Thank you so much for all the reviews, favorites and follows!

~CWA


CHAPTER EIGHT


Two Weeks Later

Danny Fenton

I've avoided the cafe for a whole two weeks after the sudden realization of the bonds. It just doesn't make that much sense to me that I'm forming that bond with Cass and Hiro, but not with Tadashi. In fact, Tadashi is the last person I expect to form any sort of bond with. Which is a bit of a pity. I mean, he is pretty smart. The designs that I saw for Baymax are genius and a giant non-threatening appearance will make him more friendly, especially for the kids. In fact, I like to think that if we weren't always fighting over the existence of ghosts, we'd be good friends.

Wasabi did end up questioning about my pranks though. Even Honey Lemon and GoGo got in on it, curious if I really was the one behind that incident a few weeks ago. I gave the same explanation that Hiro gave me, which they accepted halfheartedly. Wasabi even laughed and patted me on the back for a job well done. GoGo admitted that while she's a bit skeptic of my portal that at least it's clear I have a bit of genius in me. I wasn't sure whether to be complimented or insulted. She makes it hard to tell. Fred's convinced I'm just covering for a ghost though. He's not that far off, scarily enough. I did make them all promise not to tell Tadashi, which they hesitantly agreed to when I explained that I just love pranks and don't want the fun taken out of it. And that I have no plans of doing anything harmful to anyone.

With a shake of my head, I focus my attention back on what I'm doing. Wasabi is gone to the lab and I've made enough progress on my project that I can take a small break. Said break is being spent by practically cutting open my own arm. It doesn't really hurt, which is a bit surprising. With safety goggles, an apron, gloves, the proper equipment that I snagged from my own first aid kit, and a lot of plastic covering the desk so the blood doesn't get anywhere, I've taken the liberty of experimenting on myself. As gruesome as it is, it's really the only way I can figure out what's going on with my own body. After all, I am a halfa.

Biting at my lip, I pin back my skin at my forearm and start to prod around, looking for any sign of abnormalities. I wince when I find one. My bone. My entire bone is just covered in a very thin layer of pure ectoplasm. It's glowing slightly, but is pretty contained to just the bone. Though from the way some of it leaks into the surrounding muscle suggests it also affects more than just my skeleton.

I write my thoughts down into a nearby notebook entitled Unusual Experiments- Danny J. Fenton. Most of it is in English, but that's because writing in English takes more thought processing than writing in Ghost Speak all the time. I need to make sure, especially when I'm doing experiments like this, that I can still manage that thought processing. That I'm still fully aware and conscious.

Experiment Ten- The Skeletal System

How does my ghostly DNA affect my bones?

By opening up my arm, very carefully and safely, I'm able to see the bone in my forearm. A common scalpel is used to create the four inch incision on my forearm, between my elbow and my wrist. The skin is peeled back and carefully pinned, resembling a frog dissection. Except I'm not a frog. It's almost a mixture of a vivisection and a dissection since I'm part ghost…. And this is on my arm and not my chest.

The ectoplasm is forming around my bones, leaking into nearby muscles. It creates a sort of green glow around the bones with a faint thick substance resembling pure ectoplasm, but not quite there. The substance seeps through my bones without there being any sort of hole as if it's phasing through the bone itself or if it's physically apart of the bone in a way I can't describe. I can see the liquid seeping into the muscles and faintly touching the outer lining of the skin like green specs. If it's effecting my entire skeleton and leaking everywhere then there's a possible leak to my organs as well.* The pure ectoplasm is such a concentrated amount that I'm curious to find out if it's something that my own body is creating or if I'm just absorbing nearby ectoplasm- that's another experiment for another time.

The effect of the ectoplasm on my bones is mostly unknown. My body feels the same, aside from the changes in the basic stats (blood pressure, heart rate and temperature). My metabolism and digestive system is different. I eat more and it's becoming harder to eat solid, human foods. But there are no side effects that are changing my health. I still sleep, maybe even more so than normal, but I am a college student.

Multiple theories are already forming in my mind. Could this change in my bones and muscles be why I'm able to take so many hits without too much effect? Is the ectoplasm making my bones that strong? Is it possible that this is allowing my body manipulation and/or duplication? Does the ectoplasm leaking into my organs cause my high metabolism and change of stomach?

On a side note, the blood during this experiment is more ectoplasm than it is human blood. This must effect my accelerated healing process, slow heart beat, and low temperature. Which means it is leaking into my heart*.

At this point I wonder if I am more ghost than I am human.

