AN:/ I know i just said that I was busy and stuff, but i just have to write when i get in the mood, i've been having a lot of really good ideas, mostly because of your guys' suggestions and requests and i just have to get them down before i forget. It's not like you guys are complaining though right? so here we go, three chapters in three days. I know they were short, but they were fast and i didn't think they needed to be longer to get the point across. Another thing that contributes to me writting so fast is me knowing what i want to write. It may take me a week or two to get this next chapter up because i still have to hew out a lot of the details. I had these pretty much down to a T in my head for a while, so just be patient. Hopefully you don't think that in my speed i've sacrificed any quality either. Oh and i know that it's not really Tuesday today literally, but it is in the story. (haha. HA!) no really if you've been paying attention it really is a Tuesday in the story. Oh and if you send me questions about the outcome of this story after reading this chapter, I will not be answering them. I don't want to give away the ending! That's for you guys to figure out along the way!

Running to the Enemy's Arm's

Chapter 25: Today is TUEsday

by: deadlydaisy8o8

Originally Uploaded: Wednesday, September 22, 2010, 9:41PM

Maddie's POV

I heard a loud clang from downstairs in the lab, which meant that Jack was leaving dents in the portal doors again. Not that I could blame him. There were times that I wanted to go beat the living shit out of that stupid device for all of the hurt it must have caused my baby boy.

Me and Jack had figured it all out with a few hints from Danny's friends. Danny had gone into the portal and turned it on. He had been shocked with so much ectoplasmic electricity that it altered his DNA. He had apparently been suffering for a little over two years now. What sort of a mother was I? I didn't even notice when my baby boy was ill with a ghastly ghostly disease.

After running a few tests and calculations, we figured that the energy from the shock had manifested into Phantom, just like that ghost had said. The problem was that instead of forming outside of Danny or Danny being overshadowed, Phantom was attached to Danny's molecular structure. My baby boy was living with a ghost inside him, controlling him, making sure that it survived like some sort of parasite.

It all made sense now. The sudden fear and interest in our inventions, his reclusiveness it was all part of Phantom controlling my baby. Tears slid down my face once more as I thought of Danny and what he must be living through every day. Not even having control of your own body, setting off every ghostly device in the house; having to fear your own parents.

How long had it been since I'd seen my real son? How often was Phantom in control of him and how often was it really my Danny? How many times had I thought I was hugging my baby when I was really hugging a disgusting monster? How many times had I had the opportunity to see the clues when I had placed the blame on faulty equipment? I was an appalling mother. I had failed my son for two years without even knowing it.

The sound of glass breaking reached my ears. I didn't really care that that was the thirtieth beaker Jack had broken since we found out about Danny. Somehow it seemed right that everything was broken. It seemed so wrong for other things to be in working order when my baby boy was gone and hurting. It wasn't fair that the beaker should be allowed to go on being whole when my baby was being torn apart from the inside out.

We had to figure out a way to help him get better, Jack and I both agreed. We had no clue where Danny was though, and without him here there wasn't anything we could do. Jack thought that he could be in the Ghost Zone. It was plausible, but we didn't know if the Ghost Zone had the sustenance that my baby would need to live. He still did need food and water, he had clearly needed to eat and drink when we were unaware of his condition.

With Phantom controlling him and his humanity able to cover up his ghostly signature we wouldn't be able to find him. No that putrid ghost inside him would make sure to keep well away from us. I was convinced we would need a way to lure the Phantom inside my baby boy, to us. I had a couple of theories as to how we would go about that, but I couldn't do anything about it. Not yet.

Phantom, before we knew he was really a disease infecting Danny, had been classified as a 6.5 on the ecto-scale. We had no way to hold a ghost that rated that high on the power spectrum besides in a Fenton thermos. The Phantom in my baby boy would find a way to escape before we could get him out of the thermos and into whatever device we came up with. We needed to develop a way to hold him. It would be simple enough, we only needed to collect enough ectoplasm and deconstruct it to its simplest form. If we condensed enough of that and infuse it into something, say handcuffs or a cage of some sort, he wouldn't be able to do anything to escape. Sure we manufactured our own synthetic ectoplasm for our weapons, but the molecular structure of that substance was not stable enough to contain something more powerful than a 4.0. Only natural ectoplasm would work.

We had figured this out a day or two ago and had already started collecting as much ectoplasm as we could. The only way to get ectoplasm, however, is from a ghost. It's what they're composed of, and is usually most abundant in an area where it suits their offensive abilities. We typically can't hold one down long enough to collect any however. The largest amount we've collected at one time was about three cups of it. Condensed, that turns out to about one tablespoon.

This strange blue ghost in overalls and a beanie had shown up several times already, so we were familiar with its tactics. We managed to get it to the ground while it was shouting something and sever its hand from the rest of its body. The hand quickly started to liquefy into its natural state after it was separated and Jack only just managed to get most of it into a container. The ghost nonetheless got away before we could collect any more.

It didn't really matter though, how much ectoplasm we collected, or how powerful of a ghost we could hold if we didn't have a way to help Danny when we had him. That was what I was working on currently, coming up with something that would cure him when we finally did have him back with us.

