So here's chapter 3 and things start to get interesting... ish. Some original back story and such information for which I need for the plot. A better explanation will be given at the bottom for those who may be confused by it. Hope you enjoy.=^-^=
Ch. 3 - To Question a Belief?
Several hours later, the storm did indeed taper out and cleared the sky almost unnaturally. The full moon glowed brightly over the still night as the small party of humans made their way towards the still lit up airship. "Well, it doesn't look like anything crazy happened while we were gone." Doc said rather enthusiastically as he took the first step onto the ramp.
Drew kept a serious expression while she followed him up. "The key word here is 'looks', now hurry up." She was more than a bit worried still for Doyle since they had yet to get back in touch with Zak after the storm; for whatever reason, their communications were still jammed.
"They're fine." Maddie started. "I'm sure they were able to hold out inside during the storm."
Upon opening the door, the Drew instantly recognized the voice from inside. "And then you know what the guy did? He just dropped me right out of the plane, but Jurassic had-"
"Doyle? Oh thank heavens." Drew spoke with relief. She quickly made her way over to her brother who was standing by the helm by Zak with a hot cup of coffee in his hand.
"Hey, what took you so long?"
Her relief turned to amused agitation as she crossed her arms. "What took me? You're the one who got here late, and worried me half to death."
He gave a nod and shrugged in resignation. "Yeah, I still can't believe how fast that storm came up though. If the kid hadn't found me I would probably be a Popsicle by now."
Doc turned an angry eye to Zak. "Tell me you didn't run out in that storm when I told you not to!"
Drew joined him, but with slightly less anger. "Even if it was to save Doyle, that was incredibly reckless."
Zak stuttered to correct them since he had actually run out into the storm as Doyle realized the confusion. "Wait a minute, hold on." He directed as he pulled back their attention. "It wasn't Zak, it was the other kid who helped me out." He informed as he pointed over to the still sleeping teen. He'd had a blanket put over him as he dozed against the wall.
Maddie, who had already started to head over to him, was more than surprised to hear the news. "He did what?" She turned to him in disbelief.
Doyle took a sip of his coffee before nodding. "Yeah-" He started before being interrupted by a frantic beeping coming from a bag on the ghost hunter's leg.
Just behind her, Danny started to shiver under the blanket that covered him. She raised a brow and pulled a small device from her pocket. Her face turned serious as she began pressing buttons on the side of the device. "Looks like we've got company."
"Company?" Doc questioned with a skeptical look. "So we find nothing at the village, but we do find something on the airship?"
He rolled his eyes in disbelief before Drew nudged him in the side. "Can you save your criticism for later? We should find out where the ghost is." She scolded as she pulled out a small metal pole instead of her fire sword.
"It's on its way here." Maddie said in a serious tone as she pulled up her hood and charged up her blaster.
"Actually….. I think it's already here." Zak noted as he pointed towards the sleeping halfa. He had his claw out and ready as the others spotted the strange specter. It had the appearance of a large blue cat with a slightly lighter shade of blue for its under belly and piercing green eyes.
As soon as Maddie saw it she was outraged by what it was doing as she pointed her blaster at it. "Back away from my son ghost!"
The ghost, who seemed very interested in the boy, turned its gaze to the hunter. "This cannot continue. Must you be so blinded by nonsense that you are unable to truly see the truth as it is before you now?" It's speech was strange, as if it had been rearranged and the sounds had been distorted. It then turned back to the boy which only made Maddie's glare sharpen. "Of course though… you can no more understand me than any other human."
The ghost hunter aimed carefully and fired with her brilliant shot hitting dead center on the ghost. Right upon impact, Danny's eyes seemed to flutter open slightly and he was able to see the ghost as it aparated in the blast. "Whoa!" He yelped in slight panic as he left his cozy position and slid farther to the floor.
Maddie instantly dashed for him in worry. "Danny! Are you okay? That ghost didn't hurt you did it?" She worried as she helped him sit up.
"What the heck was that?" He asked in bewilderment.
