Hey there! Thank you all for the reviews. I apologize to those of you who read the first version of my author's notes for the last chapter and thought that I was referring to a redemption arc for Issitoq! I was talking about one for Dan. A redemption arc for Issitoq would be interesting! I don't know if I'm going to do one, though.
Writer's Obsession: Yes, all the changes are temporary. Don't worry.
speedyowl152: They can remember what happens on each floor, but outside of that, their memories change. So when they go to the next floor, they'll remember what happened on this floor, but their memories of what happened outside of the tower will change. Once they leave the tower, they'll remember what happened in the tower, what they were thinking of, and conscious memories that they pulled up, but not anything outside of that. Does that make sense?
Lutemis: Thank you for the feedback! I understand entirely why you'd say this. The story is getting looser. Part of it is probably that I'm have less time to work on this and make it... I don't know, streamlined. But I also think that this was always something that was going to happen once they got out of Danny's lair and started to move around, since I'm not writing this with any kind of plan in mind and this is super self-indulgent. The Issitoq thing is something that has been bothering me, though. I don't write very good villains. If you have any tips or suggestions, I would be very happy to hear them!
Cutiepie120048: I agree! :)
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Chapter 114:
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"Looks like you didn't sleep," said Tucker. Well, 'said' was a bit too generous, honestly. 'Mumbled' was closer. 'Slurred' could have been used, too.
"Yeah, yeah, you too," said Sam, glaring at her... She wasn't sure what this was, actually, just that it didn't have any meat in it.
"Uhuh," added Jazz, eloquently. She blinked sleepily at the table. "What, uh..."
"That's good," said Tucker, pointing at something down the table. The room was mostly empty. Not all ghosts ate every day. Some ghosts didn't eat at all. It varied. The ghosts were busy, too, with the aftermath of the battle. Sam's understanding was that the cleanup was going fast than it would have in a real world city, but that it would still take some time before everything was back to normal.
Jazz reached for the item, but it was, of course out of reach. Which was apparently the cue for a yellow ectoplasmic hand to materialize and bring it straight to Jazz. Great.
Sam buried her hands in her face and groaned. Wait. No. She buried her face in her hands. Much better. "I'm so useless."
"Nah, you're good," said Tucker. "Like, yeah. You know... stuff. Lots of stuff. Good stuff."
"Not enough," said Sam. She might have been close to tears, which made her really angry for some reason.
"Mhm," said Jazz blinking slowly. "Maybe you're trying too hard?"
"Hnn," said Sam, unable to express her frustration in words.
"What, um, what about, um. You've been trying to do plants? What if it's not plants? Or not just plants."
"Yeah," said Tucker. "Maybe you're made of bats. Wait."
"You can be like Batwoman. Batgirl? Whatever."
"You need to read more comics," said Tucker.
"You need to sleep, that's what," Sam grumbled.
"Eh," said Jazz. "Like, Tucker is Egypt, sorta? I don't actually know what you managed to do, honestly."
"Neither do I." Tucker gave the two girls a bleary smile. "Energy? Tech? Sand? Yay, Egypt. They want me to sleep, too," he confided in a whisper.
"Just, you've got other interests? May you can do like, hypnotism, right? Because protests?" Jazz yawned. "Gonna sleep, now." She stood up, swaying a little. "Heh. Sleep. Does this make me like Danny, now?"
"Other interests..." said Sam. "Yeah, maybe."
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Azalea came in without knocking, a sheaf of papers in her arms and a worried expression on her face. "Mr Wolfsbane," she said, "you need to see this." She handed him a paper that was covered with a number of diagrams and the illegible scrawl of some ghost language. It looked printed, strangely enough. Maddie had to wonder what ghosts had managed to master that skill. One of those technology oriented ones, like that 'Technus,' perhaps?
"Where did you get this?" asked Wolfsbane.
"Straight from the FF representative," said Azalea.
"What is it?" asked Jack.
"A medical report from the Far Frozen."
Maddie began to examine the papers with a new eye. "A medical report- For Danny?"
"Yes." Wolfsbane frowned at the page he was looking at. "This is just a summary, but it isn't good news."
"What's wrong with Danny?" demanded Jack, immediately.
"Wh-? Oh, oh no. When this report was put together, at least, Mr Phantom was recovering quite well. It is several days old, if I am correctly converting the date."
"Converting the date?"