A few tears fell from my face. It always came wandering back to the fact that my baby boy was gone and hurting! I wasn't there to protect him. I hadn't helped him when he was with me and now, when I knew that he needed help in the first place, he was gone.

I looked again to the papers I had strewn over the table top and scolded myself for letting a teardrop get onto the ink. I needed these plans! They were the only thing that could offer my baby hope and I had ruined them with a stupid teardrop! What was I supposed to do now!

I shoved all of the papers off of the table and onto the floor, joining a whole host of other trash that was already there. My leg bounced violently up and down and I lightly pounded my forehead with my fist. I had to use that genius brain to come up with something to help my baby. None of that had been worth anything anyway; it wasn't going to do me any good. They were all harebrained ideas that weren't going to work in a million years. I needed to focus.

I stilled myself, but quickly found that if I stopped moving I swiftly became tired. I resisted slapping myself for even thinking about sleeping at a time like this. What sort of mother wants to sleep and hide behind their dreams in this sort of situation!

I stopped breathing as the idea hit me. How could I have been so stupid! It was perfect we had even invented it to prevent ghostly disease in the first place! I stood up out of the dining room chair; knocking the table over with a crash and not really caring. We had to get to work right away; there was no time to lose. Tears flooded out of my eyes with joy. It was so perfect. Perfect enough to save my baby! I sprinted down the stairs to the lab screaming at the top of my lungs on the way.

"JACK! JACK, GET THE GHOST CATCHER! WE HAVE A LOT OF WORK TO DO!"

Third Person

The Box Ghost looked with a grimace at the space that his hand would have been. A crude harpoon hook was now in its place. The pain was still there. It tremored through his body if he so much as brushed the hook that replaced it now. He thought he could still feel his fingers in the leathery gloves he usually wore. Well that would be 'glove' now. He closed his eyes and let himself believe that his hand was still there. He wiggled his fingers and stretched them out.

"Hey the pirate thing was my bit you copy cat!" The Box Ghost turned around to see Youngblood floating behind him, done up in his pirate garb today. Youngblood continued when he saw that The Box Ghost had made no move to take off his hook. "Well common! I already caught you, and nobody likes a copycat. You're pirate costume isn't even good!" The Box Ghost just stared solemnly at Youngblood. All of the enthusiasm The Box Ghost previously possessed was gone. He had felt true pain for the first time in his afterlife. He didn't see any point in trying anymore. Another voice came up from behind them.

"Youngblood, there you are! You better not have dragged me all the way out here to…" Johnny 13 trailed off when he came upon the two silent specters. The Box Ghost continued to absently stare and Youngblood continued to try to communicate, now resorting to waving frantically in front of The Box Ghost's face. Johnny grabbed Youngblood's flailing arms and put them at his side.

"Whoa little man. I am not going to babysit you anymore if you keep acting like that, not cool." Johnny by now had noticed The Box Ghost's uncharacteristic silence and was a little intrigued by what was going on. Youngblood pulled away from Johnny as he replied.

"You are not my babysitter! I am fifty two years old now. I don't need one! Besides this idiot won't admit that I came up with the pirate thing way before he did." Johnny ignored the majority of Youngblood's retort, but was confused by what he caught at the end. It didn't look like The Box Ghost was wearing a pirate costume. It was then that Johnny noticed the hook. The difference was that Johnny recognized the prosthetic for what it was. A look of deep shock came over his face. How had this happened? The ghosts in the Ghost Zone generally left The Box Ghost alone if he wasn't trespassing or being particularly annoying. How had he managed to get himself hurt like this?

"Hey man, what happened?" The Box Ghost came out of his daze slightly and looked slowly around. He finally settled his gaze on Johnny.

"Pain… so much pain." The Box Ghost looked to his arm before quickly looking away like he was forbidden to set his eyes on the prosthesis. Johnny only became more curious.

"Who did this to you?" The Box Ghost looked vacantly at Johnny.

"Fentons." Now, Johnny was really thrown for a loop with that one.

"You mean the twerp did this to you! I know that he was living with Plasmius now and that there was a strict hands off policy, but I didn't think-"

"No" Johnny almost got mad, being interrupted by The Box Ghost of all people. A quick look at those empty eyes though and any wish to cause him pain was gone. Instead he ignored the interruption and pressed further.

"If it wasn't the little man, then who else was it? It couldn't have been the red head. She has horrible aim. Wait, do you mean that the old man did this to you?" The Box Ghost only gave one solemn nod before he was tired of being ogled at and started to fly away. Neither Johnny nor Youngblood followed after him.

"Dude." Johnny turned over the possibility in his head. The two human ghost hunters were notorious for being clumsy and incompetent. Though, it's not like they got to fight the human hunters very often. Phantom usually was there way before the humans even knew they were outside the ghost zone. Was it possible that without Phantom there to get to him first, they had done this? Youngblood piped up beside Johnny.

"I don't believe it. There's no way that those two grown-ups did that. They could barely fire a gun straight when I saw them." Johnny just shook his head.

"I dunno pipsqueak. I just don't know."

"Yeah well… Hey, I am not a pip-squeak!"