Green light thrummed through the crack in the striped blast doors as they slid slowly open. Normally, the only indicator that there was something besides dirt and concrete behind the doors was a vaguely unsettling feeling, but with the doors open, there was much more than that. Maddie glanced at the array of dials and buttons in front of her, double-checking the stats. They had looked into the Ghost Zone before, so she knew what to expect at this stage, but no human had ever actually entered. That was going to change today.
Maddie buckled herself into the Specter Speeder, still watching the scanners. The empty seat next to her was painfully obvious, and she wished Jack was going with her, but he had insisted on staying behind to monitor her situation. It was obvious that he longed to go, though. He gave her a thumbs up from behind a control panel. "Let's make history, Mads," he told her through their headsets. She smiled and pressed the gas.
The Speeder passed under the octagonal portal opening, and the thermometer marked a distinct drop in external temperature. Maddie entered the vast green ocean of the Ghost Zone, protected (hopefully) by the anti-phase climate-controlled shell of the homemade Specter Speeder. She stopped the vehicle a few dozen feet away from the portal and read some of her scanners.
"It's definitely cold out there," Maddie remarked, half to herself. She made a notation on a clipboard. The computers would be recording everything, of course, but she preferred to have a backup. You never knew what would happen, especially with her slightly clumsy husband in the lab. "And... it's stabilizing. Five degrees Celsius seems to be the average temperature, at least for this area."
"Man, that's cold," came Jack's voice out of the earpiece.
"Yes, but not that cold," Maddie argued. "It's about the temperature of a refrigerator. Uncomfortable, yes, but not deadly, as long as you don't stay too long." She wrote down a few more numbers, reading the dials and various -meters. "There doesn't seem to be any specific light source, except for the ectoplasm itself. Not much gravity. Very little activity." With a click of her pen, Maddie looked back up and really considered the Ghost Zone for the first time. From the inside. She grinned to herself.
It was eerie. Eerie and entirely fascinating. Clumps of ectoplasm made curling, abstract clouds that constantly shifted. Doors that led nowhere stood on foundations of nothing, and they stood in every direction. All of that she had noticed from the safe side of the portal. The acute unsettling feeling was more intense than outside, though. It made Maddie's hands sweat and clench around the joysticks that would unleash beams of spectral energy from the blasters attached to the Speeder. She hoped she wouldn't have to use them.
"What are you seeing?" asked Jack, his voice crackling.
"Green." Maddie spun the Speeder around in a circle, looking behind and around their portal. The open hole was, essentially, another one of those creepy floating doors. Although Maddie could clearly see the lab of Fentonworks through the ring of metal, it looked more like a painting hanging in space rather than somewhere you could actually go.
Something new caught Maddie's eye to the side of the portal. It was a sort of island, just out of view if you were looking into the Zone from the lab. It looked to be made out of real earth, and there was a slight, shimmering bubble surrounding it. Maddie aimed some of her probes at it. Her mouth fell open as she read the analyses.
"It really is dirt! There's an island out here, a... a chunk of dirt. It's just floating." she said. "It's dense and solid. There's... an Earth-like atmosphere within the bubble around it!"
"That's a wonderful place to make our home base!" Jack exclaimed. "Get up close and see if it works!" Maddie aimed straight for the island. The bubble bent inward at the Speeder's approach, resisting their progress, but Maddie pressed on. After a moment, the bubble bounced back into shape and allowed the Speeder in. She set the vehicle down on a patch of purplish grass with a bump and hiss of air. There were a few trees, some rocks, and some shrubs. What Maddie found most intriguing, however, was the beat-up dresser leaning awkwardly on a tree. It was entirely out of place.
"What's the gravity there like, Mads?" Jack asked suddenly, pulling Maddie's attention away. She glanced at another dial.
"Normal. For home, that is. How strange. Almost everything on this island is like Earth. Atmosphere, a semblance of an ecosystem." Maddie pressed the seatbelt release, then climbed to the back of the Speeder and opened the door. She hesitated, one foot on the grass, then grabbed another blaster from the bin next to her seat. Better to be safe than sorry. As soon as she stepped out, she tensed, anticipating a ghost attack. None came. The ectoplasm clouds continued to swirl. The leaves on the trees rustled as if they were in wind. The dresser was still there, and didn't seem to be glowing with much, if any, spectral energy. Strange. Maddie got a bit closer to get a better look.