"The Far Frozen uses a different calendar," said Wolfsbane. "The bad news is for you." He stroked his beard. "On several fronts. Some of it we already knew about. The effects of that weapon of yours, for example. The damage done by those monsters in white, for another." He tapped the paper. "Those are problematic enough in and of themselves, especially because there will be those who will try to make out that you caused all of his injuries, which simply isn't true. No. The issue is..." Wolfsbane trailed off. "A moment. This is not exactly a human problem. Let me determine how to explain this." He stroked his beard again.
"It isn't that hard to explain, is it?" asked Azalea. "I mean, they've got it written pretty plainly here, and Mr and Mrs Fenton are scientists. I'm sure that they'll understand the implications." Azalea grinned toothily at the Fentons. "Right?"
"Perhaps you are right," said Wolfsbane. "At least in terms of the science, if not the cultural implications. I will try my best. This states that, on close inspection, Phantom's core has a slight inconsistency in its formation. A flaw, if you would, separate from the injuries he sustained recently. The author of this report is of the opinion that it was acquired when he first formed as a ghost, rather than being caused by a latter injury."
A ghost's core was roughly equivalent to a human's brain. Damage to Danny's, no matter how it came to be, was not something that filled Maddie with joy.
"What does that mean for Danny? Is he alright?"
"As I said, yes. He's fine. I am not a doctor, but I doubt that it will harm his health. It... Azalea, give me that next page. It, let's see here. Yes. According to this, the growth of the area of his core usually associated with the holding of grudges has been somewhat stunted." Wolfsbane looked up. "That might not mean much to you, but being able to hold a grudge is rather important for us ghosts. It keeps us sane, in some cases. It occasionally prevents our Obsessions from latching on to inappropriate targets. It also helps us remember our enemies. For Phantom, it really only means that he is unusually forgiving, which can be a virtue, even if it is something of a weakness. But for you... Ah, I have it. I do believe that some children are born with... Congenital defects? Is that the term?"
"That's the term," said Maddie, stiffly.
"Now, most of the opposition's argument is already that you have been abusing Phantom. Imagine the reaction in your world if the people there were to hear that you were abusing a child with a congenital brain defect." He shuffled the papers together, and laid them on the table. "The reaction will be similar here. The argument will be that he has no defenses against you," he said, quietly. "That he cannot be rational where you are concerned. That you should not even be allowed near him. I suppose that would have been the reaction in any case, but it will have much more weight now."
Maddie swallowed. Every time she thought she understood how badly she screwed up, there was something else. Maybe, if she couldn't even see that, see how much she had hurt Danny, she didn't deserve to be his mother. She didn't deserve to be anyone's mother.
"Mrs Fenton," said Wolfsbane. "Madeline. Please remember that Phantom does not feel that way. And," he paused slightly, "he still has the full array of human reason, such as it is. He is not incapable of making his own decisions, no matter what some minority might argue."
"But," said Jack, sounding lost, "is Danny... If he... Is this going to... hurt him?"
"Azalea, you've read this in more depth than I have."
The blonde girl shrugged. "No. From what I read, without a close examination of his actual core, it wouldn't have been noticed for a while. They have behavioral effect written as 'minor,' at the end there."
"A while? How long?" asked Maddie. "What else does it say?"
"I don't know. You would have to wait and see." Azalea shrugged, and gave them a small smile. "At least, that's what I think it means. I could go get it translated, but there are so many technical terms... I don't know who would be able to do this. I couldn't directly translate most of these." The buzzing that always accompanied Azalea intensified. She raised a hand to her lips. "Not nearby, anyway."
"The Library of Tongues would do it," said Wolfsbane.
"Do you want me to bring it to them?" asked Azalea. "It's pretty far. It'll take a while."
"Give it to one of our interns."
"Oh. Right. I forgot that I could do that," said Azalea. "I'll leave that copy with you." She bowed slightly. "I'll go take care of that."
She left.
Wolfsbane coughed slightly. "Now, we are going to have to revise our strategy somewhat..."
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Ellie hummed as she sat down next to Danny. He had finished patching up the others, and was now sitting on the couch. He was watching people. Eyes flickering from one to another, lingering for a few minutes and then moving on.
"Hey," she said.
"Hello," said Danny.
"So," said Ellie. "Tell me about yourself."
Danny blinked. "I was under the impression that you already knew me fairly well?"
"Yeah, but not this you, and I'm curious, so spill."
