A/N: As if my week was hectic enough, then what happens? I couldn't update this past Friday! Something about a 'processing error'. I really don't know what that is, but all I'm glad about is that it's fixed. My apologies for the lateness, but it wasn't my fault! I thought I had been a good girl, but maybe I haven't been? I better think about that! But anyways, it's WAY about time to update. Hope you're ready, 'cause I sure am! And a very Happy Independence Day to Brazil this Monday, September 7th! I'm very happy for you! Anyway, here is Chapter 51. Enjoy!

TrueHeart—Chapter 51—Race Against Disaster

Tucker and Valerie could feel their hearts racing as fast as the hover-board speeding them through the Ghost Zone. Derek and Sarah could also feel an apprehensive pressure within their bosoms as they maintained their pace next to the flying human couple. All of them frantically hurried to reach Bertrand's lair, focusing their efforts toward the coordinates still locked into Tucker's Ghost Zone Global Positioning System. Valerie had even turned off her ghost-tracker device so that they would not get distracted from their mission with scrambled up readings.

Along the way, they decided on the same plan as before—to send Sarah into it to scope it out. But, they halted just before they reached the lair. From what they could now see, though they were sure the coordinates were accurate and they were very near Bertrand's home, they really could go no further. And that was because that unlike Spectra's completely-showing lair, the entrance to Bertrand's lair was a lone door! And that would mean that they would have no choice but to enter it through that door!

Trying to decide on what to do next, Tucker and Valerie suddenly had the same idea. Tucker immediately hooked up his PDA to Valerie's ghost-detection instrument. He boosted its ability to scan for the desired signature. Once he was satisfied that Valerie's instrument might now be of a help, both he and his girl activated their devices. They scanned the lair, looking for an obscured area where Tucker might be able to create a portal, only to simultaneously gasp at their same discovery.

"There's no ghost in there!" they both blurted out at the same time. They both immediately rechecked their instruments, and unconsciously glanced up at each other moments after confirming their conclusions.

All the while, Sarah and Derek floated helplessly next to the two teens, silently watching them. They were, of course, uncertain of what the human couple was doing, but they were also hoping that the two teens were certain of what they were doing.

"Bertrand's not in there?" Tucker asked incredulously again. "But he was there!"

"My instruments also confirm that," Valerie added, glancing once more at her instruments. "The temperature is colder in spots, which would indicate that a ghost had been in there."

"Then, he must have somehow gone back to Spectra's lair!" Tucker announced, outwardly revealing his hunch. "Like Derek and Sarah said—and what we know—he spends a lot of time there. And darn it! We were so bent on getting here that he probably flew right past us on his way back. I bet he was invisible! And we wouldn't have been able to detect him out here unless we were constantly watching our instruments and not watching where we were going!" He groaned. Then chiding himself, he added, "I should have thought about monitoring the area!"

"Don't be so hard on yourself, Tucker," Valerie gently said. "We can't think of everything all the time. Besides, we know he was here and now he's gone. And that's a good guess on where he might be now. But why would he go back to Spectra's lair when nobody's there?"

"Maybe to meet up with her?" Tucker offered, but then he began to doubt that. "But she would have had plenty of time to get there with Danny by now. Where else would she be, then?" He gasped at his next wild thought, "Unless she took him somewhere neutral so that we couldn't track him!"

"Maybe, Tucker. But she's got to come back to her lair sometime, don't ya think?" Valerie suggested.

"She always did return to her abode, we can assure you," Derek added, remembering when she had surprised him and his wife those two particular times. And that memory triggered other thoughts, like all the evil the shadow ghost caused when she did return. If only he could stop any more evil from happening!

Once he thought that, another thought pressed upon him. He turned to his wife and began to whisper to her.

Satisfied that what Derek said could be a possibility, Tucker turned back to Valerie and continued, "Okay, then, we can assume she will come back." He gulped at his next idea. "But she might come back without Danny!" And then he gulped again at the immediate thought after that. "And where's Sam? I think she should have been here somewhere by now!"

