“There stood Dan alone, with a ninja mask pulled over his face. Fifteen hissing bottle rockets were pointed right them."Screaming bottle of death-jutsu!" Dan yelled.”

“Dan opened the Zippo and lit the fuse.It hissed for half a seconds, then the rocket shot screaming away.Crack!"Over there!" One of the kidnappers shouted.Amy started to rise. "Let's go!""Wait," Dan said, aiming the second rocket. "It's a two-part plan." He lit the fuse and the rocket shot off in the direction of the would-be kidnappers."Auuuurrrrgghh!""Run now!" Dan said.Amy and Dan burst from the dumpster and scrambled for the entrance of the lot. Looking behind him, Dan saw that one of the kidnappers was frantically fanning his butt, which was smoking slightly."Part two was completely unnecessary, wasn't it?" Amy yelled as they ran."Yup!”

“I'm throwing out this bottle rocket.""No, wait!" Dan said, reaching for it. "It hasn't been set off yet. Don't waste it, Amy. And we don't have company coming—we have Ian Kabra coming. And I know you want to totally impress him and take him to the movies and stare dreamily into his eyes—""I do not," Amy said, too quickly."Oh, Ian," Dan said, pressing his lightsaber to his chest and batting his eyes. "Tell me again about your shiny, shiny shoes.”

“Ninja Assasins Incorporated, Dan Cahill speaking. Who would you like offed today?”

“Come on," she said, smiling for the first time since she'd stepped on the plane. "We need to get to the bus before Ian plugs his iPod into the speakers."Dan shuddered. "I'd rather face a thousand Vespers than listen to Beethoven.”

“Grace has way weirder people than me coming in and out all the time," Dan said. "You, on the other hand, are as boring as it gets. If Grace is worried about anyone cramping her style, I'd point to the gloomy nerd reading about Chucklesky.""Tchaikovsky. He composed the score for the ballet The Nutcracker."Dan thre his hands up. "How am I supposed to get any better at making you sound like a loser if you just do all the work for me?”

“I'm going to hang up now," she said quietly."Fine.""Good-bye, Ian," she said.He paused again. She thought she heard something like a sniff or a choke, but it was probably the sound of him tearing up his plane ticket. "Good-bye, Amy."She hung up the phone: Dan and Nellie were quiet."Well, think about it," said Dan. "Did you really want Natalie Kabra as a sister-in-law?”