"Is that... is that Danny's old dresser?"
It was obvious now. The peeling white paint. The handles that had been replaced with little metal rockets. Even the faded NASA poster was still stuck to the side. The last Maddie had seen of this dresser, it was packed up in Jazz's car, ready to go to the donation center with half a dozen other boxes. How had it ended up here? Maddie had a sudden vision of that one annoying blue ghost, the one who never seemed to do much of anything... oh yes. The Box Ghost. She thought of him roaming the donation center, screaming his trademark "Beware!" at the mechanical dolls. She chuckled. No, it probably wasn't the Box Ghost. Sometimes things just blinked over into the Ghost Zone briefly, then came back looking slightly green. It had happened to a few things in the Fentonworks lab.
Jack's voice came through the headset again, in response to Maddie's half-mumbled question. "A dresser? Huh. Maybe some ghost stole it. No, maybe it found a natural portal, then drifted over next to ours, since it used to belong there."
"But items don't have memories," Maddie argued. "It must simply be lost. We know that things come here sometimes."
"Yeah, but furniture?" Jack was right, Maddie thought. There was no way a dresser got into the Ghost Zone by itself. Maybe car keys, maybe lipstick or a fork, but not a whole dresser.
"How did you get here?" Maddie asked the dresser. She touched the rocket-shaped handles, their shape so familiar to her. Almost unconsciously, she tugged the top drawer open, then blinked in surprise. She had almost expected to see Danny's sock collection, or even just an empty drawer, but no. Inside was a mess of medical supplies, mostly band-aids and gauze and ointment. A little pack of needles and a few spools of thread lay in the corner, apparently for stitching wounds. Some of the needles were stained red, while others were bright green.
"It's medical supplies," she said to Jack. "There's gauze, ointment, and needles and thread in the first drawer." She picked up a roll of gauze and inspected it critically, as if she expected to see words written on it.
"Now, what would a ghost do with that?" Jack asked.
Maddie replaced the gauze and closed the top drawer. "I don't know, Jack. Maybe... maybe there's a ghost who thinks they can get hurt?" That would explain it, sort of. She reached for another drawer. This one used to hold Danny's shirts. Maddie smiled with the memory, and almost didn't realize that there were still Danny shirts inside.
"What the..." Maddie said in wonder. She pulled a shirt out, noting its tangible form and corporeal nature - not at all like other ectoplasmic objects they'd gotten hold of. "Danny's shirts? This one seems real. But it can't be." Could it? She folded the shirt neatly and put it back on top of the jeans and socks, her thoughts stuck in the spiral of whys. Had her son forgotten his old clothes in the dresser when they donated it? No, that couldn't be right, Maddie realized. These clothes were Danny's current size, leading her to conclude that a ghost had stolen them. Why would ghosts need clothing? Why would they choose Danny's clothing? Why would Danny come into... Maddie stopped that question. Danny was terrified of ghosts. Of course he would never go into the Ghost Zone, especially not without the knowledge of his parents. Besides, he wouldn't need to come here to have his clothes stolen from his room. Maddie sighed and moved on, determined to ask Danny if any of his clothes were missing.
The next drawer confused Maddie even more. "Fenton tech?" There were a few proto-blasters, some thermoses. There wasn't a lot that could fit in the little dresser drawer. She made a mental note to increase their lab security.
"Those ghosts have been stealing our technology?" Jack sounded more confused than angry. "Why would they even need it?"
Maddie was struck by a sudden, chilling thought. "Ghosts wouldn't need it. But humans would." That explained everything, though it made her sick to think about.
"What are you getting at, Mads?"
"Think about it! It makes sense! Some human carted a cheap, donated dresser here, then filled it with easily-accessible, stolen technology. Medical supplies means injuries. Blasters, too..." Maddie picked up a lipstick-shaped blaster, intended for covert operations. "Somebody has been fighting ghosts."
To Maddie's surprise, Jack laughed. "Of course they have! There's that one girl... that Orange Chaser? No, the Pink Warrior. No..."
"Red Hunter," Maddie gently supplied.
