Chapter Ten

FentonWorks
Amity Park

Danny felt his breath catch. "Really? Is that what you've been working on, Mom? A way to get rid of Vlad's ectoranium powers?"

"I... I'm not sure yet what the practical applications will be. I'm still just in the theoretical stage."

Not exactly the breakthrough he was hoping for, but Danny would take what he could get. "Theoretical stage of what?"

Maddie stood up to address the room. "We don't know a lot about how Vlad got his new powers, other than it was the result of a collision with the asteroid after it passed through the intangible Earth, and that he described the accident as the ectoranium 'fusing' with him.

"Just based on what we've observed in the various confrontations we've had with him over the past three months since his return, we know he has powers that are similar to ghost powers, but they operate differently. Rather than going intangible, like other ghosts, he seems to almost vaporize. He's impervious to most things that affect normal ghosts, such as ectoplasmic rays and weapons, ghost shields, and the like. The things that we have found to be effective in fighting him, like sonic and ecto-freeze energy, aren't ectoplasm-based, but rather things that counter ectoplasm-based weapons and defenses.

"As for his offensive capabilities, he can utilize ectoranium the way ghosts can utilize ectoplasm to form rays, shields, even explosive blasts. It's a far more potent and lethal energy, mostly to ghosts, but in ray form, it can be lethal to humans as well."

Ember snorted, impatient. "Yeah, yeah. We know all this already. You getting to a point anytime soon?"

"Yes, I am. You see, ectoranium has one more important characteristic—it's highly unstable. In anything other than its solid form, such as the asteroid that nearly destroyed the planet last year, ectoranium breaks down fairly quickly, rendering it completely inert." She looked at Danny. "That's why the residue after Vlad destroyed Clockwork's Tower shocked you when you first went there, but had no effect when you went back the next day, remember? There was nothing left to it because it had already broken down."

"Wait. Ectoranium breaks down?" From her seat on the floor, Danielle looked up at Maddie, confusion and anger warring on her face. "You keep telling me the ectoranium in my system will always be there, that I'm always going to be affected by it. You messed up my ghost powers with all that ecto-purifier for something that's going to eventually break down and be harmless? Then why did you take my powers from me?"

Danny swallowed as he looked at his "cousin." Had his mother made a mistake? Had she taken Dani's powers from her for nothing?

Maddie looked down at Danielle, all traces of the matter-of-fact scientist gone, leaving only a mother, heartbroken by her child's pain. "Because the ectoranium in your system won't break down so long as it has an energy source to feed off of—your ghost powers. If we didn't give you the ecto-purifier, the ectoranium would continue to feed off your ghost powers until there was nothing left. The only way to stop it from using you up completely is to give you just enough ecto-purifier to suppress your powers to keep the ectoranium weak. But if we gave you enough ecto-purifier to completely starve the ectoranium, that would kill you, too. It's a balancing act, sweetie. I... I wish we could just get rid of the ectoranium altogether, but it's permanently integrated into your system."

Dani leaned back, folding her arms across her chest. "Fine. So, why don't we just give Vlad a mega-dose of ecto-purifier and kill off his powers?"

Valerie, sitting beside her, reached out and put a hand on her shoulder, but she shrugged it off.

Maddie sighed. "I wish we could. But Vlad doesn't have any ghost powers left to suppress. If he did, then our standard weapons would work on him. His powers come from the ectoranium itself now. Whatever happened when that asteroid hit him, instead of killing him, it altered his system dramatically. But in anything other than its solid form, ectoranium needs energy to feed off of or it will always break down and become inert."

Jazz, who had remained quiet through all the talk of battle strategy and weapons, was in her element with the more scientific topic. "Wait. If Vlad doesn't have any ghost powers for it to feed off, does that mean the ectoranium in his system is going to break down? How long will that take? Do we just have to wait him out?"

Their mom shook her head. "That's just it. It should have broken down already, but it hasn't. Without being able to run any tests on Vlad himself to understand exactly how his system has been altered by the massive infusion of ectoranium, it's hard for me to say how exactly it would break down and how long it might take, but even allowing a few months for Vlad's body to adjust to his new state, the ectoranium should have started breaking down within six months of the initial collision, and within nine months at the outside, it should have sufficiently degenerated enough to render his powers completely ineffective—or killed him outright. Probably both."

Mr. Gray narrowed his eyes. "It's already been nearly ten months since the asteroid."

