The story so far: Danny, thrown into the Ghost Zone and suffering a head injury, checks himself into "Hospital", where the ghostly doctors try to 'cure' him of his humanity. Maddie and Jack, after months of searching, have finally found him...


There are more than a hundred floors at the Hospital, but at the check-in counter, they are able to coerce the gelatinous receptionist to look up their son's name and point them in the right direction.

Maddie takes his file with her as they ride to the 53rd floor, the long-term patient ward. She is disturbed by what she finds inside the file – that Danny was being treated for an 'ectoplasm disease', that upon arrival his levels were at zero and that he lacked a core. What disturbs her most is that he is marked as 'cured' and waiting to be discharged.

She doesn't know what she and her husband will find waiting for them on the 53rd floor.

They burst from the elevator in a flurry of weapon fire and, not receiving any help from the ghosts nearby, split up to search.

Maddie discovers that clipboards full of patient notes are left at every door, and by checking the names on the files she soon discovers Danny's room – empty. Inside, there isn't much sign of him, but there is a journal he has been keeping lying on his bedside table. Maddie takes a moment to flip through it:

1 - The lady in charge of group therapy said it's a good idea to keep a journal. Sure. I don't have anything else to do.

I don't know how long I've been here. Maybe it's been a few weeks? At the start, everything was too confusing. I think I was dying. All I can remember is the pain, and the vomiting, and the ectoacne. I sure feel sorry for Vlad Masters now, if that's what he went through. I don't know what they did to me to stabilize me, but ever since a few days ago (again, maybe? there's no night and day here, I can't measure time at all) ever since then I haven't had a bad reaction to all the ectoplasm they keep putting into me.

They call it a disease, me being human. Ha. No matter what I try to tell them, they just answer that I'm confused and everything will make sense once I'm better.

How far are they going to take this? What's going to happen to me when I'm cured of being human? Is that even possible? Will I ever get out of here?

4 - It's not too bad here, really. I can't leave this floor, but I can go anywhere I want to. My group members have been teaching me ways to pass the time. They aren't as evil as I expected, or evil at all really? Just kind of eccentric. I probably shouldn't tell them that I'm human though. That's a sore subject with them; humans are the reason most of them ended up in the Hospital in the first place, and I think they wouldn't hesitate to rip me limb from limb if they knew. Then again, Doctor and Doctor could probably just stitch me back together. Herbert turned into a puddle recently, but nobody batted an eye. The wonders of modern ghost medicine, eh?

7 - The ectoacne finally went away. But that's not the only thing different about my face. I guess I've been glowing for awhile now, but I at least looked like me. It's been getting worse, but I think looking in the mirror today really took the cake.

9 - I wonder if Mom and Dad would hate me if they saw me like this. Could they make me normal again? I don't know if I should even try to go home. If they can't, if I'm stuck like this forever…

The last entry reads:

Oh god. They actually did it. Oh my god.

Maddie gently closes the journal and tucks it into her belt, her fingers shaking. Her heart is filled with dread to see her son and whatever changes have affected him. She doesn't know for certain what 'it' is, but if the file she carries is any hint, these ghosts had succeeded in turning her baby boy into one of them.


It is Jack who finds Danny.

He comes upon the Rec Room door, locked, and kicks it open. All of the ghosts inside are ready to release various attacks, but when Danny sees who it is standing in the doorway, he throws himself in the line of their fire. The energy he has at his fists creates a small shield that takes the brunt of the attacks but shatters before the barrage is over. Two blasts – ecto and ice – hit him square in the chest and knock him backwards into Jack.

"I don't need your help, spook!" Jack shoves Danny away, and he stumbles to the ground, one hand pressed against his aching chest.

The other ghosts in his group fly forward to protect him.

"Whatya doin', Danny?" says Technus. "That's a Fenton – a ghost hunter!"