"I bet that was the Blue Cat Dr. Cheechoo saw." Drew stated with confidence.
Zak looked excited as he turned to her. "Then it really is a ghost?"
Doc rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "I don't see any evidence of it being a ghost."
Doyle was amused by the man's defiance as he finally finished his coffee. "So what else do you know can disappear like that?"
Doc raised a brow to the challenge. "There are plenty of Cryptids with the ability to disappear. Take Komodo for example."
Doyle rolled his eyes. "Yeah, because camouflage and turning to smoke is definitely the same thing."
"Ghosts have been known to do both." Maddie chimed into the conversation. "They have the unique ability to change their structural density at will and also change how light is refracted on them on a molecular level. These capabilities stem from Ectoplasm, which composes 90% of their makeup." Though intrigued by the more scientific explanation she gave for the ghost's abilities, his opinion was obviously still against them.
Doyle gave a nod as he turned to the scientist. "Was that bad science?"
Drew then leaned on his arm lovingly. "Face it Doc, some things just can't be explained by common science. Then there are the stranger things that somehow can."
Maddie gave a nod. "While I do have to agree with Drew, I firmly believe all things can be explained scientifically, it'll all depends on just how far we push it." She then continued on the device she uses to detect ghosts and headed over to video phone in the hanger. "Anyway, I'm going to send this back to Jack and see if he can get a more specific reading on this ectosignature. My handheld doesn't seem to have enough processing power to read it completely."
Upon hearing that, Fiskerton immediately tried to warn her about the signal issues but she didn't seem impeded. "Sorry Mrs. Fenton, but the phone isn't working. It hasn't worked since the storm hit." Zak tried to point out in assistance to Fiskerton.
Maddie simply waved it off. "Don't you worry about that, a little spectral interference won't stop me." She then pulled a small device from another pocket that seemed to resemble a flash drive. After plugging it into the side to the screen it only took a few seconds for the signal strength to boost back to normal much to the Lemurian's surprise as he eyed the icon happily from the side.
"Spectral interference?" Doyle asked.
She gave a nod in response. "Yup, it's a common side effect ghosts can have on electronic signals. Of course, the level of interference tends to depend on the ghost. We had to install these all over the house after one of them infected the ops center and subsequently moved the entire house lakeside."
"Yeah, but who says no to beach front property in the summer?" Danny added in as he walked over to his mom. "Anyway, what time is it in Amity Park? I mean it's almost midnight."
Maddie understood his confusion. "Yes, but they are 4 hours behind us. It's only around 8 there." As soon as the line began to ring the signal turned busy much to Maddie's surprise. "The lab phone is busy? That's odd, who could Jack be talking to down there?" She then typed down a few more buttons and the screen popped up. A yell of surprise erupted from the speaker as a startled teen fell back from the monitor frame.
"Tucker?" Danny questioned as his young friend recognized him through the screen.
"Danny? What are you doing on the TV?"
Danny immediately turned to his mom. "Why does the video phone connect to the TV?"
"For when the one in the lab becomes ...unusable…." She said as she seemed to think over a past event with distaste.
Danny's curiosity failed to motivate him further as he turned back to Tucker. "Anyway, what are you doing at my house? I thought you and Sam were still going to do that movie marathon."
"Well we were…" He started as he pulled out his PDA. "But that was before the rolling blackouts started. There are only a handful of buildings in the whole city with power now, and your house is one of them, so we thought we'd just watch movies here."
"Tucker…. Please don't tell me you've finally crossed the line and now talk to electronics…" A female voice asked in an uneasy tone from off the screen.
Tucker was obviously insulted by the jab and crossed his arms. "There's nothing wrong with an admiration for technology. Anyway, I'm actually talking to Danny for your information."
A young woman with orange hair entered the video frame. "Hey mom… why is there a video phone connected to the TV?"
Maddie let out a sigh. "Never mind that Jazz, where's your father?"
She raised a finger to her chin in thought. "Well,… I'm pretty sure he's still trying to get the remote back."
Tucker gave a nod. "Yeah one of those slimy ghosts from the other day ate it." As he continued to scroll down on his PDA, he was interrupted by a sickening smack as the missing remote smacked him in the face. The green goo that currently coated it seemed to act as an adhesive as it held to his skin. "Ah man!"
"Sorry Tuck." Sam apologized as she came into the picture. "I was trying to get it out of my hand…."
Tucker pulled it off of his face a bit but it didn't seem to want to let go. "The only thing worse than slimy, is sticky and slimy." Jazz couldn't help but laugh at the scene of Sam trying to pull the remote free while Tucker just tried not to get pulled with it.
"No worries kids, I've got the ecto-foamer." Jack dashed into view with an aerosol can and shook it before spraying it in the direction of the spectacled teen.
"Hey dad, mom wants to talk to you." Jazz called from beside the TV.
The over eager scientist turned happily towards the screen. "Hey Maddie! How's… where did you say you were going again?"
"We're in Greenland dear. Why is the lab phone busy?"
He seemed confused as he scratched his head. "Busy?... it shouldn't be…." He then gave a shrug. "Ah well, I'll look at it later, anyway did you need something?"
Maddie gave a nod. "Actually yes. I'm sending some spectral readings down to the lab terminal. Can you run them through for me? My hand held doesn't seem to be enough."
He happily agreed as he jumped over to the kitchen. "I'm on it!"
After the three teens watched the large man dash away they all redirected their attention to the video screen. "Dude, you got dragged all the way to Greenland?" Tucker asked with a laugh.
Danny wasn't amused as he half glared at his friend. He gave a side glance to his mom who was wrapped up in her handheld again and then back to them. "It's a wonderful cultural experience." He remarked with sarcastic emphasis.
"I'm sure if you gave it a chance…" She trailed off as she saw the dry expression on her brother's face.
He raised a brow in agitation. "So what about that thesis of yours that you were too busy with for anything else, and you just had to finish a year in advance?" Jazz crossed her arms. "Just because you're not smart enough to come up with a quick excuse, doesn't mean you can be mad at me. There was no way I was having mom drag me off on some crazy trip, especially with what happened in Colorado."
"As much as it pains me to agree with Jazz, she's right. It's up to you to deal with it for now." Sam commented from the couch towards the bickering siblings.
"Dude…. What is that?" Tucker asked as he pointed to the screen.
Danny raised a brow before noticing Fiskerton standing at his left where his mom used to be. "Oh him?"
"That's Fiskerton." Zak interrupted as he found his way into the frame on the other side of Danny. "He's a 9 foot gorilla cat."
Danny looked back to his friends and pointed at the kid. "What he said." Tucker looked on in mild fascination as he gave a nod in understanding.
Sam rolled her eyes and continued the conversation. "So why exactly are you in Greenland? No offense, but that's not exactly ghost central."
"It's barely even populated. Talk about dull." Sam gave a side glare to Tuck before turning back for the halfa's response.
"Well, my mom's friend, his mom, was asked to look into some weird creature sighting. She called my mom when they couldn't figure out what it was, and thought it might be a ghost. A few hours and a ridiculous snow storm later, it turns out she was right."
"Long story short, you're in it for the long haul." Tucker teased as he sat back comfortably on the couch.
Sam grabbed his hand and shoved it in his mouth while giving the geek a glare. "Would you knock it off." She then turned back to Danny. "All things considered, you have to admit, it could be worse. I mean, at least Vlad isn't the one causing your problem."
Jazz laughed a bit. "True, he's just trying to keep the angry mob from busting into city hall."
Tucker pulled the hat out of his mouth with distaste. "Well that's what happens when you don't tell anyone before the blackouts start. Seriously, if you go to California, they have this down to a science." He then neatly placed it back on his head as it was. "So who's up for some Dead Teacher 4 uncut!?" He asked rhetorically as he pulled the box out of his bag. "Cause I'm not planning to sleep until the sun rises!"
