But that's beside the point. The point is this story, not my other one. Alright, this chapter is me giving you my reasoning behind Danny's powers, including some nice Lancer fluff. I hope you find it interesting!
Oh, and thank you for all the reviews! I'm so glad you like this story!
Chapter Five
Genetic Anomaly
After Danny's last class, he headed towards Lancer's classroom and knocked on the door, only to realize that his hand had gone intangible and fell through the door. He gasped and pulled his hand back as he turned around making sure no one was behind him. He put his hand in his pocket and knocked with his other hand.
"Enter," Mr. Lancer called from within. Danny opened the door and walked towards Mr. Lancer's desk, not removing his hand from his pocket; it still felt intangible.
"Ah Mr. Fenton, please take a seat," Mr. Lancer greeted as he gestured to a seat across from the desk. Danny sat down, slipping his hand behind his back.
"I just wanted to let you know what I was planning on doing in regards to the week of school you've missed. All your teachers and I have talked about your particular situation and we've decided that it's not fair to ask you to make up anything you've missed. In addition, we're not going to make you responsible for the material you've missed at any time, including on the final. So, in Biology for example, you will have to do the DNA project only because you don't really need any information for it, but you won't have to take the test next Monday with the rest of the class. You also won't have to make up the photosynthesis test we took last week, although you will be responsible for that material since you were here when we learned it.
"In English, you won't have to read To Kill A Mockingbird, though I think you should certainly read it at some point in your life, but we're almost finished with it, so you shouldn't worry about it. Of course, you should still pay attention in class, but you won't have to do any other projects or tests relating to it. For your other teachers, you'll have to talk to them about details, but we've all pretty much agreed to the same thing. If one of your other teachers is going to make you responsible for something you feel you shouldn't be responsible for, just come talk to me and we'll sort it out. Do you have any questions?"
"No Mr. Lancer."
"Excellent. Now, I won't ask you what happened, but I want you to know that you can always talk to me. I understand what kind of stuff your parents work with, and I know that most of it can be pretty dangerous. They told me that you could have been killed, which I know can be traumatizing. So, I just wanted to let you know that you can always come talk to me if you're having a problem adjusting to life after that traumatizing experience. I myself had a near death experience and I was never the same afterwards."
"Thank you Mr. Lancer, I will."
"And if anything ever becomes too overwhelming, just let me know and I'll try and see what I can do."
"Thank you."
"Alright, I'm sure you want to spend some time with your classmates and relish in your newfound popularity. Off you go."
"Thank you sir," Danny thanked as he headed out the door. Before exiting, he turned back to Mr. Lancer. "Mr. Lancer?"
"Yes Mr. Fenton."
"I just wanted to say how much I appreciate everything. It really means a lot to me."
"It is my pleasure Daniel."
Danny left Mr. Lancer's room, feeling totally refreshed. This meant he had no homework because all of his teachers were still working on stuff that he missed. He rushed over to the lab where Tucker and Sam were setting up the machine.
"Alright Danny, the lab tech just came in here, so you should be safe. I don't think she'll make another visit within the next few minutes."
The ring of light formed around Danny's waist as he turned into his ghost half.
"Wow, you're getting better," Tucker commented.
"Yeah, I've been practicing. Sitting in your bed all day for a week can get pretty boring. Let's make this quick before that lab tech comes in."
"Take your glove off," Sam ordered as she got the pricker ready. Danny removed his glove and Sam took his hand, flinching a little.
"Sorry it's so cold," Danny apologized.
"That's alright," Sam returned as she pricked Danny with the pricker. Green liquid oozed out of the hole in his finger.
"Alright, now that's just plain wrong," Danny remark upon seeing the green substance.
"Just wipe it on the slide and we can figure it out later," Tucker ordered.
Danny did as he was told and Tucker slid the sample under the microscope.
"Wow. I don't know what this stuff is, but it's not blood," Tucker commented. "I don't see anything remotely resembling blood cells in here."