"Exactly. And yet, Vlad's still as powerful as ever. Or, at least he was when the kids last ran up against him a month ago." She avoided looking at Danielle this time—the last time they'd faced Vlad was during her rescue.

Danny swallowed again, forcing himself to focus on Vlad, not Dani. "If anything, he was stronger. So, why hasn't it broken down or killed him? If Vlad doesn't have any ghost powers for the ectoranium to feed off, what is feeding it?"

His mother was the scientist once more, only this time there was a hint of the kind of smile a proud teacher might bestow on a prize student who had just had an epiphany. "That's the million-dollar question."

Frostbite stroked his shaggy chin. "The ambient energy of the Ghost Zone, perhaps?"

She shook her head. "I thought maybe that was it, too. But there isn't enough ambient energy in the Ghost Zone to keep the ectoranium in his system from breaking down. If there was, then the residue at Clockwork's Tower wouldn't have gone inert so quickly."

Jazz chewed on her lip, a habit of hers whenever she was working out something complex, like one of her psychological theories. "But something is feeding it. And if we find out what, we can use that to defeat Vlad by stopping his powers at the source."

When their mother nodded again, Danny almost went over and kissed her. "Then we'll have a way of stopping him without killing him?" Could the end really be in sight?

"Possibly. I'm only in the theoretical stage. I still don't have any idea of what that source might be. There's a long way to go before we know enough to use against him."

"It's a start. If you keep working on that angle, you just might come up with the way to stop him for good."

"Can I help with that, Mom?" Jazz asked. "I could use the extra parabiology practice as background for my parapsychology studies."

Their mother looked like she'd just been awarded a Nobel Prize. "Of course! I'd love for you to work with me!"

Danny smiled, feeling a little bit of the pressure that had been in his chest for three months since Vlad came back finally begin to loosen. "Great. So you guys can work on that, while Dad keeps working on the weapons and defenses."

Skulker brushed his metal hands together, making an odd clanking sound. "It's settled, then. The humans will continue working on weapons to stop Plasmius and now Aragon, while the ghosts continue our defense of the Far Frozen and the hunt for the portal they're using to move back and forth between our worlds. I believe that concludes our meeting."

"Not so fast, Skulker." Danny held up his hand. "We need to work together, remember? And that means we're gonna have to have constant communication between the Far Frozen and our world." He gave his dad a hopeful look. "I don't suppose you've figured out how to rig the Fenton Phones so they'll work in the Far Frozen?"

"Not exactly. It's the combination of the terrain and the distance from there to our portal that makes them unusable. I'll figure out a fix eventually, but in the meantime, I have another way we can keep in touch. Remember that Porta-Portal I invented a couple years ago? The prototype was unstable, and it disappeared not long after I built it, but I've been working on an updated model. A pair of them, actually, and they've already done great in the preliminary tests. If they work like I'm hoping, we can use 'em to open a portal directly into any specific point in the Ghost Zone we set it for, or from within the Ghost Zone, to a specific location back here. We'd have instant access to the Far Frozen, and them to us, without having to travel halfway across the Ghost Zone. Not as quick as the Fenton Phones would be for communication, but the upside is that we also can move bodies a lot quicker to where we most need 'em to be when trouble pops up."

Frostbite gave him a toothy grin. "That would be most helpful, yes."

"Are they ready to go?" Danny asked.

"Not quite. There are still a couple glitches to work out, and then I need to fine-tune 'em so they'll open up into a specific location instead of who knows where."

Frostbite glanced at Hailstone. "This would be a useful tool while the Infi-Map is... indisposed."

"Infi-Map?" Mr. Foley gave Frostbite a curious look. "What's that?"

"It's an artifact my people have guarded for millennia, which shows the location of any portal in the Ghost Zone."

Danny explained further. "There are an infinite number of natural portals into and out of the Ghost Zone and even through time, but they're always shifting. Only the Infi-Map can reveal them. It takes you wherever you want to go in the Ghost Zone and through time. Vlad's managed to steal it twice before, and that was before he got his new powers."

Shuddering, Danny tried not think about the havoc Vlad had wreaked with the magical map—and how much worse he could do now. "We can't afford for him to get a hold of it again, so Frostbite and Clockwork decided to hide it someplace he could never get it—inside the time stream itself. It doesn't even exist in time and space anymore, only between times. Even Clockwork can't get it back out again—not until he can rebuild his tower and get his full power back."

Mr. Manson frowned. "If this map shows the location of any portal in the Ghost Zone, couldn't we have used it to find Vlad's portal before hiding it?"