"Yes! That's her! She fights ghosts, and she's human. Probably." Maddie could hear Jack's shrug. "Maybe it's her who put this stuff here."
Maddie considered. "No, I don't think it is," she said slowly. "She doesn't use Fenton technology, and she would need a portal to get here. I seriously doubt she breaks into our house often enough to need something like this. And..." She stopped. "And the clothes here are Danny's."
"Our Danno?" Jack laughed again, understanding what she didn't say. "I think you're wrong, Mads. He wouldn't fight ghosts willingly, much less come to the Ghost Zone!"
"I don't know, Jack." Maddie closed the Fenton tech drawer and opened the top again to look at the medical supplies. The thought of her baby boy using these for real, because he needed it, horrified the mother in her. Her eyes caught the needles again. She shuddered. No, Danny wouldn't do that to himself.
"Excuse me, what are you doing here?" An echoing, spectral voice came from behind Maddie, and she whirled around, her blaster rising to face the new threat. It was Phantom, the "hero" that had been plaguing Amity Park for a few years now. He narrowed his eyes at her weapons.
"What is that, Mads? Are you okay? Did you find a ghost? You powered up your blaster."
"I could ask you the same question, Phantom," Maddie snapped, ignoring Jack for the moment. No need to give Phantom more information than he had by replying to Jack.
"Ohhh," came Jack's response. "I'll just... stop talking now. To let you focus." Maddie barely registered the statement.
Phantom raised his eyebrow. "This is kind of my island. Didn't you see the sign?" He pointed to a wooden sign stuck behind the Specter Speeder. The words "This island belongs to Danny Phantom" were clearly written on it. Maddie's cheeks warmed. She hadn't seen the sign. But then again, what difference would it make if she had? She refocused on the ghost in front of her.
"Is it your lair?" she asked.
"Uh," Phantom shrugged, running a hand through his white hair. He looked a bit sheepish. "Not really. Sort of." Was it her imagination that his eyes flicked to the Fenton's portal?
"Well, then, you can't claim parts of the Ghost Zone," Maddie returned. "It belongs to the government."
"Oh yeah? Since when? And who comes in here to police it?" Phantom laughed. "This island is as good as mine. And as such, I have full rights to kick you off."
"This is a scientific exploration. I don't have time to argue with a teenager. Or, at least, a ghost who thinks he's a teenager." Maddie scowled and flicked the safety of her blaster off. The movement caught Phantom's eye, and he noticed the dresser behind her. His green eyes widened, and he raced forward to slam the open drawer closed. It was curious - Phantom seemed to feel possessive of the dresser and its contents. Perhaps he was the one to steal it and bring it here. Unbidden, Phantom's full name rose to her mind. Danny Phantom. Maddie had thought for one wild moment that her son Danny was coming to the Ghost Zone, due to his clothes and Fenton technology inside the dresser. Was there a connection?
"What did you see?" Phantom demanded, wheeling around to face Maddie and her blaster again. Maddie cocked her head in confusion. Phantom was showing signs of nervousness, of a secret to hide. The dresser was part of that secret.
"Medical supplies," Maddie answered evasively. She didn't mention the clothing, or the technology, though things were beginning to make more sense. As far as she could tell, Phantom had a few different drives, though she hadn't been able to figure out his obsession yet. One of those drives was to be as human as possible. To this end, he could seem to have emotion, look more human, and even be afflicted by temporary wounds from non-ecto weapons. She couldn't fathom what the clothes meant, though. Phantom only ever wore that black jumpsuit.
"Just those, then?" Phantom looked relieved, and that piqued Maddie's curiosity even more. How she wished she had seen what was in that last drawer. Maybe that would have given her the clues she needed. He was afraid of Maddie seeing Danny's clothes and ghost hunting equipment, which seemed to connect her son and this ghost even more. She worried for Danny.
"Ha ha!" said Jack into Maddie's ear. She winced a little at the volume. "I found the button!" The unmistakable sound of a huge ecto-weapon firing up followed this proclamation, though it took a moment for Maddie to realize it was on her end, not his. She whirled towards the sound, and realized that the Specter Speeder was beginning to glow slightly. Behind her, Phantom yipped in a surprised sort of way. The sound reminded Maddie, suddenly and inexplicably, of her son. She turned to see him hugging his chest, in apparent pain. Her scientific mind took over, wondering what the ghost was feeling. They occasionally registered ecto-attacks, but she definitely did not think it was real pain that caused those reactions. Was it an act?