Derek and Sarah were still softly conferring with each other and hadn't heard what he had said.

But Valerie quietly replied, "Unless she got captured, too?!"

Tucker instantly frowned with worry, as he recalled that mysterious phone call he had made to his female best friend. And his gut feeling still was that she had gone into the Ghost Zone. And that she was in trouble…big trouble.

But he didn't let his fears get in the way. Determined to do whatever he needed to do to help both of his best friends, he gritted his teeth and decided, "Okay. Then we need to head back to Spectra's lair. But this time, let's monitor the area as we go in case they've set up their meet-up place in a totally different area."

While letting her eyes drift to the vastness of the Ghost Zone, Valerie objected with some exasperation, "But that's like trying to find a needle in a haystack!" However, when she turned back to look at Tucker after saying that, she was startled by the grave look on his face. She had never seen him like that before! He looked so serious and so absolutely determined, it was as if nothing she would say would sway him. And indeed, it wouldn't.

Though it initially spooked her to see him like that; oddly, she could not help but feel a surge of strength coming from him that seemed to envelope her, too. She immediately lost her doubt at that precise moment. And then she said, "So, okay, then. Let's not waste any more time!"

Tucker's stone face melded right into a weak smile and he gently replied, "Thanks, Valerie. I needed that!"

She smiled back and he waited for her to prepare to activate the hover-board again. When they were ready, they turned to check on the ghost animals, only to find that they weren't there!

Both of the teens gasped with surprise and worry. Though really meaning to ask himself, Tucker blurted out loud, "Where did they go?"

Valerie checked her instruments and growled in frustration from all the interference. She didn't know where the two ghost animals went.

But before Tucker could check his PDA, they heard a very loud crash too close to them for comfort…

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Just as Tucker and Valerie had supposed, Bertrand had gone back to his lair. And, as it turned out, he had indeed spent a lot less time there than he normally would have...

Once Bertrand had gone into his lair, he wasted no time and went back into his laboratory. He reflexively smiled as he entered it. This was truly where he felt most at home! He smiled again when he saw his row of neatly labeled glass containers delicately embracing his various valuable concoctions. Some of those potions had been easy to mix. Others were very difficult and took a lot of his time preparing. But all of them were as dear to him as if they had been his children. Before he knew it, he was dusting the area and straightening the various vials as a mother would when fussing over her brood. It was second nature to him. And, indeed, it really was.

But when he finally came upon the vials containing Danny's already extracted, glowing pheromones his smile broadened. He counted them again, mentally adding up the years of youth they would supply Spectra and him. It didn't matter to him what siphoning off even more of Danny's precious commodity would do to the Ghost Brat. So what if doing just that would do as much damage to the kid as having his blood taken from him? After all, Bertrand had long since noticed that the Ghost Boy's pheromones were extremely powerful, all because of his hybrid nature. And because they were powerful and because losing them affected the kid more than any other creature, his ghostly pheromones might as well have been blood—ghostly blood, that is. But Bertrand didn't care about that. All he cared was that he couldn't wait to siphon off more of it from the kid.

He smirked in glee, "This quaint little stock may very well last us for decades! And now, all we need to do is keep the Ghost Brat just well enough to milk more of this energy from him in order to keep us well supplied for centuries…or more!"

Satisfied that their plan was working out perfectly, he grabbed a couple of nearby empty pouches. He then stuffed those pouches with more empty vials to take back to Spectra's lair. Right after, he glanced over to the other empty pouches, making a mental note to get hold of more vials in which to fill those as well. After all, he could not have too many of the vials, and he didn't want to be caught being unprepared again.

He finally turned to leave when he noticed the other substance that he had wanted and knew would be important much sooner than later. He grabbed that and then re-checking that he had the pouch full of empty vials again, took off toward Spectra's lair, eager to harvest his coveted supply of the Ghost Kid's pheromones...

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But unbeknownst to Tucker and Valerie, the shape-shifter had taken a short cut only he and Spectra knew of, which would explain why he was able to get back to her lair without the human teens noticing him or his noticing them. And by the time the two teens and two ghost animals were about half-way into getting to Bertrand's lair, he had already returned to Spectra's home.

