Summary: Tucker and Sam pay a visit to the Fenton house, but their friend isn't their reason for stopping by.
Characters: Tucker, Sam, Maddie, Jack, Vlad, Technus, and Elle
Written: November 2015
Note: This is set during chapter 74 of Spectacular Specter.
Chapter 74.5
"Danny hasn't come home yet," Mrs. Fenton said after opening the front door.
"Ah, we know," Tucker said with a slight wince. "We just dropped him off because he had something he wanted to check out." Once they left the cemetery, which he was thankful to get away from, they decided to drive over to the Fenton house.
"There's something we wanted to talk about," Sam explained, "with you." Her smile was only slightly forced.
Tucker recognized it as the smile she used whenever she was trying to charm an adult. Which tended to involve one of her crusades. She could be extremely passionate about things, like eating right and saving animals and protecting the environment. It was something he liked a lot about her, even though he groaned whenever she tried to pull him and Danny into it. He only truly hated when she tried to make him eat vegetables. Sometimes, however, her passion could blind her. She claimed to be working on it though.
"With me?" Mrs. Fenton blinked in confusion. "Oh, um. Do come in." She stepped aside to allow her son's friends into the house. After they were inside, she closed the door.
"Who was at the door?" Mr. Fenton asked, walking into the front hall from the kitchen. He halted when he saw Sam and Tucker. "Danny's friends? He's not home yet."
"We know." Tucker bit back a chuckle at the adults' bafflement.
"We also know that you know about Phantom," Sam said bluntly.
Danny's parents exchanged a glance. Then Mrs. Fenton sighed. "It makes me nervous to know he's out there. Some criminals and ghosts can be dangerous. And then you have the Guys in White out to get him."
"He's done pretty well taking care of himself so far," Tucker pointed out, though he omitted what he knew about the injuries Danny received while fighting criminals and ghosts. He doubted mentioning that would help with Danny's parents worrying about him.
"But he is just one person," Sam said. "He does a lot to help stop crime and protect the town. But being just one person," her shoulders hunched up as her forced smile widened just a touch, "he can't be everywhere at once."
"We're not letting you two put yourselves in danger too," Mr. Fenton said sternly, folding his arms. Tucker couldn't remember a time when the man actually looked like a strict parent, but apparently he could manage it when he wanted.
"That's not what we meant!" Tucker said hurriedly, shaking his hands before him. "We don't want to go looking for criminals."
"It's more about being prepared in case something comes up," Sam added.
"We don't think it's wise for you to take on criminals." Mrs. Fenton shook her head. "That should be left up to the police."
"I'm going to assume you mean the real police." Sam frowned. "Because we all know the Guys in White care more about capturing Phantom than they do about capturing actual criminals."
"We aren't talking about taking out someone who comes in to, like, rob a bank at gunpoint or anything," Tucker said. "If a ghost, for some reason, decided to attack, and Danny is preoccupied with another attack somewhere else, we want to be able to stand up against it. We care about this town too."
"We haven't had the chance to fully test out some of our inventions," Mrs. Fenton mumbled with worry creasing her brow.
"I'd trust our weapons with them far more than handing them over to the Guys in White," Mr. Fenton told his wife. "It wouldn't be that hard to train them to use the weapons. And we know they aren't going to go around harassing innocent ghosts."
Mrs. Fenton stared at her husband, and her mouth pursed slightly. They seemed to share some kind of silent conversation just with minute facial changes. Then she sighed heavily. "All right. I guess we could train them. It's always good to be prepared after all."
"Yes!" Grinning, Sam raised her fists triumphantly into the air. "Danny says you're a ninth degree black belt," she said, following Mrs. Fenton, who walked toward the kitchen. "Do you think you could teach us a few moves? You never know when you might have to free yourself from an opponent."
Tucker grabbed the sleeve of Mr. Fenton's jumpsuit before he followed them to the kitchen. "Um, there was something else I wanted to ask about. You've been trying to help Mr. Technus, right?"