"What are you doing?" Phantom hissed at Maddie. She didn't answer, watching with curiosity that outstripped her concern. Barely. Phantom dropped to the grass, though he still huddled protectively in front of the dresser. His eyes squeezed shut. "That hurts."
Maddie tilted her head. "Interesting. Is it a direct attack on the ectosignature, Jack?"
"Not exactly," came the excited reply. "This baby disrupts any ectoplasm being held together by a signature. It won't do anything to the free-floating ectoplasm, but it will attack the ghosts themselves. I call it the Fenton Eldritch Evaporator! He should be melting. Is he melting?"
"Make it stop!" growled Phantom, his eyes barely open to scowl at her. It was less of an angry look, and petulant one, like an upset teenager. Interesting. Upon closer inspection, his edges were, indeed, beginning to blur. Wisps of ectoplasm were evaporating into the air, creating a strange sort of fiery halo.
"Less melting, more dissolving," she told Jack. "I wonder if he can actually feel that pain, or if he's making it up."
Jack chuckled. "Making it up, Mads. Ghosts can't feel unless something is breaking down their ectosignature. The Eldritch Evaporator's not doing squat to that yet."
"You think I'm making this up?" Phantom wheezed incredulously, obviously not hearing Jack. "I'll leave you alone," he continued. "I promise. Just turn the stupid thing off!"
"And what is the promise of a ghost worth?" Maddie said, a calculated lack of emotion in her voice.
"Hey, Mads," Jack prompted in her ear. "The ghost kid is just sitting there, right? You've got blasters and thermoses."
"I can see where you're going, Jack." Maddie smiled. "And you're absolutely right." She approached Phantom - and his mysterious dresser - carefully, her blaster still pointed at him. It wasn't hard to push him away with her foot so she could gain access to it. With one hand, Maddie kept the blaster trained on Phantom's face, and with the other, she opened the third drawer of the dresser. Fenton technology gleamed up at her. With barely a glance, Maddie pulled out a thermos and unscrewed it with one hand. She definitely looked forward to finally eliminating Amity Park's number one threat.
Phantom tried to fly away when he saw the thermos, but he was losing too much ectoplasm. He didn't have enough power to fly, and was even losing his visibility and tangibility. "I hate those things." Maddie's heart squirmed at the dread in his tone, but she was able to put it aside and press the button on the thermos. Blue rings shot out of it, but it didn't suck Phantom up like Maddie expected it to. Instead, something large and tin-colored was spat out onto the ground.
The tin thing sat up, and Maddie belatedly realized it was some sort of humanoid robot, though it had to be at least part ghost to fit into the thermos. Maddie scoffed at herself. Part ghost? That was impossible. It had to be all ghost, somehow. She had seen this particular one harassing Phantom, though Phantom usually seemed to find it easy to defeat him. Apparently, Phantom had been storing this ghost inside a Fenton Thermos.
The new ghost stood all the way up, though his back was toward Maddie. He looked at Phantom, who was fading quickly now into a single glob of blue-white: his core. If he had that intact, he would be able to regenerate the lost ectoplasm again.
"While I could just capture you now, ghost child," the new ghost said, his tone deep and metallic, though it still had that echoing quality that was unique to ghosts. "It wouldn't be as rewarding. I wouldn't have earned your pelt - somebody else would have. So, I can see only one option." The robot turned, his blank eyes finding Maddie. "I shall deal with this invader, then leave you to regain your strength. But only temporarily."
"Don't hurt her... skulk-breath!" shouted Phantom. The shout was quiet, almost as if he were whispering. It was an odd effect to add to the spectral echo. Maddie jolted out of her transfixed daze, tossed the apparently useless thermos aside, and fired at the metal ghost.
"Jack!" she snapped as the ghost continued to advance despite being knocked back, smiling gleefully. "Up the Evaporator's power! This one's not affected!"
Jack sounded anxious. "It's as far as it will go, Mads - " But that was all Maddie heard before the ghost spoke again, drowning Jack out.