Jazz understood his insinuation and turned back to Danny. "I think Tucker wants the TV back."
Danny rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well whatever."
It was an expected response, so Jazz simply gave a nod. "I'll do my best to make sure Dad doesn't destroy the house, and cleans the lab, so you just be careful alright little brother?"
"If you add 'not burning down the kitchen' to that list then you've got a deal." Danny responded teasingly.
Jazz acting mildly insulted gave a fake laugh. "Very funny Danny, but I'm being serious."
Danny raised a brow. "So am I. You do remember what happened that time you tried to make pancakes right? Or fried eggs? Or how about when you-"
"Okay I get it!" She almost yelled in an irritated tone. "I'm trying to be nice here and you just have to-"
"Alright! Movie time!" They both heard Tucker shout from behind before the call was abruptly ended.
Danny wore a pleased expression as he chuckled to himself. "Ah, nothing more stress relieving than messing with Jazz."
"So that was your older sister?" Zak asked from beside him.
"Yeah." He responded as he turned to face him. "Be happy you don't have one; They can be a real pain."
The two boys heard a laugh from behind. "Don't I know it?" Doyle said with a grin. "But, they tend to be pretty good about helping you out when you need it."
Danny gave a shrug. "True, but that depends on what kind of help you're looking for."
"Touché'." Doyle agreed.
"Well speaking of older sisters, yours needs to get her son off to bed." Drew started as she approached the four boys.
Zak was quick to give complaint with a sour expression. "But Mom! We're on a super important mission aren't we? Does my bedtime come before that?"
Drew raised a brow. "Okay 1, you were supposed to be in bed at 9:45 so I think you've stayed up long enough, and 2, this emergency situation can wait until morning when Maddie gets her results back." She responded with a slightly scolding tone. "Now I'd get going, and you better be asleep when I come check on you." Zak gave a groan as he walked ever so slowly towards the hall door with Fiskerton following behind covering a giggle.
Doyle then turned to Danny. "What about you? Or did your nap cover it?" He had a slightly teasing jab in his tone but Danny didn't seem to care.
"Nah, I'm good. My curfew only means I have to be inside by 10." He then turned and headed back down to the hanger. "Or make them think I'm inside…" He commented to himself as he left earshot.
The sky was clear as Danny flew high above the airship. "This is probably the most relaxed I've been since this whole mess started." He mused to himself as he twisted and flew on his back. "And the cold air is nice when it's not pelting me with snow." He gazed up at the moon which appeared to be almost full and hummed quietly to himself. After a few minutes he found himself unconsciously scratching at his chest. "Hmm?" He stopped and floated in a somewhat sitting position. "Why does this itch so much?" He sighed as he continued to scratch it. "Stupid ghost rash….."
As he thought over his frustrations he suddenly got the strangest feeling that he was being watched. He gazed warily around himself before waving the thought away. "I guess I'm just tired…." He hadn't been having the best sleep in recent days with ghosts, finals, and now this trip; he'd be lucky to sleep good tonight either. He turned over and slowly flew down towards the airship. He was just about to phase through the top when the familiar whine of an ecto-blaster froze him cold.
"You have 5 seconds to explain what you're doing here Phantom." He heard from his right. It was Maddie Fenton, but her demanding shout was absent and in its place a calm order. "You're not following me are you?"
Danny turned his head slightly as slowly as possible and raised his hands passively. "No, but I can't really explain why I'm here either…." A short silence ensued, which caused Danny to grow more confused by the minute. Eventually he decided to ask the question that was burning in his mind. "Alright, I know I really might regret this but…. Why aren't you shooting at me?" He asked as he slowly lowered his hands.
Maddie's expression remained determined as she responded. "Should I? Are you going to give me a reason to?"
Now Danny was even more baffled as he cocked his head to the side. "Uh….. I didn't know I had to...?"
Maddie was the one to raise a brow now as her determination seemed to wane. "Well no….. being out of the Ghost Zone should be reason enough, but…." She trailed off as she lowered the blaster. "That is the only thing I can think of that you've done wrong, at least recently." She now seemed more confused by her own actions than by the ghost. "You see my daughter Jasmine, she recently made me aware of how single minded me and my husband were about some ghosts. In the end the conversation became about you and she asked us for a reason…. But when we thought about it…. We couldn't think of anything."
Danny seemed surprised by the revelation. "So… you're not going to shoot at me anymore?"
Maddie then turned to him with her blaster raised. "Do not misunderstand me Phantom! If you give me a reason I will!" She then lowered it again but kept her stern tone. "Jack and I had assumed that any ghost coming out of the Ghost Zone had evil intentions, that it was up to us to get rid of them, but you're different." Her expression turned frustrated as she crossed her arms with the blaster still in hand. "You are by far the strangest ghost I have ever seen. You can't be tracked by your ecto-signature most of the time, instead of attacking people you pick fights with other ghosts, and you're trying to bring up this super hero image." She then paused and turned to him in what seemed to be astonishment.
"What?" Danny asked as she remained silent.
"Oh well…. I just realized… I don't think we've ever talked before."
Danny rubbed the back of his neck nervously as the realization sank in. "Oh!... uh, I guess not. Most of the time it is shouting or something…." Another silence ensued as the 2 now scrambled for a conversation. "Uh well…. I guess I'll just go then? I mean, if that's okay? I'm not trying to give you a reason to shoot at me or anything." Danny informed as he floated backwards.
Maddie raised her hand to stop him. "Hold on!"
Danny was taken by surprise as he raised both hands high overhead. "Sorry!"
Maddie shook her head as she gestured for him to lower his hands. "I still haven't decided to shoot you." She then raised a pensive hand to her hood and pulled it off. "Could I ask you a question though? Just something…. I guess maybe your point of view?" Danny's confusion was maxing out at this point as he nodded quietly. Seeing the positive response she holstered her blaster. "Well, I'm sure you know my son, you two share the same name."
Danny couldn't hide how nervous he was at this point as he struggled to calmly answer. "Uh.. y-yeah, I know him. W-wait I don't know him- know him, but I've seen him. He and I haven't ever talked or anything." His hand was now back to nervously rubbing the back of his neck as his expression held a tinge of panic.
Maddie raised a brow at his demeanor but dismissed it. "He's here with me. I brought him along to try and spend some time with him." Her expression seemed a bit downcast as she continued. "I feel like we've been growing apart especially now. He's always off with his friends, and he doesn't tell me anything anymore. I thought maybe if I dragged him away from all that like when we got stranded in Colorado that one weekend, we could reconnect." She then turned her gaze back to him. "I'm asking you this because you seemed to be around his age. Does forcing this on him make me a horrible mother?" She quickly found herself laughing slightly at herself and turned away from him. "What am I doing? Asking a ghost that-"
"No."
She gave pause at his response before turning to look at him. "What?"
Danny lowered his hand to his shoulder. "I said no." After a moment of watching her baffled expression he decided to elaborate. "Okay look, ghost or not, I get it. You just want to spend quality time with him, and while he's probably annoyed by the way you did it, I'm sure he'll come around." He said with a slightly guilty expression. "He'll eventually realize he's lucky to have a mom that cares like that." Danny wore a slight smile as he waited for his response to register, but after a moment he realized she seemed to be in deep thought. "Well… I'll just go then….?" She nodded slightly and he took it as his ticket to leave. "That has to be the most awkward….. second most awkward conversation I've ever had with my parents…."
Maddie watched as he flew out of sight and raised a hand to scratch her head. "What is wrong with me?" She then let out a sigh. "I guess Jazz is better at arguing her point than I first thought." With a shake of her head she turned back towards the hatch. "Jack is going to think I've lost it, I mean talking to the ghost boy? Even I think I'm crazy….." She paused only a moment more and turned back. "But, maybe Jazz was right?"