"Uh, yeah." Mr. Fenton frowned, rubbing the back of his neck and not meeting Tucker's gaze. "It hasn't been going exactly well. He gets pretty agitated whenever he sees Vlad. You know, blaming him for everything that happened." He let out a sigh, his shoulders sagging slightly with defeat in his blue eyes.
"Hey, um," Tucker rubbed at one elbow, "maybe I could come along one of the times you try to talk to him. I know I don't know a lot about this stuff, and I won't be much help, but I'd at least like to see him. I still worry about him. He taught me a lot of stuff about robotics, and he was my favorite teacher."
Mr. Fenton seemed hesitant, but then he clapped Tucker on the shoulder, almost knocking the young man over with the force of his slap. "You know, we could go over there right now! Yeah! Maybe seeing one of his students will snap some sense back into him." He grinned, regaining some of his confidence. He jogged to the kitchen and yelled down to the basement. "We're going out for a bit. Be back in a while!" Then he grabbed the keys to the car. "Let's hit the road!"
During the ride to the Masters' house, Tucker sat tensely in the front seat. He hadn't seen Mr. Technus since the explosion at the school. Even when he and Sam helped Danny keep watch at Axion Labs for Mr. Technus to attack, Tucker didn't see him in person. At that time, Mr. Technus was hiding within a large robot he had constructed to seek his revenge against Mr. Masters. Tucker didn't know exactly what he was expecting when he finally got to see his teacher again. He thought maybe it might help him a little to see Mr. Technus, like it would put his worries, or at least some of them, to rest.
When they reached the Masters' house, Tucker whistled lowly as he stared at it. The house was more intimidating than Sam's, and that said a lot since her family was rich. He gulped nervously as he followed Mr. Fenton up to the front door. They waited only about two minutes before the door opened. The woman didn't look too pleased to see them.
"Back again?" she asked like dealing with Mr. Fenton exhausted her.
Mr. Fenton merely chuckled as he entered the house. "Always nice to see you Carmina. Is Vlad in?"
"I wasn't expecting you to come over today," Mr. Masters said when he strolled into the front hall moments after they arrived. He frowned at the papers in his hands. "Did I lose track of the days again?"
"Not at all, Vladdie!" Mr. Fenton walked over to the man and drew him into a crushing hug, which left Mr. Masters wheezing. "This," he released Mr. Masters to gesture to Tucker, "is my son's friend."
Tucker waved awkwardly to the man, who frowned in puzzlement.
"He was one of Mr. Technus' students and wanted to check in on him," Mr. Fenton explained.
Mr. Masters' mouth pursed a touch as he stared at the young man before him, and Tucker thought for certain the billionaire would send him away. Despite being intimidated - more like scared - by him, Tucker glared back like he was daring Mr. Masters to say something bad about him.
Mr. Masters sighed. "I supposed it couldn't hurt anything. Perhaps seeing a former student of his will bring out some sense in him." He folded his papers and tucked them under his arm. "Follow me." He walked down the hall, leading the pair to his personal laboratory where Mr. Technus was kept.
Tucker thought it would be much more impressive. But maybe it was because a lot of the laboratory looked like it was hit by a tornado recently. He remembered what Danny told him and Sam about what happened with Elle, and he guessed Mr. Masters had more important things to worried about than fixing up the laboratory right away.
Mr. Masters stopped near the door. "I'll just be right here. Any closer, and he starts screaming for my death." His face pinched in a pained wince.
Mr. Fenton walked over to a tube set in the back wall. Tucker followed several steps behind the big man. When he got closer, Tucker saw within the tube floated a white haired, green skinned ghost which looked like his teacher. Mr. Technus had his head bowed, his chin resting against his chest. His eyes were closed, seen over the top of his sunglasses. Tucker hated to see his teacher like this, but after the whole incident with the robot, he could understand why it was necessary. They couldn't help Mr. Technus if he was raging with obsessive revenge. It would be easier to talk him down from it if he was contained and couldn't harm anyone.