*note- next experiment may have to deal with more sensitive body part, possibly the heart to better understand any possible ectoplasmic leak to it and other organs as well as get the chance to see how the ectoplasm in my veins effect the cardiac organ

There's a small little drawing just before the experiment title. I drew, to the best of my ability which actually isn't that bad, my arm and how I've pinned the skin back to reveal the muscles and bones. I even tried to duplicate how the ectoplasm forms on my bones and muscles in the drawing. There's side notes everywhere in every direction on the page about this and that. The lack of pain during the procedure. How even if there's a lot of blood, it's still not as much as there should be (followed by it's possible that the ectoplasm has slowed that down as well). Before beginning, I took my blood pressure, heart beat, and even temperature, which is included in the margins. A heart beat of less than 10 beats per minute, which is low considering a normal resting heartbeat measures between 40 (which would likely be an athletic person rather than the average joe) and 100. A blood pressure of 70 over 40, which is extremely low since normally it's roughly about 120 over 80. A temperature of about 68 degrees, which is below hypothermia. No wonder I always feel so cold- Sam and Tucker used to loose their shit every time I would sneak up behind them and put my hands on the back of their necks.

The bottom half of the experiment is followed by a quick signature of my name and the date. I add a small margin that says how it's likely this will heal quick enough before it's noticed, but will also likely leave a small faded scar.

Biting at my lip, I flip through the notebook at other previous experiments before I get to work on patching up my arm. I have faith that Wasabi won't be here soon. Any sort of camera that's anywhere even near our room is blocked out. Even if someone, Wasabi or not, enters I have plenty of precautions. Some may or may not include minor wards of the sort that I've researched that are for privacy purposes. But for the most part, I've just tried to expand my sixth sense of auras so I could sense if someone was coming.

The first experiment I did was when I was about fifteen years old, a whole year after the accident. The second experiment came six months later after that. Soon, I was doing at least one experiment every six months to keep things recent and updated. Each time revealed different and new results.

Experiment One- Limitations

I have decided to test the limitations of my own body. My status as half ghost has left my heart beat 25 beats per minute, temperature of 83 degrees and a blood pressure of 80 over 50. All of it is abnormally low. I wonder if this is normal for a half ghost or if maybe my stats will higher or lower depending on power and my age. For now, I'm comforted in the fact that I at least retain a heart beat.

During this experiment, I have done many different tests to see what my limitations are, each with a week between for rest and recovery.

Test one- Water

The normal human can go without water for three days. I have gone past the normal for humans. It's at least a week without water before I start feeling the side effects and dehydration. Minor headaches and thirst. My skin starts getting dry. I start showing dangerous signs of dehydration just at the end of the week with my eyes sunk in and my blood pressure goes low. It's said that when it begins to get bad, the blood actually sucks the fluid from itself to rehydrate thus causing the low blood pressure. I end the test here before I reach the final stage. I spent two days in a hospital with an IV and I rehydrate before I continue with the tests within in the nest week.

Test two- Food

A human can go about three weeks without food, though Ghandi lasted 21 days and there have been reports of people going 70 days (a rare occurrence). I drink as little water as possible in order to help with accurate results, but it is a test of starvation rather than dehydration. I barely even last the three weeks. I have a theory about ghosts needing more energy. To be tested farther later.

Test three- Sleep

Research has shown that it's not very clear how long someone can go without sleep before dying. The theory is about six months. I don't last a week and I think about my theory about ghosts needing more energy. Being half human, my energy comes from both sleep and food, while ghosts rely solemnly on ectoplasm.

Test four- Flight

My limit for flight speed is roughly 145 miles per hour, hopefully to improve more as it has improved since I first began. When I first got my powers, my limit was 125 miles per hour. I end up flying for about three days before I pass out. I refer back to my statement about needing more energy.

Many more experiments and tests to follow.

I think back to all the other experiments I've done as I read through the notebook. The time I inserted a vial of pure ectoplasm into my arm only to get so overly powered that I didn't sleep for almost two months and I fought other ghosts with no problem. When I did different (curable) poisons and venom to see how it would effect me. They all did, but to the extent that they would for normal humans and it went away soon without the need for a cure. When I tried to build a tolerance to Blood Blossoms (successful). Along with many others that aren't for the faint of heart, including a minor dissection of my own hand.

But at that moment, there's a ringing coming from my phone. An image of my sister comes up, signaling she wants to Skype with me. Without even thinking twice, I accept the call and her face appears on the screen. She seems happy to see me at first, but it quickly turns into an expression of horror as she takes in what I'm doing. It takes a second for me to even realize why she's so horrified. Shit. She can see my arm and everything.

The horror quickly turns into anger as she starts shouting at me,

"Daniel James Fenton, what do you think you are doing?!"

"Obviously I'm eating a burrito."