"Of course I'm not affected. You really think I wouldn't ectoproof my own armor?" The ghost's flickering hair threw unnatural shadows over his face, and Maddie pulled the blaster trigger again. An acidic green blast, glowing with heat, pounded into the ghost's chest. He stumbled, but toward Maddie, and she blinked, sure her blaster hadn't done that. She looked up, and realized that Phantom was barely floating above the grass. He was just an outline, though his fist glowed with green energy. Had Phantom knocked the robot ghost down? But... the robot ghost was offering to help him!
"I said... don't hurt her," Phantom repeated, the volume of his voice fading. In a few moments, Maddie would lose him. She glanced at the fallen thermos, judging its distance, then looked back to the robot ghost. He was standing again, growling. After a moment, he stalked off. Maddie relaxed slightly and reached for the thermos. Her eyes left the robot ghost for just a moment. But a moment was all it took.
Bang! Maddie whipped her head around to see the Specter Speeder explode into flames. Pieces fell around her, and one grazed her shoulder. Thankfully, she wasn't hurt too badly, but ice washed through her at the sight. That explosion had destroyed her only way home. The burning wreck of the Speeder mocked her.
"I'll leave you now," the robot ghost said to Phantom. "But don't assume you're safe. When you're healthy again, I will come for you, ghost child." He flew off, rocket-powered wings emerging from his back.
"Mads! What happened? I lost all stats except for your suit's! Where are the ghosts?"
Maddie blinked, then put her hand to her earpiece. "The Speeder's gone," she said weakly. "Destroyed. As for the ghosts, well... one ran off. Phantom's still here, getting stronger now that your Eldritch Evaporator has been... disabled."
"At least this hasn't been a total bust, though I'll miss the Fenton Eldritch Evaporator. Get the ghost kid in a thermos before he gets aggressive and come straight home!"
Phantom groaned, his form slowly filling in. He was still mostly transparent, and he had a tail rather than legs, but that was normal, from what she knew. Maddie noted his closed eyes and short breath with a hint of worry. Wait - breath? Apparently Phantom's drive to appear human went deeper than she had thought, if he was breathing as a way of coping with injury.
Without taking her eyes off of Phantom, Maddie grabbed the thermos and pointed the opening at him, one hand holding the cap to twist on once she got him in there. She winced at the whine the thing made as she powered it up. Phantom's eyes snapped open, adding more green light to the area. He fixed on the thermos right away.
"No, no, no. Not that thing." Phantom sat up and tried to float away, but he barely made it a few feet above the ground. He glanced around desperately, though he got distracted by the wreck of the Speeder. Maddie touched the button.
"I can get you home!" He threw up his hands, as if that would stop the thermos. Maddie paused, though her finger stayed on the button.
"Speak quickly."
Jack's voice came through her earpiece. "Just make sure you're careful, Mads. Ghosts are tricky blighters." Maddie nodded, then felt foolish when she realized Jack couldn't see her.
Phantom barreled on, not hearing Jack and not knowing what Maddie's nod meant. "The spe... thing is broken, right?" He glanced at what was left of the Speeder. "I can fly you back to the portal if you give me a few minutes." At least Phantom was getting some of his volume back. Wait, Maddie stopped herself. That wasn't a good thing.
"How do I know I can trust you?" Maddie didn't take her eyes off Phantom, so she didn't miss the eye roll. It was such a human thing to do, and reminded her harshly of Danny again. Because they were both teenagers, or at least emulating one, she was sure.
"Look, you can hold a blaster to my chest the entire way there. It's a trade - I'll fly you safely, you don't stick me in that thing." He shivered.
Maddie pressed her lips together and waited for Jack's input. "It's your decision, Mads. It's not a bad deal, and once you get in here we can always get him again." She was nodding again before she realized what she was doing.
"I'll take your offer, ghost." The thermos powered down, though Maddie didn't replace the cap. Phantom looked very relieved, and hesitantly turned away to get onto his hands and non-existent knees. A twinge of sympathy touched Maddie, but she carefully separated herself from the feelings. Phantom was a ghost, and it was only his drive to be human that caused the ragged breathing. He would only need a few minutes to regain enough ectoplasm to function normally, and then he would be completely fine, unless his human side decided he wouldn't be.
Maddie looked around, rapidly becoming bored with the wait. She watched Phantom constantly through peripheral vision, but allowed her eyes to wander. The sky was plenty interesting - shifting green clouds that sometimes formed the recognizable shapes of animals, or just floated around in endless curlicues. Occasionally, a purple spot would appear, almost as if the clouds of ectoplasm moved to reveal the edges of the Ghost Zone. Maddie wondered if a place like the Zone even had boundaries. A few doors roamed listlessly, barley moving on the currents of ectoplasm that seemed to wind through the area. Random staircases and windows moved in much the same way, green goo dripping from their edges in every direction.
The strangely gray and purple trees of this little island moved as if in wind, though nothing was there and Maddie couldn't feel any breeze. Patches of dirt showed through the thinning grass, which didn't grow right up next to the trees. The old white dresser was on dirt like that, leaning up against one of the weird trees. Maddie itched to see what was in that last drawer, but if she was hoping to... ride back with Phantom, she couldn't afford making him angry. Jack was right: once she was safe, she would turn the thermos or some other containment invention on Phantom. They couldn't afford to let him roam free. He was the most dangerous ghost in Amity Park. Or at least the most dangerous that showed up more than once.
At the moment, however, Phantom didn't look very dangerous. He did look loads better than a few minutes ago, though. Now, he was more or less opaque, and had defined feet and legs. Any moment now, he would stand up and be ready to go. Maddie readjusted her grip on the thermos and surreptitiously aimed it at Phantom, just in case he had a, ah, 'change of heart'.
As expected, Phantom's breathing slowed to a much more normal rate (for a human, anyway.) With Maddie watching him suspiciously, he floated above her.
"Okay, you ready?" he said, the volume of his voice restored. Maddie nodded curtly, suddenly dreading the short flight over sheer emptiness that was now imminent. Her heart rate spiked violently as two ice-cold hands fastened under her arms and gently lifted her up. She gripped her blaster even tighter to avoid losing it, and to comfort herself. It got colder as they traveled farther from the island, and when they passed the bubble, it became clear that the air was more oxygen-rich than Earth tended to be. Luckily, the Fenton portal was only a few dozen yards away, meaning that she wouldn't have much time to become light-headed from the excess oxygen. Random green shapes formed far below her feet. There was no bottom in sight, which only made her more nervous.
Maddie noticed with some worry that Phantom was flying more slowly than he should have been. He was still weak, apparently. Would he drop her? Another wave of terror flashed through her, but then she was standing shakily on the solid floor of the lab. Jack rushed over, apparently surprised at the sudden entrance. Some part of her mind remembered the thermos in her hand, but she didn't move to capture Phantom in it.
Snap out of it, Maddie told herself. A few blinks later, her mind was working again. She whirled around to see Phantom, already drifting upwards. As soon as they locked eyes, the tense expression on his face melted away and he mock saluted her, his usual good humor restored. Finally, Maddie pulled the thermos up to point at him, but Phantom just phased through the ceiling as if it were mist. He was gone.
Jack spoke, but it took a few moments for Maddie to hear him correctly. "Are you all right?"
She nodded, silent. Phantom's strange human drive had made him create a safe place of sorts in the Ghost Zone. Was that island his lair? Despite his answer, Maddie thought it was very possible. She had expected ghost lairs to be much more elaborate, though. Some of their ectosignatures could command quite a lot of ectoplasm, and look what some did outside of the Ghost Zone.
And then there were all those strange things: Danny's old dresser and everything inside it. Seriously, Maddie thought, what use would a ghost like Phantom have for clothes, medical supplies, and stolen Fenton technology? Was being human indeed his obsession? Then why would he bother playing the hero in such obviously ghostly ways? Maddie sighed. Things were bound to make sense at some point or another. For now...
"Come on, Mads, we can still catch that ghost boy!" Jack grabbed a big gun and together, they rushed up the stairs, grinning madly. There was still something that made sense.
A/N: So. There it is. My first published fanfiction. I feel a bit weird putting this out there, tbh. Will people like it? I know there's a lot wrong with it, but does anybody else notice? Ahhh, so much anxiety.
Well... review please! I feed off of feedback!