"Hello, Mr. Technus," Mr. Fenton greeted cautiously. Obviously, previous conversations with the ghost had left the man wary of the response he would receive. "How are you feeling today?"
His eyes opened, the red glow glaring at the man. "I'm stuck in this piece of garbage," Mr. Technus said in a slow, purposeful manner. "How would you feel if you were in my position?"
"Ha... Well! I brought a guest today." Mr. Fenton waved a hand at Tucker. "You recognize Tucker, don't you?"
"I might be a ghost, but I'm not an imbecile!" Mr. Technus scowled darkly at Mr. Fenton, who shrank away from the containment unit.
"H-Hi," Tucker said, waving at his teacher. The whole thing felt weird to him.
Mr. Technus tore his scowl from Mr. Fenton and turned it onto Tucker, who flinched. Then the anger faded away from his face. "Ah, one of my favorite students! What are you doing here?"
"I, uh, just wanted to see if you were okay," Tucker answered but didn't dare step any closer to the containment unit.
"I'm a ghost being held against my will in the home of the vile man that caused all of this," Mr. Technus spat out, folding his arms. "Do I seem okay to you?"
"No, I suppose not." Tucker frowned. He thought he would feel better after seeing his teacher, but he actually felt worse. This was no way for anyone to exist. "What exactly started all of this?" He glanced briefly at Mr. Masters across the room. "I mean, why did things turn out like this?"
"That - That scum!" Mr. Technus growled, pointing at Mr. Masters. "He came to me at the school to ask me to work on a new project for him. I turned him down. I had enough on my plate at the time with overseeing the robotics club since the competition was soon approaching."
"I was disappointed," Mr. Masters admitted. "But I knew better than to push the topic. I left the school after he turned me down. I could ask one of my employees to work on it, though I did hope Mr. Technus would be able to come in to consult on the project later when his time allowed."
"Ha!" Mr. Technus laughed bitterly. "If that was true, then explain to me who bombed the school? Huh? Who? You're the only one with the motive. And all because I rejected you."
"You seriously think I would do something so stupid?" Mr. Masters demanded, storming over to the containment unit. "Yes, I realize you are the best when it comes to robotics technology, and you're a genius in other fields regarding technology. But blowing up the school and you with it? That's madness! If it was ever traced back to me, I'd end up in jail, which I most certainly do not want, especially now with the Guys in White running around like they own the town. But most importantly, how would killing you have benefitted me? An explosion like that could have killed you. Then where I be? I wouldn't be able to ask for your expertise on problems. I wanted you alive. Not dead."
"Of course you would have such a sensible explanation." Mr. Technus sneered, clearly not believing the man's words. "You probably have millions of excuses to talk your way out trouble."
"It's not a lie though."
All of them turned to see a woman a few years younger than Tucker standing by the doorway.
"He was here when the explosion at Casper High happened," Elle explained. "I know my dad has done some pretty questionable things, but he's not a killer. He would have found another way around the problem. Killing someone wouldn't be very beneficial to him."
"She's right," Tucker agreed. "I don't think Mr. Masters set up the bomb. Which means someone else is responsible. But why?"
Mr. Masters frowned, considering every possible answer to the question. "A distraction, perhaps." He shrugged. "Whatever the case, I hope you can believe that I wasn't the one responsible for this. I merely tried to bring you back after you were put in a coma."
Mr. Technus' nostrils flared, and his left eye twitched. "I don't wish to talk anymore!" He turned his back on them, refusing to acknowledge their presence any longer.
Tucker sighed inwardly, his shoulders drooping. "Uh, well, thanks for letting me see him." He wasn't sure how he felt about the whole conversation, but at least it seemed the explosion at the school wasn't Mr. Masters' fault.
jessiejr21: Well, you know, sometimes adults think they're more capable. XD;;
Tetractys: You can bet that pair aren't happy with how things turned out. XD Bertrand's probably cursing up a storm right now.
YumiStar: Yes! 8D Danny's definitely happy to have their help. Though he is worried about them getting hurt now. D: