The new day did began, and like usual, Nicholas found himself in the Space Center cafeteria for breakfast. Most of it was occupied by the students or astronauts in training, but there were a few tables reserved for the employees.

Nicholas sighed and made his way past the students to his table. There, his fellow crewmates were already seated, chattering away while eating their meal.

"These tests for the special missions are a lot trickier than the ones for normal astronauts," Lancer announced, pointing his fork at one of his crewmates. "It's hard to keep track of all those maps and stuff."

"You really need to know what the heck you're doin'," Jeffery added, chewing on some eggs. "Kinda makes you wonder what kind of responsibilities the Captain's got."

"I am totally psyched to have been picked for this, man," Jacob said excitedly. "Not only are we going to be the first astronauts to embark on a mission like this, but we've got one of the best astronauts as our Captain." He pointed at Lancer, just as Nicholas joined them. "I heard that Dr. Fenton was a D average student in high school, but he knew NASA's systems inside and out, he knew how to work a space shuttle, and he's a wiz at flying! Can you believe it? A D average student! And he's one of NASA's youngest and smartest astronauts!"

"Not to mention one of the cutest," Melissa added, stirring her soup.

Lisa swallowed her food and pointed her toast at her shipmate. "Sorry, girl; he's already married," she said. "I heard he's even got a kid."

"Didn't he go missing for five years?"

"Apparently, he and his wife did you-know-what before he left."

Some of the astronauts chuckled softly. Nicholas only went straight to beginning his breakfast and remained silent.

Lancer looked at him. "Hey, Nick," he said. "What do you think about the Captain?" he asked.

Nicholas looked at him. "What?"

"What do you think about this Danny Fenton?"

Nicholas turned back to his food. "It's Dr. Fenton or Captain, Lancer," he said. "You heard him last week."

"But what do you think about him?"

Arthur leaned over the table. "Isn't he awesome?" he asked with a grin. "He's gonna be such a fun guy to work for, I know it!"

"Isn't it sweet how he's a great pilot already?"

Nicholas looked at them in turn before looking at his food. "He's just… real good at flying, that's all," he said. "He's done a bunch of practice."

David playfully nudged his shoulder. "Come on, Nicholas!" he insisted. "You're going to be his co-pilot! Isn't that gonna be sweet? It'll be like Star Trek or something! You're second in command! How sweet is that?"

Nicholas cut some sausage and placed it in his mouth. "It… feels great," he said quietly.

The crew members looked at each other in confusion before staring at Nicholas once more. Lancer leaned towards him. "You okay?" he asked. "When we trained together for this moment, you were as giddy as a school boy. Why are you all of a sudden so quiet?"

Nicholas looked at him. "I've just… um, got a lot of studying to do," he fibbed. "I need to learn about the ship from the inside and out, remember?" He looked at Lancer, grinned playfully and rubbed the man's head. "I've got more to remember than any of you, dipstick."

Some of the crew chuckled softly while Lancer reached back and rubbed Nicholas' head before they went back to eating. "You ever heard about the Captain's family?" he asked, while picking up some bacon. "His parents are two of the world's best Ghost Hunters. Apparently, Amity Park's had hundreds of ghost apparitions in the past 15 or 16 years."

"I heard that Dr. Fenton's upgraded our shuttle to fit most of the ghost-bustin' gadgets his parents create," Arthur added. "He comes from a family of geniuses, man. Pure geniuses."

"He doesn't seem like the talkative type, though," Melissa pointed out. "You know when he gave us that speech a week ago? He actually did look pretty nervous to be up there on the stage. I wonder what he's going to be like while training us."

Jacob suddenly raised his head and quickly swallowed what he was chewing. "Hey, do you think that, considering he lives in Amity Park, that he's seen Danny Phantom?"

Nicholas froze at those words and remained incredibly silent.

"Hey, that's a good question," Lisa agreed. She grinned excitedly. "I heard that the mayor of Amity Park is actually a close friend to the ghost!"

"A friend?" Martha scoffed.

"Well, at least he personally knows the guy. Danny Phantom gives a lot of his information about the ghosts that attack the city to the mayor. It's pretty awesome, if you've seen the stuff on TV."

Lancer placed his hand on his cheek. "Man, what I'd give to meet Danny Phantom," he sighed. "I've been a fan of him since I was a teen. It must be sweet to see him in action."

Nicholas nervously began to stir the food in his dish. He tapped his fingers nervously.

Judy looked at him from across the table. "Nicholas, are you okay?" she asked, catching everyone's attention.

"Uh-huh," Nicholas replied with a quick nod.

"But you look like you've just seen a ghost or something."

"I'm fine."

"But—!"

All of a sudden, a small robotic sphere sailed across the air and landed on their table, causing food to go flying. The women cried in surprise and watched in awe as the orb floated up into the air again.

"What the heck is that?" David wondered.

A student from the Academy ran towards them while holding up a remote control. "Sorry, Sirs and Ma'ams," he said quickly. "It's just a new robot I'm working on. Pretty neat, huh?"

