"Mom! Mom, it's me! It's Danny!" Danny Phantom was pleading- begging, towards the two scientists who loomed over the examination table. They had finally caught him. The ghost they had obsessed over for months, the ghost they had tried and failed to capture so many times. They had him, immobilized and strapped down to a cold slab of metal. The anti-ghost material cuffs kept him restrained tightly.

"Enough." Maddie snapped, her voice sharp. "Don't bring my children into this, you sick creature."

Jack was quiet, but his eyes were trained on Phantom, almost as if he would disappear.

"But, Mom! I'm not lying!" Phantom tried again, only for a gag to be shoved into his mouth. His eyes widened as he tried speaking through the cloth, his voice muffled.

"How should we begin, honey?" Jack glanced from Phantom to the metallic tray of surgical tools sitting in a tub of alcohol.

Maddie giggled, almost like a schoolgirl, in excitement. She had been waiting so long for this. "I want to take his blood. See what it's made of."

Jack took the needle from the table, handing it to his wife. "Easy does it, Mads. We want to make sure this one lasts."

Maddie grinned widely as she reached towards Phantom. His skin practically was glowing in the bright lights overhead. His breathing was quick, something unusual for ghost behavior. Perhaps he had died drowning and had a habit of breathing in this form. Maddie took note of his breathing pattern before her fingers reached towards the zipper near the base of his neck. Phantom stared at her with those big, scared eyes. She knew it was a ploy. His manipulation would not deter what she has been waiting for her entire life.

She grasped the zipper and carefully unzipped his jumpsuit down to his stomach. Maddie looked over his bare chest, before taking hold of his arm. Phantom jolted his arm, but she held fast. She inserted the needle into his flesh, drawing out the blood from inside him. The ectoplasm was a brilliant green, filling the syringe fully before carefully pulling it out. Her eyes were entranced by the glowing substance. She handed it to Jack, turning back to Phantom.

"Hand me the ectoranium scalpels, Jack." Maddie kept her eyes on him. Phantom hated the way she looked at him. Like he was inhuman. Jack took a scalpel and handed it to his wife. Phantom's wide eyes locked on it.

"I want to test my theory of his self-repairing cells. After every battle, his suit repairs itself and his skin. Almost as if the suit is part of his DNA." Maddie reached down towards his legs, both pinned to the table. Phantom squirmed in his restraints, silently begging for his parents to stop.

Maddie lowered the scalpel, and his eyes squeezed shut as she carefully sliced it through his jumpsuit and skin. A small whine escaped the ghost boy's muzzle. Maddie handed Jack the torn cloth of his suit, inspecting the ectoplasmic blood that began to ooze out the gash. Her eyebrows knit together. It didn't have the same makeup of normal ghost blood. It was different. But then again, she knew Phantom was special. The blood wasn't't clotting. Maddie cursed herself. Stupid. He couldn't self-heal while his powers were bound. She had to be careful.

"Let's test his lung capacity. Ghosts don't need to breathe, but this one insists on doing so." Maddie took something off the table, and before Phantom could see what it was, she removed his gag before placing a sealed oxygen mask over his face. Except there was no oxygen being transferred to him. Phantom's eyes shot open in fear as he opened his mouth to breathe, but no air was given to him. His chest began to spasm while he gaped for oxygen. His eyes peered at his parents, bloodshot and teary-eyed. Phantom wasn't used to crying. He wasn't used to the lack of oxygen in his lungs. The fire burning inside of him. The way his tears stuck to his lashes like dew or honey or how his chest felt like it had been torn apart with shards of glass.

Maddie had a clipboard in her hands, watching him with interest, "Look how he's crying, Jack. He's mimicking us. Perhaps trying to manipulate us into his release."

Jack tilted his head, "I've never seen a ghost do this before."

"Phantom is different. You know this." Maddie continued to watch as he began to seize. His limbs were flailing against the restraints, his eyes beginning to roll as his face tinged purple. Maddie scrawled something down before removing the mask.

Phantom leaned forward, coughing and spitting wildly. He was gasping, heaving for air. Maddie continued to write on her notepad.

"Pl- please!" His voice was shaking. "Let me talk! I'm… I'm your son! Ask Jazz! She- she knows! Ask Sam and Tucker!"

Maddie narrowed her eyes, "I told you not to mention my family, ghost."

She replaced the gag into his mouth, his eyes round with panic.

She picked up a long knife and moved towards his midsection. She made a long incision down his middle. The ectoplasm began to bleed instantly. Phantom whimpered into his gag, his spine arching in pain.

"Hold him down, honey." Maddie commanded. She wanted to see what he looked like on the inside. She pulled open the flaps of skin, revealing his internal organs. It was marvelous. A beating heart. Pulsating veins. Throbbing organs. He was bleeding heavily.

Phantom was screaming. Maddie quickly closed the gash, already beginning to hastily stitch it back up. She couldn't lose him yet. She had a lot more to accomplish. She inspected Phantom's reaction, his eyes screwed shut and tears running down the sides of his face. His hands were clenched, nails digging into his palms. He was moaning and crying into the gag, choking on his own tears.

"I don't understand how he's so… Human." Maddie mused. "He has internal organs all working perfectly. He could be faking his pain, however. He's manipulative. I can test that. Get the electrode cart."

Jack moved to push over a large electronic cart, parking it beside the table. As he switched it on, Maddie took the hanging electrodes from the cart and began to press them against Phantom's skin. His eyes were open now, bloodshot and wet with tears. She avoided his gaze. She wasn't falling for his trick. She placed four electrodes on his forehead, two on each arm and three on his chest. Securing the wires, she stepped back to ensure nothing was touching him.

"Let's try 500 amps." Maddie said.

Phantom began to cry through his gag.

Jack switched the machine on. The reaction was instant. Phantom screeched as his back arched off the table, his spine bending. His entire body seemed to seize up. Jack switched it off. Phantom fell to the table, sputtering, trembling. He was crying harder.

"Move." Maddie took Jack's place, turning the dial up to 1000 amps.

"Maddie-" Jack winced.

She switched it on. Phantom wailed, his voice breaking through the cloth and bouncing off the acoustic laboratory. His hands gripped the edges of the table, knuckles turning even white. His wounds reopened across his body. His hair was frayed. Teeth biting into his gag with so much pressure, he felt one crack. His back was arching.

Maddie watched with gleeful pleasure. Phantom's ectoplasm began to drip off the table. Maddie turned off the machine, the electricity whirring to a halt. Phantom collapsed to the table, his eyes rolled into the back of his head. His body shook with tremors. Maddie scowled. If he was unconscious, he couldn't fake the pain. Unless he was still awake. She ripped off the electrodes, small burn marks left behind where they were placed.

Taking a clean scalpel, she ignored the splatter green blood already splatter over most of his body and the table underneath him. Nothing a power hose couldn't clean. She found a clean spot on his cheek, tenderly pulling the blade over his skin. No response. He wasn't conscious.

She removed the gag. His lips were bleeding. He was unwillingly drooling and was beginning to choke on it. Jack moved to hold him up as Maddie took a vial of ectoplasm off the shelf.

"I had a theory… "She murmured, bringing the vial to his lips and pouring it into his mouth. The ghost's reflexes swallowed the substance. It took a moment before his eyes shot open, wild and scared. Like a cornered animal. He coughed- turning his head and hurling his contents over the side of the table.

Maddie was busy writing something down.

"Please-" His voice broke. "No more…"

He sounded so broken. So weak and frail. Nothing like the cocky brat that they had captured. Maddie froze. Ectoplasm and drool was running down his chin. But something else. She took a swab and swiped at it.

She inspected it closer. Red. Blood. He was bleeding human blood. It made no sense, but she felt like she had made a scientific discovery.

"Jack- I have a hypothesis. The weaker we make it, the less ectoplasm he bleeds, and the more human blood he releases." Maddie smiled eerily. "Do we have any blood blossoms? And the specter-deflector?"

Jack quickly began to search the lab for the equipment. Maddie looked back at Phantom. He was still bleeding through his stitches and other incisions. The green liquid was running over the edge of the metallic table and dripping onto the floor. He looked too exhausted to fight back or plead for mercy. He was lying back, his eyes foggy and distant. The blood had dried around his mouth. He had stopped crying. He looked like he had given up. Interesting.

Jack returned with the belt and a jar of blood blossoms. Phantom looked up wearily at him.

"Please, dad-" He winced. As if it hurt him to talk. He probably ripped his vocal cords.

Jack hesitated. He was staring at Phantom with something other than morbid curiosity. Maddie sensed his weakness. She snatched the specter-deflector from him, strapping it around Phantom's waist. It would weaken his powers.

"I can prove-" He rasped with pained whispers. "I'm your son. I need my powers back to transform."

Maddie rolled her eyes, "As if we would fall for that, Phantom."

Tears returned. "Mom."

Maddie took the jar from her husband and screwed off the cap. Phantom instantly cried out, withering as she placed the jar on the table. Maddie took out a flower and began to place them around him. It was beautifully tragic, the flower lying in a pool of ghost blood. Once the blossoms were encircled around him, she could begin.

Phantom lurched and twisted, his breathing weak and spitting up globs of blood. Red blood. Human blood. Maddie took another swab and carefully collected a sample of the blood and saliva.

"Jack, have this tested. We can discover who Phantom was before he died." Maddie said, excitedly.

"I'm… Your… Son…" Phantom rasped, faltering.

"Shut up. My son is still alive and at school." Maddie snarled. "You cannot manipulate me by appealing to my motherly side."

"I'm not lying-" He cried. She stuck the gag back in his mouth. She took a knife from the tray and found an open spot. She cut quickly across his skin. Green ectoplasm and red blood mixed together began to leak out. Fascinating. She began to make small cuts over his body, measuring the varying amounts of human traces and ectoplasm. Her theory was correct. The weaker he was, the more he bled human DNA.

Jack was busy testing the DNA samples while Maddie paused to look at her experiment. He was too weak to struggle. The blood blossoms seemed to be draining what draining energy he had left.

A door slammed shut upstairs. Maddie looked up at the ceiling. Jazz and Danny must be home from school. She grinned wildly to herself, imagining the amazement and awe once they realize she had successfully captured Phantom. Footsteps, the door to the basement opened.