickly overtook the ghost couple and hissed a firm command for them to follow him. They obediently altered their course and speed behind him.
The ghost fly led them toward the front of the school, fretting when he suddenly saw that the two human couples were headed for the same exact spot.