"If by neat you mean annoying, than yes," Jeffery muttered while pulling some eggs out of his hair.

Nicholas pointed over his shoulder. "You should put that thing away, Kid," he said. "The Seniors don't like it when students goof off like that in the Caf. It's not like high school, you know."

"Hey, I'm just having some fun," the student replied. "It's just a robot. Nothing more."

"You could make a mess."

"It's only got a few kinks left in it, but I'm pretty sure it's under control now—!"

As he spoke, the young man began fiddling with the controls; to his complete bewilderment, the robot lurched and swung itself into Arthur's cup, knocking the coffee in it onto the remote in the student's hands.

The robot immediately began to fly about the cafeteria, completely out of control. People all over the place were ducking and shouting in surprise as the robot shaved them or ran into tables or even landed in plates. Within mere seconds, the area had become a battlefield.

Some of the crew held their trays over their heads and ducked low. "That thing's gonna slice someone's head off if someone doesn't stop it!" Lancer exclaimed, crouching on the floor.

Nicholas dodged the flying robot once more before getting to his feet and dashing after it.

"Nicholas, what are you doing?" Martha wondered.

Nicholas leaped over someone before looking back. "I've got to stop that thing before someone gets hurt," he called back. He ran into the main aisle while continuing to dodge the robot.

The robot seemed to enjoy the challenge and began swooping down over Nicholas like a hawk. The man dodged it or leaped at it, trying to grab it and hold the object in place. It whizzed and whistled, almost as if teasing him.

Nicholas fell to the ground on a banana peel at one point, but quickly rose to his feet while glaring at the robot. "Come here, you stupid piece of junk!" he cried out, running after the robot and leaping towards it.

He finally managed to place both hands around the sphere. He smiled victoriously. "Gotcha!" he said before landing.

Unfortunately, he landed on a tray, which sent him stumbling forward. He flailed an arm through the air, holding onto the robot with his other hand, until he finally ran into someone.

Splash!

Some people gasped in shock. Nicholas felt the hot liquid on his shoulder, which had run into someone, and then smelled the fragrant of coffee. He gasped softly before daring to look up, already knowing who it was that he had bumped into again.

Danny quickly dropped his coffee mug to the floor as the hot liquid spilled all over his uniform and his hand. He gasped painfully and took a step back in bewilderment while staring at his now dirty clothes.

Standing behind him, obviously walking along with him into the cafeteria, was Nicholas' uncle, Dr. Johnson. The Head scientist stared at them in shock while covering his mouth.

Nicholas looked at him for a moment before staring in fear at his Captain. Danny stared back at him, first in shock, and then in frustration. An unimpressed frown spread over his brow.

Nicholas cowered slightly. "Uh, good morning, Sir," he said nervously, holding the robot in his hands.

Danny stared at him in silence before looking at the mess around him in the cafeteria. After a moment, he glared softly at Nicholas again.

Nicholas swallowed with great difficulty. Suddenly, the robot in his hands began to whine loudly and shot out of his grasp, much to his surprise.

Danny recoiled as the robot flew inches from his face and sailed into the air. The people around them that had dared to get up cried out in shock and ducked to the ground again.

Nicholas covered his head and crouched as well, just as Johnson did the same.

Danny, however, did not. He frowned and immediately took off after the rogue robot, gracefully jumping over any area on the floor that seemed hazardous to his balance.

Nicholas slowly uncovered his head and rose to his feet and watched as Danny gave the robot chase. Danny jumped onto a table and dashed across it, leaping onto another one and then landing on the floor. The robot zigged and zagged in every direction, trying to escape its hunter.

The black-haired man skidded across the floor before leaping onto a table once more. This time, when he ran to the edge, the robot turned back and charged straight for him.

Someone gasped.

Danny challenged the robot silently before jumping off of the table again and running into it. The robot impacted against him, pushing him backwards through the air.

To everyone's surprise, however, Danny managed to land on his feet and slide backwards a few inches before coming to a stop. When he stood up straight, he revealed that he was holding the robot captive in his hands. The machine tried to break free violently.

People rose to their feet and stared at Danny in awe. Nicholas could only remain silent while the others whispered excitedly.

Danny pressed a few buttons that were on the sphere and then gave it a whack before the machine shutdown. Then, he walked up to Nicholas. When he looked up at the man, Nicholas noticed that his frown was still aimed at him.

Danny tossed the robot gently into the air as he walked by, causing Nicholas to reach out and catch it before it fell to the floor. "Next time you want to play with something, do it outside," Danny said quietly yet coolly as he passed his co-pilot.

Nicholas looked up at him in silence, partially in disbelief and partially in shame of letting him down again. He looked pitifully at his uncle.

Johnson stared back at him with concerned eyes before turning and following Danny back out of the cafeteria.

Nicholas watched them leave before looking down at the dead robot in his hands.

Lancer and a few other members of his crew ran up to him. "That was a pretty slick save," David said in awe. "I've never seen someone stop a robot like that before. He must really come from a family of geniuses."

Lancer ignored him and looked at Nicholas. "You okay, man?" he asked softly.

Nicholas did not look up or reply.