"It's probably ectoplasm," Danny suggested. His two friends looked at him. "I started asking my parents a bunch of questions about ghosts. They're made up of a green goop called ectoplasm. It's like ghost blood. My parents are always complaining about how much they want it but can never get any."
"That's kinda cool and interesting, in a weird way," Tucker commented. "Your parents wouldn't happen to be able to tell you where to look for DNA in a sample of ectoplasm, would they?"
"Very funny. Just keep looking; it has to be there somewhere."
"Danny, I hear someone coming. Quick hide…" Sam advised as she turned to Danny, only to see that he wasn't there. The lab tech entered the lab, looked at them and then smiled at the future scientists at work as she walked back into the office.
"Find anything yet?" Danny asked as he appeared to Sam's right. Sam jumped back in shock.
"Danny, don't scare me like that!" she warned.
"Sorry."
"Yeah, I think I found something. I'm going to zoom in and see if I can find DNA. Yup, here we go, Danny's ghost DNA. Wow, that looks really cool."
"Let me see," Danny demanded as he moved in front of the microscope. He saw a glowing green strand of DNA, but some of the protein chains didn't glow at all. "Tucker, find the top of the strand and take a picture of it and then print it out."
"Why?"
"I have a theory."
After a few moments of figuring out where the pattern began and ended, Tucker took a picture with the microscope and sent it to the printer in the middle of the room. Danny flew over to the printer and pulled up the picture.
"Alright, now we need to find my human DNA," Danny stated as he turned back into a human and pricked his finger with the pricker. He smeared the blood onto a slide and then handed the slide to Tucker before turning back into a ghost.
"And you're turning back into a ghost why?" Sam asked as she bandaged his finger.
"Is there any reason not to?" Danny asked in return as he started floating off the floor. "It's more fun being a ghost; I can float."
"Show off," Sam muttered under her breath so no one could hear her.
"Got it."
"From the beginning of the strand?" Danny asked.
"Yup."
"Awesome, you rock. Take the picture and then we can see if my theory's right."
Tucker took the picture and Danny grabbed it from the printer and set it next to the other one. Danny studied them for a moment in silence and then looked up happily.
"Do you mind explaining this?" Tucker asked.
"Alright, I don't know much about DNA, but if you look at both of these chains, the third little spoke on the left side is human DNA, while in my human form it's ghost DNA. The same thing works for every one of the little spokes. They're just switched around."
"So that must be what gives you ghost powers," Sam mentioned. Even though Danny was no great shakes at science or school in general, he could really be smart when he wanted to. He obviously inherited his parents' genes.
"Exactly," Danny confirmed.
"That means that the ghost portal rearranged your molecules, switching your protein chains so that you would have ghost powers."
"Oh, so that's what they're called? Oh well, I prefer spokes."
"Then it's a good thing you're not taking the test," Sam joked. "Well, now you have two different genetic signatures."
"So, if you ever get commit a crime the police won't be able to convict you because they won't be able to process your DNA linking you to the scene of the crime!" Tucker laughed.
"Yeah, but that also means that Danny can't ever be suspected, or they'll take a sample of his DNA and find the exact same thing we did. And he can't ever go to the hospital either, because they would want a blood sample. And he can't get a blood transfusion because no one has similar enough DNA anymore!"
"Sam, relax," Danny suggested. "I'm not planning on committing any crimes, so that doesn't matter, I don't plan on having to go to the hospital and plus my parents don't really believe in the hospital unless it's an emergency, and I don't really think I'm going to need a blood transfusion. I'm half ghost remember? If I need one I'll just stay in my ghost mode until I make enough red blood cells to be back to normal. Don't worry, it'll all be fine."
"You're right. It's just, this is all so weird. I mean, you're going to have to be really careful, we're going to have to be really careful."
"I know, but we shouldn't worry about things that don't concern us yet. We have enough to worry about," Danny remarked.
"What do you mean?" Tucker asked.