Inside the airship the Saturday's, minus Zak and Fiskerton, were having a small meeting of their own. "This is just going to get more difficult if we're not careful." Doc started as he sat at a lab table. "The Fentons, however short a period as it was , were Secret Scientists, and they can choose to tell the others if they found out."
Drew gave a nod. "Even though I really don't think Maddie would do that, you're right." She resigned. "And even if they decided to help us, I really don't want to drag them into this. They don't have the option to just move around like us."
Doyle crossed his arms. "Hey, don't get me wrong, I'm all about keeping it in the family, but it might be a good idea. Besides, aren't we helping another Secret Scientist that agreed to keep quiet?"
Drew leaned onto her arms. "Yes, but Doc is probably right. This could likely cause more problems than we already have."
Doyle gave a shrug. "It was worth a shot. Anyway, so those two were part of your Secret Scientists?" He asked with a raised brow. "What happened? Ghosts not weird enough?"
Doc gave him a pointed glare. "No we just wanted to focus more on actual science, not make believe."
Drew rolled her eyes. "This again? Didn't you see the ghost cat from earlier? And then there was the blob that had broken loose on their way here."
Doc closed his eyes and sat back with his arms crossed. "I have yet to see any solid evidence that they were ghosts. I am not about to let myself be fooled like last time."
"Did last time include glowing blue cats and a green blob monster?" Doyle questioned in a teasing tone.
Doc responded with distaste. "No, but I'm taking my chances."
Drew gave a laugh. "I guess we'll just have to wait for you to see enough proof then, but honestly, we've seen alternate dimensions, underwater civilizations, and sentient lakes. I find it even stranger that you could be so closed to the idea."
Doc didn't waver. "I didn't support it before, and I don't support it now."
"It's fine Drew, you don't have to force it on him. I've had plenty of experience with other scientist with similar opinions. Jack and I decided to leave because it was for the best. We can do our research and the rest of you can do your own." Maddie comforted as she entered the lab. "Experience has taught me that for some, there will never be enough proof."
Doc turned to her with a reasonable expression. "That's not it. I just want some solid evidence that these things are ghosts."
Maddie raised a brow. "And what kind of evidence could I show you? Amity Park had to be sucked into the Ghost Zone before taking the ghost threat seriously despite being invaded even before that."
Doyle's expression became surprised. "Oh wait a minute, I saw that on TV. So that whole ghost invasion wasn't some tourist trap hoax?"
Maddie wore a more serious expression. "No it wasn't. The entire city of Amity Park was pulled into the Ghost Zone by a ghost who claimed to be their king. Anyway, I already knew about the hoax cover, no doubt the GIW's doing." She then shrugged. "Over all I don't see a problem with it though, since the hot spot doesn't stretch too far outside Amity Park. It just makes it easier for us to work." She then turned back to Doc. "In the end, your acceptance of the existence of ghosts doesn't really matter. Drew asked for my help and that's what I came here for."
Doyle gave a chuckle. "There you go Mr. Skeptical. You don't even have to think they're ghosts, just go along with it; Sounds simple enough to me."
So that's that. Background showing a previous connection between the Fentons and the Secret Scientists. I figured it would make alot of sense for them to be affiliated in some way.
Also, because the SS universe has a more serious tone most of the time, I wanted to give Maddie a more realistic scientific view. In my opinion, she seems like she wouldn't exactly be closed off to the idea that a ghost wasn't evil given a bit of evidence for it. The fact that she's a mother also should influence her view of Phantom which isn't shown in the show. Outside some sort of mental issue, most mothers would have trouble thinking about a child as evil. It would be rooted into their maternal instincts. (Not true of everyone!) Also, a made a change to the Fenton view of ghosts so that only ghosts coming to the human world were assumed evil. Having no real information on the Ghost Zone, they wouldn't know much about those inside. This is also for future plot relevance... hint hint...=^-^=
It should be noted that I warned you all about these sorts of changes back in Chapter 1. These should not come as a surprise at all.
Anyway, hope you enjoyed and will ask questions and leave reviews.=^-^=