Once the shape-shifter had finally arrived at Spectra's lair, he opened the front door and let himself in. He then pushed a camouflaged button located in a shadowed pocket near the entrance. Instantly, a hidden trapdoor to a secret small room just below the main floor opened up. And that trapdoor had sprung from the floor and led to a small, secret basement that Sarah did not know about and therefore had not thought to look for when she had earlier searched Spectra's entire lair. He quickly dove into and closed the trap door behind him.

It indeed was a very small room and was used as a mini-workshop for Bertrand to build a lot of his techno gear. There were tools of all kinds hanging on a pegboard securely hung on the wall. There were also some boxes stacked in the far corner that held all sorts of extra parts, piles of scrap metal, plastic and wiring that Bertrand insisted on keeping. After all, he had also insisted that they would never know when those would be needed. He even had empty boxes neatly stacked upon the other that were ready…just in case, again.

Nevertheless, in spite of Bertrand's being adamant about keeping lots of odd stuff, everything was spotless and neatly arranged and labeled. And right next the pile of boxes and right below the pegboard full of tools was a small work bench.

On the other side of the room was Spectra and Bertrand's makeshift prison for Danny and Sam. They had built-in some clamps into the two walls catty-cornered from the workbench and had secured their captives there. And even though Danny and Sam were diagonal to the workbench, and they weren't that far from just about everything in the room, the room was not cramped. There was plenty of room in which to maneuver. And, of course, Bertrand wouldn't have it any other way since he needed and demanded a lot of elbow room whenever he was being creative.

As he finally reached the area just below the trap door, Bertrand sighed in irritation when he noticed that the indicating light of his Ghost Signature Scrambler device was not on. He was quick to activate it, growling, yet resigned, in his thoughts: it was just like Spectra to not pay attention to this important feature to this room.

But Bertrand need not have worried about that right now. Though the device would scramble the signature of any ghost down here, it would only have to mask his and Spectra's auras right now. They wouldn't have needed it for Danny, since he still bore the residue of the signature-masking potion that had spilled on him during his fight with Bertrand earlier in the day.

But unbeknownst to Bertrand, Spectra's disregard to turn on the Scrambler had come of no consequence. As it was, Tucker and Valerie hadn't detected Spectra's signature earlier because Tucker wasn't trying to find any ghost and Valerie had only tried to home in on Danny's energy signature alone—and had ignored any other ghost artifact in the area, which had included Spectra's reading!

Bertrand floated downward and could see that the two teens were still unconscious. But Spectra was sitting in one of boxes in the corner and had been impatiently waiting for his return.

She quickly floated off the box and putting her hands on her hips, huffed, "Well, it's about time! If the Ghost Brat had woken, I would have had to use my powers on him instead of sucking more of his pheromones from him to knock him back out. And that would have been a waste of my time and energy! "

Bertrand purposely ignored her remark as he firmly countered, "Penelope, I can't tell you enough how important it is to use the Ghost Signature Scrambler when you're down here! That's the only reason why no one has ever discovered us using it all this while."

But the shadow ghost quickly dismissed his reproach. She was too eager to get on with her plans. She just as quickly—and with too much casualness— replied, "Did you get the vials?"

He grunted at her indifference, but tersely answered, "Yes, I did." He held up the pouch and remarked, "And it looks exactly like the pouch already full of the vials of the Ghost Kid's pheromones that it's currently in your lab. I don't want them to be confused with any other of my delicate potions, which is why I made sure that the pouches matched."

Spectra rolled her eyes. Just like Bertrand to be so up tight about that. Still, she, too, really didn't want to confuse all that deliciously potent stuff with any of the other glowing icky concoctions that Bertrand had made. Or accidentally get them mixed up. After all, there was no need to remind her just how priceless the Ghost Kid's pheromones were. But her thoughts were interrupted by Bertrand's next remark.