Jack feels his blood turn cold at his son's name. He watches as Danny raises his head, bright green eyes narrowed in pain under his white bangs, and says, "That's my dad. I won't let you hurt him."

The ghosts look confused, and that gives Jack enough opportunity to scoop Danny up - he hardly weighs anything - throw him over his shoulder, and run out of there.

"Maddie!" he calls into his Fenton Phone. "I've got him! We're heading to the elevator now."

"You found him?" she replies, sounding less than thrilled. "Is he…?"

"A little banged up," says Jack, missing or deliberately ignoring the point of his wife's question, "but otherwise safe and sound."

"Dad," says Danny, thumping his fists on the man's back. "Dad, I can't leave!"

"Don't tell me you want to stay here, Danno!" replies Jack as he runs; he doesn't miss the way his son's voice echoes, not entirely substantial in his human ears.

"Heck no," says Danny. "But I can't leave! I literally can't get on the elevator!"

Jack skids to a stop at the nurses' station in front of the elevator, just as Maddie appears from an adjacent hallway. She meets her husband's eyes, her own wide with a terrified question. Jack responds by placing Danny on his feet in front of him.

Danny, surprised, stares at his mom, taking in her horrified expression at his appearance. He offers her a meek smile and rubs the back of his neck. "Hi, Mom."

She doesn't respond but for staring, and so Jack has to take the lead. "Mads, he says he's stuck on this floor – can't get in the elevator." Turning to Danny: "What's keeping you here, son?"

Danny holds up his right wrist, and when his sleeve drops down, they can see the silver band around his wrist. "The Doctors are the only ones with a key."

"Can we cut it off?" asks Jack. "Maddie, your Fenton Lipstick Laser might do it."

Wordlessly, his wife retrieves the weapon from her belt and offers it to her husband. "Trust me, Danno?" asks Jack, taking his son's pale, glowing hand in his.

Danny gulps. "Well, you haven't tried to rip me apart molecule by molecule yet, so… I think so, yeah."

Jack tries the laser, but a red-violet force field shimmers into existence around the band. It is impenetrable.

Danny chuckles nervously. "We could try cutting my arm off, I guess. Er, kidding," he adds at his parents' shocked expressions. "Mostly."

Just then, the elevator 'dings' and the doors slide back, revealing none other than Doctor and Doctor themselves.

"Danny Fenton," Doctor says, gliding from the elevator.

"Our greatest success," Doctor continues, their tentacles whirling them across the floor.

"Our colleagues doubted us," says Doctor, "said that a human could never be given an ectocore."

"Not without being destroyed," says Doctor, winking.

"But thanks to you, we could discover a method of effectively turning humans into ghosts."

"This changes the entire nature of the war!"

"The King will be thrilled-"

"-give us extra funding for sure-"

"-and we couldn't have done it without you."

Jack places a hand on Danny's shoulder and squeezes it tightly. His and Maddie's fear has been undeniably confirmed – their son has been turned into a ghost, one of the enemy.

"You knew?" whispers Danny. "I… I kept telling you I was a human, but… but…"

"Of course we knew!" says Doctor. "We aren't idiots."

"Imagine our surprise," says Doctor, "when the son of the Ghost Zone's greatest enemies checks himself into the Hospital." They chortle. Danny feels his dad's hand on his shoulder squeeze again and winces.

What Doctor says is true, and Danny had realized that long before with much shame. It's his own fault that he's here.

"We couldn't believe our luck," says Doctor.

"Neither could we believe how stupid you are!"

"Oh, that's not fair," says Doctor. "He was delirious. I think humans call it a concussion?"

"That pesky human brain," Doctor tsk'ed. "But it was certainly comical when you realized you were in a hospital for ghosts."

"So much screaming. There's really nothing like the taste of human terror," Doctor says, licking their beak with a black tongue.

"On paper, we had to diagnose you as a ghost," explains Doctor. "We're not allowed to treat humans, you see. It goes against our oath."

"But as long as we turned out a very healthy ghost at the end of it, no one cared to challenge us."

"Our greatest success," repeats Doctor.

Danny is trembling with rage. He's hardly aware of his hands charging two ectoblasts as his eyes glow bright green. "You ruined my life," he growls at them.

"Jack," Maddie warns in a low voice, nodding at their son's hands. Jack sees what she is indicating and takes a step back. Danny does not even notice.

"Ah, ah, ah," says Doctor in a sing-song voice, flourishing a small silver key. "We're also your key to freedom. It wouldn't do to anger us."

"You were due to be discharged in a few hours," says Doctor, "but we'd be willing to move the happy time up for a favor."

"That favor being you killing the Fentons, obviously," Doctor adds, shrugging with a smug grin.

"As if I would ever do that," is Danny's response. "Just let us go. You said it yourselves, I'm a ghost now. What else do you need me for?"

"Oh, we could always keep you around to study-"

"-observe-"

"-research. You are the first of your kind."

"Who knows what that means for your future?"

"You were never planning on letting me go, were you?" says Danny, narrowing his eyes hatefully. The ectoplasm flares at his sides.

"Here's a new bargain," says Maddie, stepping forward and spinning a Fenton Ecto-staff in an impressive maneuver that cuts the air with a whine. "You give us the key, and we don't obliterate you."

"You want to take your monster home?" asks Doctor, grinning gleefully.

"How curious!" says Doctor. "Should we?" they ask Doctor.

"I don't know, Doctor," says Doctor. "It might be fun to see where this goes. With any luck, he'll change his mind and kill his parents later."

"We have had such good luck lately," Doctor agrees.

"Very well!" says Doctor. "You're free to go, the picture of health, et cetera." Doctor raises the key and points it at Danny. A red beam of light shoots toward the band on his wrist, and with a 'click', the band falls from his wrist.

Doctor and Doctor float and slither, respectively, to either side of the elevator and grin at the Fentons as they cautiously pass. The grins persist until the elevator doors slide shut.

On the way down, the elevator is heavy with silence. Danny looks at the floor, ashamed of what he has become and unable to face his parents. He wonders if they took what the Doctors said seriously. He also has no idea what he is supposed to do from now on. How is a ghost supposed to go back to the human world with Earth's two most fearsome ghost hunters?

Maddie stares openly at her son, or what was once her son. He is a ghost now. Ghosts are, by nature, the enemies of humans. They are governed by obsessions, territoriality and uncontrollable emotions, and they feed on human fear. A ghost separated from the Ghost Zone will supplement the atmospheric ectoplasm with the emotions of humans – and the stronger the emotions, the better. Many ghosts become addicted to this energy and never stop trying to attack humans in order to get more of it.

How could she and her husband in good faith bring this kind of creature back to the human world?

Jack, meanwhile, is not thinking about any of that. He is only relieved to have found Danny again, to be able to bring him home.

No one speaks until they are free of the Hospital. The ghosts on the bottom floor seem more than happy to let the Fentons be on their way, none particularly wanting to be blown to pieces by those guns. At last, they make it back to the Specter Speeder and climb inside. Jack pilots, following the directions of the Speeder's GPS – its Ghostly Positioning System.

After some agonizing minutes, the Hospital recedes into the distance behind them. Finally, Danny speaks.

"Um," he starts, and winces at the echo in his voice, and at the way his mother flinches. He tries again. "Where are you taking me?"

"Whadya mean, Danno?" asks Jack. "Home, of course!"

"But… but I'm…" He can't get the words out. He wants to say he's a ghost, too dangerous to be around humans, but he's too scared and ashamed to speak. "Isn't it… safer… to leave me here?"

"We've spent weeks tearing apart the Ghost Zone looking for you, son. We're not about to go home empty-handed. And how are we supposed to get you back to normal if we leave you here?"

Danny straightens in his seat, eyes wide with surprise and hope. "You think you can fix this?"

"Well, if two crackpot ghosts can do something like this to you, I don't see why two brilliant ecto-scientists such as your mother and I can't undo it. Isn't that right, Maddie?"

"… of course," replies Maddie stiffly. It's obvious to the others that she doesn't believe the words.

Her lack of confidence plunges the Speeder into renewed silence. Jack is again the one to break it.

"You have any idea what they did to you, kiddo?" he asks.

Danny is extremely uncomfortable answering that question. "Um, kind of. Not very much, but… When I first… At the start, they had some ectoplasm-mixed saline drip that they padlocked to my wrist, and they were forcing me to take an ecto-supplement and some sort of booster that was supposed to get my body to make its own ectoplasm. All that did was poison me. I mean, obviously. After a few days, I was so sick I could barely move, and I felt like I was…" It had felt like he was being flayed, melting from the inside out. "It was painful, to say the least. I think if that had gone on any longer, I would have died."

He says this to his knees, unwilling to see his parents' reactions; even so, he can feel their tension and horror heavy in the air, almost tangible, like the air had a flavor. The fact that he can sense their emotions is troubling, and he tries to ignore it.

"Then the Doctors came up with some sort of stabilizer, and after they injected me with it, I think my blood finally started bonding with the ectoplasm. My illness went away, and my appearance started to change, but I was – I was still human, I think. I couldn't do anything, er, ghostly, and I still needed to breathe and had a heartbeat and all that." Wincing, he realizes he has just revealed his lack of such things now. The palpable increase in his parents' horror and pity confirms the reaction he has feared.

"They kept taking blood samples, to measure how much was blood and how much was ectoplasm, I guess. And when it got to a certain point… um…" This was the most difficult part. The most horrifying part. He couldn't do this. "Well, think Frankenstein."

He lets that hang in the air, hoping it will be enough for them to understand what has been done to him.

Maddie is the one who speaks first, to the others' surprise. "They electrocuted you?" she whispers.

Danny nods. "Using ectoenergy, to supercharge the ectoplasm or something… and they kept doing it, and kept doing it, until…"

"Until a ghost core formed," finishes his mother.

Danny nods mutely, not caring if they could see his affirmation. After several moments more of the horrified stillness of the Speeder, he adds, no inflection in his voice, "They told me my ectoplasm levels are at 98 percent, and whatever is left is negligible." He clutches the front of his jacket in a fist over his chest, uncomfortably aware of the bright energy burning in his center that has been there since he returned to consciousness. "Only two percent," he says. That's all of the humanity he has left. No need to breathe. No heartbeat. He can't even be sure if those organs are still part of him or have turned to ectoplasm.

"That's one more percent than we need," says Jack suddenly. Danny looks up; his dad's eyes are firmly on the Zone ahead of them, his expression grim – but determined. "As long as even one cell of you is human, there's still hope, son. We're not going to give up on you."

Since his transformation, Danny's emotions have been largely muted, especially the subtler ones beyond anger and joy. When the surprise and gratitude and relief hit him, it is like a fist in his gut. Tears burn in his eyes, and he wraps his arms around himself, trying to steady what he is feeling. He is even more surprised when his mother climbs into the back of the Speeder and sits next to him on the bench, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and pulling him close to her. He doesn't protest – he buries his face into the crook of her neck and cries.


A/N: "Hospital of Horror!" is a story I really want to write someday, once I figure out where the plot is going. It was loosely inspired by a webcomic called, "Awful Hospital: Seriously the Worst Ever", which is terribly fun - please check it out.

And yes, both directors of the Hospital are named "Doctor".

I'm now realizing that 75% of this collection is now different versions of Danny's origin story. That was not on purpose. I think I just like writing about that moment Danny gets his powers. Everyone likes an origin story - except my dad. He's completely tired of seeing Spidey's. Enough, Uncle Ben, we get it! With great power, great responsibility, yeah, yeah.

T.F.C~