The FentonWorks laboratory was eerily silent and shadowy, and it stayed that way for several minutes longer before a vicious clanging broke out. A Fenton invention, closely resembling a metallic vacuum cleaner, loud yet muffled noises clanking from within, moved from side to side as if something inside of it were making an uproar. The riot stopped momentarily, as if in frustration, then presumed even more vivaciously than before. It was with a sudden great upheaval the vacuum cleaner exploded, parts flying everywhere, as the ghost known as Nicolai Technus broke free of his confines.

He looked around wildly, resettling his square tinted glasses over his eyes.

That child had locked him away, but not forever. No one could defeat Technus forever. It was simply impossible. He looked closer at his surroundings. Glorious technology. Everywhere. Yes…this would do. He gathered up as much as he could find—he certainly wasn't staying in this hovel. He needed to be out there, in the streets of the town, where all the people were…and show them the splendor of Nicolai Technus!

The building was crowded with people. They chatted with one another, walking to and fro, getting drinks from coolers or grabbing chip bags and stuffing their fingers in them. Danny, numbly, walked around inside aimlessly. People stared at him. It was a last straw when he found Paulina Sanchez standing in the midst of the crowd, she didn't bother being discreet with what she thought. She seemed awkward, as anyone would be after their last encounter at the school dance; then, she was confused. The emotions in her face were so obvious the attendees she was nearest followed her gaze and ogled him as well.

Kwan Do, Dash's crony. Wesley Weston, basketballer and member of the school newspaper crew. Starr Skye, Paulina's best friend. It seemed like everyone Danny knew and didn't know was there.

Danny couldn't take it anymore. He turned around and made a beeline for the still-open front door, exiting the Baxter home hastily. He didn't want to be there. The fact that his sister was in there somewhere struck him. He should tell her what Dash had done. But, then, that would ruin her evening, and Danny felt a touch of guilt. He'd been…almost jerkish to her, lately, she didn't need this on top of everything else. She worked so hard, she needed a chance to do something fun. He wasn't going to ruin that. Then, a different, darker thought came upon him.

She went to the party early to 'tutor' Dash some more. Do you really think that was what she was doing with him? You know Dash likes her. Snidely whispered a voice from nowhere. That was disgusting. No. She couldn't be…he'd die inside if he ever found out she and Dash were a thing. He bet Dash hadn't led her on to believe the party was formally themed. How stupid had Danny been to go along with that, anyway? What kind of teenager had parties with formal dress? God. He was such a moron. Pathetic. He deserved to be harassed like he was.

His scooter's motor buzzed as he drove down the mostly empty streets. It was getting dark out, fairly nighttime already, and—

What…was that?

Danny stopped his scooter.

A swirling mass of technological objects, car parts, computers, remote controls, washing machines, and the like, looked like a whirlpool of chaos in the middle of Gaste Street, far too close to Danny's house for comfort. He could see FentonWorks' sign not too far off. A nasally voice rang out: "Yes...it is time! Come to me my minions," minions was pronounced min-ee-ens, "It is time to fulfill my destiny! Ha-ha-ha, ha-hah!" Crackling electricity sparked here and there and Danny flinched away from it instinctively. He realized the parts were gradually coming together to form...something.

It had legs and arms. It reminded him of a Transformer robot.

"I am Technus! Master of all things mechanical! And when I am done constructing, you will all succumb to my awesome pow—pow—er—" The hands came up to hold the sides of a 'head' as if in distress, "What is wrong with me?!"

Danny was stunned, he knew that voice. It was a distinct one and hard not to. How'd he get out? Danny thought he was done with him. He stammered out, in a shout, "No!"

Red electrical optics clicked onto him. "You!"

Was he really that recognizable?

"Yeah!" He answered, with unanticipated temper, "Me!"

He transformed, right then and there, flying high up above the black-and-green robot and smashing down upon it with the soles of his boots. Technus's new form crumpled in half, the human in Danny thought it looked painful, but on the other hand, that was kind of the point. He was smacked away soundly by an oversized hand, more of a punch, really, it created a crack in his goggles. He fell against the pavement.

"You are a formidable opponent—but—a little wet behind the ears. Perhaps you could a little...drying off?" The center of Technus' suit opened like a clothes dryer, a cord coming out from it ending in a claw-like grasp, which was too fast for Danny to avoid in time, dazed as he was. It wrenched him closer and closer to Technus until he was inside the dryer, inside of Technus, he whirled around again and again, knocking his head what seemed like numerous times until it seemed inevitable he would be getting a serious headache. He was blasted out of the dryer without warning, landing head-first on a parked car.