"And I also got this, since these two have to actually be conscious for what you want to do!" he replied, holding up another small vial up for her to see. He had also gotten this from his lair; and it contained something they would need momentarily.

Again, she either ignored or didn't notice his irritation. She continued, "Good! Now, I want you to revive the girl first. Then wait at least a minute before reviving Danny. I want to be totally ready when he opens his eyes."

"Okay, Penelope," he said, now having a strong hunch of her plans. "And shouldn't I make myself scarcer?"

"No, I need you to be ready with the machine. But stay as far back as you can. I already have an idea of what to say if the Ghost Brat's silly little ghost sense goes off."

Bertrand smirked at that and quickly placed the machine behind some nearby equipment. He then floated back out and readied the small vial he had also taken from his lair. It held a whitish solid that was surrounded by a whitish waft of vapor. Then, he waited for Penelope to give him the cue….

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"What was that?" Valerie and Tucker both said at once, reacting to the loud noise. An instant later, Valerie whipped out a weapon and Tucker pulled out his PDA. The Red Huntress activated her hover-board and she and her boyfriend—who was still in tandem—headed right toward the direction where they had heard the noise: Bertrand's lair!

Valerie willed three small triangular devices from her hand not holding the weapon. The small weapons each shot a pink beam which converged to one powerful pink beam. When the larger ray struck Bertrand's door, it immediately vaporized the entryway and the two teens soared into it.

Just as they entered the rather large lair, Valerie switched on a head beam and Tucker activated a flashlight beam on his PDA so that they could scan the area. Suddenly, they heard another loud crash. It was coming from one of the back rooms!

Cautiously, they flew that way and turned off their lights and stopped just as they neared the area emitting the loud noises. The two humans jumped off the hover-board and crept closer, keeping their weapons ready.

Finally, they reached the room and Valerie snaked her hand around the corner, fumbling for a light switch. She smiled when she found one and flipped it on.

As the light flooded the room, Tucker and Valerie stood stunned at the sight at first, not sure of what to make of it. Sarah and Derek were in the midst of destroying the laboratory! Sarah was shredding the potion book with her feet and beak and Derek was knocking over vials by the dozens. He was about to destroy a set of glowing vials when he and his wife were surprised by Tucker and Valerie and momentarily halted in their task when the light came on.

Tucker was the first to recover and he blurted out, "What are you doing?"

But when the couple saw who had turned on the light, they resumed their work. Derek was just about to knock over a set of the glowing vials, when Tucker spied their labels and cried, "Wait, Derek!"

Though confused, the lynx obeyed his command and turned his attention to the boy.

"Let me look at those vials!" the teen insisted as he weaved through the debris of the now mostly-destroyed lab and toward the ghost animals.

Valerie followed closely behind him as they made their way to the rows of vials that Tucker had spotted. There were nearly a dozen of them. The two humans choked a little on the fumes that were still eking from the small puddles of spilled potions that lay amidst their now shattered vials. But Derek and Sarah were not affected at all by the fumes of these particular potions because of their enchantment.

Finally, Tucker reached the lynx and the vials he almost destroyed and picked one up to examine it. "Why is Danny's name on these?" he mused.

"Those must be the magic that Spectra desired to take from Sir Danny!" Sarah said with dread. "That evil sorceress had said that she wanted something precious that only he could give her. Now I remember part of what she said! Something she called pharoah's moons."

"Pharoah's moons?" Tucker repeated in bewilderment. He searched his head for what that could possibly mean. He mumbled to himself, "Pharoah's-moons….phara moons…pharo-mones…pheromones…that's it! Did you mean pheromones?"

"Yes, that is the word!" Sarah excitedly replied. "And Spectra said that he would be very weakened when they took those from him, and would hurt him…" She swallowed hard and added, "…maybe, mortally!"

Tucker's eyes widened in dread. Still he had to remain focused in order to help his friend. He nodded in acknowledgement, as he now confirmed something in his head. "Well, that might explain why he was having such a hard time fighting Spectra and Bertrand a few hours ago! Pheromones are more physical attributes than emotion! It could be possible that if they got Danny's pheromones, then he would be physically weaker!" He then grabbed one of the glowing vials with determination and said with a slight smirk, "So, let's get these back to their rightful owner, shall we? I mean, assuming my theory is right, Danny's gonna need them back."