"We did check it for any new portals, but there weren't any. Vlad must have activated it after Clockwork stashed the map." For not the first time, Danny wondered if that had been the smartest course of action.

Frostbite, meanwhile, turned his attention back to Danny's dad. "Your device will fill a much-needed void in facilitating travel and cooperation between our two worlds. And, while we no longer have the Infi-Map, we do have many other maps in our archives that may help you program your portal with precise coordinates. I will have them sent over first thing tomorrow."

"Perfect, Frost-man! Just what the doctor ordered!"

Danny tried not to roll his eyes at his father's exuberance. "So, Dad, how long before it'll be ready?"

"I was gonna say another month, but the information from Frostbite's maps might cut it down to several days. A week or two, tops."

"Cool. That'll be a huge help. Especially since I'm going to help with the defense of the Far Frozen and trying to figure out what Vlad's plan for conquering it is. And I'd like Sam to be involved with that, too." He looked at her. "Out of all the humans, you know your ghost lore best."

A sharp cough turned his attention in Danielle's direction. She was glaring up at him, her arms still crossed in irritation. "Are you sure about that? 'Cause I would think the half-human who lived in the Ghost Zone up until Vlad took over would have a pretty good knowledge of ghost lore."

Danny hesitated, looking to his mom, his eyebrows raised in silent question.

She nodded her assent. "She should be well enough to go to the Far Frozen and help with research." Then, she flashed Dani a look of stern admonition. "But no ghost powers. Got it, young lady?"

Danielle rolled her eyes. "I know, I know." She looked up at Danny, irritation gone. "So, I can help you and Sam in the Far Frozen?"

"Yeah, okay."

Now it was Tucker's turn to pout. "Hey, what about me and Val? Everyone's got a job but us. We not good enough for the team anymore?"

"Actually..." Danny paused, gearing himself up for the battle he knew he couldn't put off any longer. "I have something different in mind for you two. And Mr. Gray and Technus."

"Me?" The self-proclaimed Master of Technology looked surprised. "What do you want from me, Ghost Child?"

Valerie, however, already knew, judging by the daggers she was staring at him. "No."

"Val..."

Her eyes flashed in warning. "Don't you go messing in my business, Phantom."

Danny gritted his teeth. Whenever she called him Phantom, he knew he was in for a fight. "When Aragon stopped technology, he killed everything, Val. The shield, the weapons, power to the firetrucks and City Hall itself. Even Skulker's suit completely died. Everything but your suit."

"The key word being 'my' suit."

"No, the key words being 'everything but.' Your suit operates when no other tech does. I don't know what Technus did when he bonded that suit to you, but your DNA—"

"Is my business!"

"And mine." Mr. Gray glared at his daughter. "Don't think I didn't notice what happened today, too. I was gonna say something when we got home, but since Danny brought it up—and don't you go giving him the evil eye!" he added when Valerie sent a withering glare in Danny's direction. "This is not his problem. It's yours, and it's high time you addressed it.

"I've let you continue with all this ghost-fighting business because, as much as I hate it, you're good. And we need you to defeat Vlad. But I was there when that suit got... bonded onto you, Val, and I don't mind telling you that was one of the scariest moments of my life, and that includes everything I ever did in the Marines, and your mother's entire illness."

He turned his glower onto Technus. "And you're the ghost that did this? I wanna know exactly what you did to my baby girl."

The mullet-haired ghost blinked, taken aback by the anger and sheer power from a human he'd barely noticed before. "I animated the pieces of that old suit the way I always animate technology, only instead of melding it to myself, I melded it onto the girl."

"So, even you don't know exactly what you did to her, do you?" Danny asked. When Technus shrugged, Danny resisted an urge to nail him with a blast from his ghost Ray. "Then it's past time we found out."

He looked at Valerie. "This isn't just for you, Val. If there's some way your weapons can be adapted so that others can use them and we don't lose all our tech capability when Aragon attacks, don't you think we need to do that?"

She didn't look any happier, but her father closed the matter. "I'm not giving you a choice, young lady. I held my tongue when Maddie first found out your DNA had been altered, because I knew you were overwhelmed and needed time to figure out how to face everything your own way. But your way is to not face it, and we're done with that. So you, me, Tucker, and that ghost." He jerked a thumb at Technus. "We're gonna find out exactly what makes that suit—and you—tick."

Even Technus was a little cowed by the ex-marine's fearsome demeanor, because when Valerie answered her father, the ghost said along with her, "Yes, sir."