Samantha Manson noticed her hair dryer coming alive before it noticed her gawking.

She cried out as it lunged for her, she slammed the bathroom door closed before it could reach her. A ghost! There was a ghost in her house?!

Sam didn't know what to do. She had to find Danny!

She brought out her cell phone, glancing at her bedroom window when she thought she caught movement in her periphery. She wasn't wrong. Shutting her cell, she left it on her bed. She left her room, sprinted down the spiraling staircase, and out the back door of her mansion, and stumbled to a stop. Electronics were flying through the air.

Tucker followed his father up the staircase. His mom was yelling and screaming up in the master bedroom.

"Honey, are you okay?!" His father demanded, opening the room door and both he and his son were shocked to find her backed up in a corner by a livid green-glowing computer.

Tucker sucked in a harsh breath. Danny. Only Danny could stop this.

Or so he thought—he seemed to forget his father owned a shotgun, which his father used.

That didn't change the fact he needed to tell Danny.

He looked out his bedroom window after sneaking away from his parents, his dad comforting his mother. Tucker felt bad, but...there were flying objects all going in a straight line down the street. There was no way Danny wasn't involved with this somehow. Tucker was afraid, but he had a duty to help his friend.

He ran to the closet where the circuit box of the house was, flipped the switch, and all the power in the house went off.

He rushed outside and into the night. He followed the stolen, possessed items.

It was at some point Tucker and Sam came across each other. It was unavoidable.

Tucker was the first to speak, "Sam! What're you doing here?"

"What're you?"

She was right, of course.

"Everything's...gravitating somewhere," Sam said, "But where?"

Tucker tried to think of something intelligent to say in response, but found he was too scared. This was bigger than anything they'd done before.

They raced together and eventually found themselves on Gaste Street, where Danny lived.

A scream tore into the air and they both jumped in fright. Sam stood stock still as the sound of a crash hit her eardrums, then there was Danny, or—ghost-Danny—in his black-white armor suit and hood, glowing faintly and flying right at them.

She stared and he went past her, over her head, plastering against the brick alley wall behind them with a winded grunt.

He staggered to his feet. His knees gave out. Sam couldn't see his eyes through the goggles, but he froze, registering their presence. He was slack-jawed.

Loud footfall cut off whatever any of them were going to say. From between two buildings emerged a monstrous robot. "I am Technus, Master of Technology and Destroyer of Worlds! Behold, my awesome electronic fury!" With no pretense Technus threw in, leaning in closer to the three of them, "Who's your daddy?"

Danny snapped himself out of it. He flew, charging at Technus again. He slammed into his chest. It had no effect. He pummeled his fists repeatedly on the same spot. It did nothing. Technus raised an arm and slapped Danny downwards as if brushing away a mosquito. Sam and Tucker gasped and winced in sympathy as he hit the ground before them.

With no other alternative, Danny called to his friends, "Help!"

Tucker tensed. What could he do? Oh, god, Danny was going to die—he watched in amazement as Danny picked himself up again and didn't give up. He kept charging over and over at Technus only to be hurt again and again. Tucker didn't know how he could do it.

"Thermos!" Danny all but screamed. "In my backpack!" He gestured down at his abandoned scooter. He'd brought his backpack along with him to the party filled with snacks and drinks...but also the thermos. He thought he could contribute to Dash's party. It might have been dumb of him, but it was turning out to have been a good idea now.

Sam moved first, but Tucker, influenced by adrenaline, was faster. He reached Danny's scooter and zipped open his backpack in a flash. Indeed, the thermos was in it, he would make certain he didn't drop it this time.

Danny saw a loose wire in Technus' suit and dove for it. He just barely dodged another fist, grabbing an iron hold of the wire and shoving it in Technus' chest like a razor with preternatural strength.

"Wait!" Shrieked Technus, "That doesn't go there!"

He short-circuited, steam pouring out of every crevice of the suit, which went lifeless, bending over at the waist, arms hanging loose, head bowed.

Danny eyed it, mistrusting. After all he'd gone through, it couldn't be that easy. It wasn't. To his alarm, a finger was still twitching.

"Tucker! Give me the thermos!"

Tucker stumbled forward to toss Danny the requested device, Danny caught it deftly, his concentration heightened by his own panic. Screaming 'noooo' overdramatically seemed to be a trend amongst ghosts, because that was what Technus did as he was sucked into the thermos, just as Skulker, the Box Ghost, and the Lunch Lady, as well as other various, nameless ghosts had done before him.

Danny huffed laughter through his nose a little hysterically.

The suit fell apart, creating immense clamor as the individual parts lost their glow and became the electronic things they were before.