Valerie reached for the empty pouch she had noticed that was near the vials. Together with Tucker, she carefully placed the vials of glowing and deep plum substance safely within it. She opened a compartment in her suit at her waist and carefully secured the pouch within it.

In the meantime, the ghost animals silently watched the teens as they completed their task. They were about to resume finishing their own task when Valerie noticed another vial. "Hey, what's this?" she muttered as she reached for it.

She showed it to Tucker and he smiled. "That may come in handy later. Let's bring it along, too!"

Valerie nodded. She quickly grabbed that vial as well and placed it into another smaller empty pouch. She then opened the same compartment in her suit that contained the glowing substance, and placed that pouch within it. Once she was through, she looked at her companions.

The ghost animals took that as their cue. They didn't wait any longer for the teens and turned back to their task. Now it was Tucker and Valerie's turn to silently watch on as the two animals quickly finish destroying what little was left of Bertrand's lab.

After they were through, Sarah finally remarked, "Please do not think ill of us for what we have done. We felt we had the time, since we were all at a loss on what to do at the moment. We could not be satisfied knowing that this evil place was still existing. We are now content to know that the merciless sorceress and her wicked assistant can no longer make their vile concoctions at this horrid place! And, now, once we find our friends, we feel we will not rest unless we do the same to Spectra's laboratory as we have done here."

"She has a lab, too?" Tucker asked, totally surprised by the news.

This time Derek answered him, "Yes, she does, but it is not as big as this one. We will not need as much time to destroy that one."

"Hold on, there," Tucker said with a frown. "Not that I don't think you actually did a pretty good thing in tearing up this place, but we can't just show up at Spectra's and do the same thing. If Bertrand's there, who says that Spectra won't be, either? That'll complicate things."

"True, but we will do it as soon as we are sure that everything is calm and the ghosts are gone," Derek replied.

"But how can you be sure that they will be gone?" Tucker countered.

"You said so yourself, Sir Tucker, that they may have gone to a totally different place," Sarah added. "That way, if we find they are not there, we can destroy that evil sorceress' laboratory."

"I don't know," Tucker began, purposely ignoring the honorific she was still using for him. "I don't think we should waste our time with that. We need to find Danny…" He paused a moment, bewildered at his next thought. But then, he suddenly knew that this time he was right with that hunch and continued, "…and, uh, Sam."

"We did not forget about that, Sir Tucker," Sarah gently said. She then paused. He was right, of course.

Derek saw his wife's reaction and then said, "We agree with you, Sir. But if we find out that they are not there after all, we might have the time if it presents itself to us. If not, we also desire to do whatever you say to try to find your friends."

"I'm with them on this one," Valerie finally piped in, turning toward the group. She had been examining the various equipment and destroyed vials in the laboratory while Tucker had been speaking with the ghost couple.

Tucker looked to her as she pointed to the destroyed items on the floor and continued, "If in the end Spectra and Bertrand don't have all this stuff, they won't be able to give us any trouble for a long time."

"Okay, this time, I might be outvoted," Tucker admitted. "But we have to make sure that no one is at Spectra's lair and we have to make sure we find Danny and Sam before we destroy her lab. If she finds out that we totally trashed it before we find them, she might do more harm to them."

Valerie suddenly scrunched her face, wondering why Tucker had now included Sam in all of this. But, she kept quiet. Maybe he had agreed with her hunch that Sam might have been captured as well.

"We did not think of that!" Sarah gasped. "Then, we must find our friends first!"

This time, Valerie and the two ghost animals nodded in agreement with Tucker.

Tucker smiled weakly and insisted, "Okay, let's get going, then. We can discuss our plans on the way!"

And with that, they all knew they needed no more discussion. Without further ado, the two couples made quick tracks back to Spectra's lair.