She doesn't think I'm funny. She sits there with an angered, concerned expression as she huffs, her arms cross over her chest. I whine a bit at her expression and toss my head back,

"I'm a scientist Jazz, what did you expect?! Of course I'm going to experiment on myself. I can't exactly experiment on anything or anyone else, can I?"

She still huffs at me, her cheeks puffing up with a slight pink tint before she finally lets out a few (well a lot) long dragged out breaths. Eventually, she looks a lot calmer as she speaks to me, though her voice is a bit more cold and sharp.

"Danny, you can't experiment on yourself. Science, no science, I don't care. You could really hurt yourself."

I roll my eyes, letting out a small pssh,

"I'm not going to hurt myself Jazz, I swear. I'm not some amateur. And I'm finding out some interesting things…. Like how I'm slowly becoming more like a ghost. I mean, I kind of suspected that before this particular experiment actually. Low heart beat. Colder temperature. High metabolism, but lack of a metabolism for solid, normal food and drinks…."

I trail off a bit, my eyes looking downcast. For a brief moment, I get a flash of back from the war. The way I used my powers to end the other ghosts. How I defeated Vlad. The red eyes and the pure anger I felt that the time didn't bother me like it should have, but afterward all I could do was think of Dan. He lost his humanity and he became a monster. Is that my destiny? To lose my humanity, whether it's from getting my human half taken out completely or from my ghost half slowly take over my human self? I continue a bit more softly at these thoughts.

"Am I even human anymore?"

Jazz's expression softens and I can practically see her heart bleeding for me as she puts her hand over her chest.

"Danny, of course you're human. You have ghost tendencies, sure, but you're still human. You're still you. You still breathe, even if it's not as much as what should be the human normal. You still feel emotions. You still connect with people…. As bad as he was, Vlad was still human too."

"I don't think he really counts," I shake my head, "I don't think he's even a 'real' halfa to be honest. He was only shot in the face with the ectoplasm and got the ghost powers from that, or from the severe ectoacne- I'm a bit unclear on that. But it was such a small concentrated amount in one section that I don't really think it affected him as it should have if it were a full dose of ectoplasm. Meanwhile, I was shot with not only a hella lot of ectoplasm but also electrocuted in the process which may have had more of an effect…. In a way, I think Vlad is a human with ghost powers, whereas I'm actually half ghost."

Jazz hums a bit as she takes the information in, though she doesn't seem to be too pleased about what it is she's hearing. I think she still understands what I'm saying though, even if she doesn't like it.

"...I guess. Just make sure to patch yourself up, okay? Ellie wants to talk to you."

"Okay just give me like five minutes."

I put our conversation on pause and set the phone a bit away, angled so that if Ellie did come on, she wouldn't see what I'm doing. I don't want to traumatize my own daughter if she saw me like this. After taking off my goggles, I grab the first aid kit and start to get to work on sewing up my arm. If I'm right, this really should heal up fast. I hope I'm right. It only takes me a few minutes before the three inch gash is sewed back together. I made sure to clean up my arm before and after I sewed it so there's not a single trace of blood on my arm. Using intangibility, I phase the blood off the utensils I used so it splashes onto the plastic. Taking off my gloves, I add those to the discard pile. Placing my hand over the bloody plastic and other discarded things, I set I freeze it all over with my ghostly ice before destroying it one quick, tiny zap of an ectoblast. There. All gone and done.

"Daddy!"

And just in time too. I grab my phone and light up at the sight of my daughter. Just like usual, she's cute as a button with an attitude to boot. She grins up at me, waving eagerly as her little pigtails fly around her head.

"Hey princess," I coo at her, "Are you practicing your powers like I showed you?"

She hesitates for a second, biting at her lip innocently. That second is all it takes for me to know that she hasn't been practicing control. Well that and the fact that ever so slowly, the screen is changing as if she's being lift into the air. Hovering. Good thing that she's only at Jazz's place and not somewhere public.

"Princess," I sigh slightly, "You know you're supposed to be practicing…."

"But it's hard," she stresses, pouting at me slightly, "No fun. No you."

Ah. So she's not practicing because it's no fun when I'm not there? That it's too hard? I run my fingers through my hair, letting a small slightly frustrated sigh. I can't exactly come over here. Yet anyway. But I do miss her. A lot. Crazily much actually. I just want to hug her and tell her everything's going to be okay and never let go because she's my precious baby girl. God I've become such a dad.

"Maybe one day soon you can come visit Daddy," I finally give in to the urge to see her.

Her screaming causes me to wince, but laugh as I watch her phase through the nearby wall in excitement, still floating a bit. She's still screaming in pure joy even as Jazz snatches the phone away to give me the most I just got her to calm down are you serious look I have ever seen on her face. I give my sister a slightly sheepish shrug, a small pink tint dusting my cheeks,

"Heh… Sorry Jazz."