"Look at this Jack," Maddie said, staring intently at the radar screen. She and Jack had been up in the ops center since the kids had left for school a couple hours ago, working on some unfinished projects.
Jack put down the ectoblaster he was working on and walked over to look over his wife's shoulder. He scrunched up his face in confusion. He honestly had no idea what he was looking at. Maddie sighed and realized she'd have to explain.
"It's a strange ecto reading, out near the train bridge south of town. It's been popping up for a few weeks now, every so often." Realization dawned on Jack's face.
"Is it a ghost?" He asked.
Maddie shook her head. "No, I don't think so. The signature isn't powerful enough to be a ghost. I'm not sure what it is."
Jack's eyes suddenly lit up. "Let's go find out."
It took almost four hours, but they eventually tracked the ectosignature down, right beneath the train bridge. It was emanating from a few small red shards that looked like they were from some sort of crystal.
"That's strange. I know objects can be infused with ectoplasm, but this seems to be creating its own." Maddie's voice was full of curiosity.
"That's impossible. That would mean that this thing was created by ghosts," Jack argued, picking up a shard.
"I know, it's fascinating." Maddie carefully picked up the rest of the shards and put them into a small collection jar, along with the one Jack was holding. "Let's head back to the lab. I want to analyze these as soon as possible."
By the time they got back, Jazz and Danny were home from school. Jazz was sitting on the couch, reading, and hardly looked up when they came in the door. Danny on the other hand, was grabbing something to eat in the kitchen.
"Hey, Danny!" Jack said to greet his son. Danny just smiled back, then noticed that the two of them had their ectoguns with them.
"Where did you guys go?" Danny asked cautiously, worried that they might have been out ghost hunting.
"We detected a strange ectosignature and when to check it out," Maddie answered, she pulled the shards from her pocket, holding them up to eye level. Danny went pale when he saw them, but neither Jack nor Maddie seemed to notice, because she just kept talking. "The signature was coming from these strange crystals. We think they might have been a part of something larger, and that it may have been created by ghosts. I've never seen anything like it."
Danny gulped done the lump that had formed in his throat and forced himself to answer. "That's great. Hey, is it alright if I go over to Tuck's? He said he needed some help with... a thing. Anyway, can I go?"
Maddie had hardly heard him, she and Jack were already heading towards the lab stairs. "Go ahead honey, just be back by dark."
Danny didn't hesitate to dart from the kitchen up to his room to grab a few things and call Tucker. He rushed back downstairs and through the living room, saying goodbye to Jazz as he left. Jazz told him to be careful and to call her if anything happened before going back to her book.
When Danny got to Tucker's house, they went straight up to his room and dived right into the new video game that Tuck had bought that night. While they were playing, Sam showed up. Tuck asked her if she wanted to play, but she said no. She would rather watch Danny and Tucker beat the crap out of each other's avatars than play herself. Sam was more into the online rpgs. She watched them play for awhile, but started to think something was up after Danny lost three matches in a row. That hardly ever happened when the boys played each other.
"What's up Danny? You seem kinda distracted," she said.
Danny sighed and put down the controller before flopping backwards to lay on the beanbag he was on. "My parents. They came back after school today with pieces of Freakshow's crystal ball."
Sam and Tucker suddenly looked very worried.
"What? How'd they even find it?" Sam wondered.
"Yeah, we looked all over after it got smashed and we couldn't find it," Tucker added.
"They said it was giving off an ectosignature and that's how they tracked it."
"So what are they going to do with the pieces?"
Danny shrugged. "No idea. Probably experiments or something."
"Maybe you should avoid the lab for awhile, Danny. Who knows what could happen if those things can still control ghosts." Sam's concern clearly showed in her tone of voice.
"Don't worry, I don't plan on getting anywhere near those things."
When Danny got home that night, his parents were still in the lab and Jazz had gone upstairs to bed. He also went upstairs and tried to sleep, but he couldn't stop thinking about the shards in his basement and what they were capable of. He eventually gave up on sleep and went for a short flight instead.
The cool night air rushed past him and calmed his nerves just a little. As he flew back towards Fentonworks, he decided to just take a look in the lab and see if his parents had made a ny progress. He phased through the roof, clear down into the basement, staying invisible in case his parents were still working. They were. Danny hovered near the roof and watched.
Maddie was making some notes in her lab book and Jack was sitting nearby performing their most recent experiment. He was holding a shard near a small containment unit containing a blob-like ghost. Its eyes were glowing red. Danny tensed, remembering what it felt like to be under the influence of that crystal.
Maddie looked up and spoke. "Alright Jack. Tell it to do something."
Jack thought for a moment, then said, "Turn around." The ghost inside the container instantly faced away from him. Danny felt a sudden slight urge to do the same, but it wasn't strong. Maybe it was because the crystal was in pieces, or because his dad wasn't aware that Danny was there at all. That feeling wasn't a good sign. His parents already seemed to know that the crystal could control ghosts.
"It's just as I thought. This crystal seems to be able to influence ghosts' behavior." Maddie said thoughtfully. Jack placed the shard on the table and Danny saw the small ghost's eyes clear. His mother continued her observations. "It wasn't created by ghosts, though. It's definitely manmade, but whoever made it had to know an awful lot about ghosts. Enough to know how to control them."
Jack nodded in agreement.
"This could prove very useful in our research. We wouldn't have to catch ghosts, they would just do whatever we told them."
"What's the fun in that?" Jack grumbled.
Maddie ignored him. "We could even capture more powerful ghosts, like Phantom."
Danny inhaled sharply. His parents were already planning on using those things on him? He suddenly didn't feel so good. He phased up to his room and transformed back. He'd hated the way Freakshow had used him, trapped him inside himself and made him do all those terrible things. He'd nearly killed his best friends. His parents though, they would rather use him-Phantom-for research, dissection. He felt his breath becoming short and knew he was on the verge of a panic attack. He took several deep breaths to calm himself.
Okay. He thought to himself. This is bad, but, if they don't have the shards, they can't control anyone. I'll just get the shards back after they go to bed.
He waited, listening for his parents to come up the stairs to bed, but they never did. When the sun's light started to peek through his window, he gave up on waiting and got ready for school.