"Like the lab tech lady coming back. Hide!" Sam ushered as Danny turned invisible. "I keep forgetting he can do that."
The lady wandered in and looked at them as both of them hovered over the microscope, looking intent on their project. Then she retreated to her office.
Danny became visible again, but this time sitting on top of the microscope.
"Danny!" Sam screamed. "I swear, do that to me one more time, and I will personally make you a full ghost!" Tucker and Danny laughed.
"So what do we have to worry about?" Tucker asked.
"It's just, this is all so weird, and I keep feeling like I should be telling my family all this. This is way more than just being half dead. I mean, I have two genetic signatures, and one of them glows green! And now I'm even bleeding green! A part of me just keeps thinking that something this important should be shared with the family, but I'm too scared to do so."
"Danny, I know this has to be rough, but remember what you told us the day of the accident? Is it worth risking everything just because you bleed green or because your DNA glows?" Sam comforted. "I don't think they'll do anything to you and I think they'll accept you, green blood and all, but I just wanted you to remember how adamant you were at first when I suggested telling them."
"She's right Danny. If you have any doubt in your mind that they won't accept you, then I wouldn't risk it. It's not worth it."
"You're right. It's just that I'm sick of lying to them, of running out of the room at random moments because my arm went intangible."
"Listen, no one said this would be easy, but that's why you've got us. We'll make it work, don't worry."
Danny smiled at his friends. He knew they'd find a way to cheer him up.
"So does that mean we're done?" Danny asked. "I know I said I wanted to go back to school, but I didn't mean that I wanted to stay here all day."
"I just want to do one more test," Tucker announced.
"Great," Danny sighed.
"Go human for a second." Danny proceeded to transform back into his human form. "Alright, I know this may seem a little unreasonable, but this is something probably really important. I need you to fill this Petri dish with blood."
"What?" Danny asked incredulously.
"That's a lot of blood Tucker," Sam stated.
"I know, but I need a large amount to analyze it. This may be important."
"Alright, I trust you," Danny agreed as he grabbed a scalpel.
"What are you doing Danny?" Sam asked.
"Using the pricker will take too long," Danny explained as he held his finger over the Petri dish and slashed his finger open as he grimaced at the sharp pain.
"I can't believe you just did that," Sam commented.
Danny waited as the dish was filled with his blood, noticing that at times the green ectoplasm would ooze out instead of the normal red blood, even though he was in human mode. He handed the Petri dish to Tucker and then Sam helped him wrap up his finger.
"Aha! I knew it!" Tucker rejoiced as he looked into the sample. "You still have ectoplasm in your blood even when you're not a ghost," Tucker explained.
"That could be why my parent's inventions keep homing in on me when I'm not a ghost. They said that their inventions seek out the ectoplasm inside a ghost, which is why they want a sample of it so bad, so they can track ghosts."
"Or it could be tracking your ghost DNA," Sam suggested.
"That too," Danny admitted.
"And we could know that without making Danny slice his hand open," she smarted back.
"So if there's ectoplasm in my blood when I'm a human," Danny contemplated while going ghost "then that means that there may be some human blood in my ectoplasm." He removed the bandage and noticed that green ooze was slowly replacing the red blood emerging from his wound, but at times he would see an emergence of red, much like the ectoplasm did in his human form.
"So, what exactly does this mean?" Sam asked.
"I don't know, but can we figure this out sometime later. I'm really sick of this lab and actually really tired."
"Sounds good to me," Tucker replied as Danny turned human. "I'm going to save these samples, just in case we happen to need them again."
"Aren't you stealing those Petri dishes?" Sam asked skeptically.
"They won't miss them," Tucker replied as he covered them with lids and shoved them into his backpack. "And don't worry, I won't let anyone get a hold of them."
The three of them walked out of the lab, brimming with new knowledge explaining Danny's unique circumstances.
A/N: So I hope it wasn't too bad and I hope you found it as interesting as I did. If not, then don't worry, there'll be some action in the next one!