Chapter 5- The First Step
(A giant Leap for Phantom and Fenton)
"When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives means the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand."
~Henri Nouwen
"I'm here in one piece with no gaping holes or bloody gashes, doesn't that answer the question?"
"No. For all we know your Dad started firing and just didn't hit you, I mean no offense but he couldn't hit the broad side of a barn and you're not exactly an easy target."
"Sam's right, now if this was a peace talk with Vlad that'd be saying something, but with your Dad it doesn't mean much."
"Well there's not much to say. It went well, we talked a little but neither one of us knew what to talk about so we mostly just sat there getting used to not shooting. Or in my case not flying away as fast as I can."
Sam shrugged and popped a cookie into her mouth. "Sometimes there's nothing to say. Checkmate."
"Why are you teaching me chess again?"
"Strategy. It'll help you when you fight. If you want I could drag Tucker and another board over. Maybe two games will be enough of a distraction so you can get more than three of my pieces."
Tucker looked up from the game he was playing on his PDA. "Danny's a lost cause Sam. Quit while you're behind."
The goth rolled her eyes as she reset the board. "So what little conversation occurred was about…?"
"Uh… we talked about me not being the only good ghost and have we got into the whole ghost fighting business."
"What did you say?" Tucker asked bringing a second black and white board and himself over.
"I told him I was thrust into it and just never tried getting out."
Sam nodded. "True but safe response. And what did your Dad say?"
"That he wanted to make a breakthrough in something to prove people wrong." Danny replied.
"Sounds like Sam and her activism. OW! Why'd you hit me?"
"What?" She asked giving Tucker an innocent look.
"You messed with the wrong chess player. Danny's like the box ghost compared to me."
"Hey!"
Sam shifted her body so that she was facing Tucker. "Bring it on, I was getting sick of dragging out those painful massacres with Danny. White goes first, your move."
Danny looked between the two and sighed. 'They're more aggressive towards each other sometimes then my parents are with ghosts.'
xXxXxXxXxXx (FentonWorks living room)
"Achoo!"
"Bless you dear. So how'd it go?"
"I have to admit it was nice not shooting at each other. You were right, Phantom seems like an alright guy, er ghost. We talked a bit and sat there." Jack moved a red piece to the left. " He's really different from the rest, almost seem alive."
"Well since he's still bound here in a sense he is." Maddie replied jumping one of Jack red pieces and taking it. "He probably has more 'life' then the others ghosts because he's young. I mean his spirit is that of a teenager and hasn't been around more than two years."
"Yeah, he died young…" Jack paused. "Electrocuted. That's how Phantom said he died."
"You asked?" Maddie said raising an eyebrow. "Not exactly something you talk to a ghost about."
"It just came out. You seem to be on relatively good terms, you never asked?"
"That's one of the most, if not the most, touch of areas to bring up. Ghosts don't usually react well to being reminded that they're dead."
Jack moved a red piece to the left again but diagonally this time and captured a kinged piece.. "Well luckily Phantom's not most. He almost feels familiar to, like I knew him before he died…" Jack trail off trying to place where he might have seen the ghost when he was alive. "Anyway he was telling me that there are more like him, more friendlies. He suggested introducing us to them sometime. What do you think?"
"If Phantom trusts them I'm willing to put some trust in them as well. I don't see the harm in just meeting them and this would be a good chance to observe more ghosts in a noncombatant setting. Phantom seems to be an outlier but if he's right, this definitely would change some of our views and theories." She jumped Jacks last two pieces. "Up for connect four?"
"How about an eating contest instead."
xXxXxXxXxXx (Next day- Monday after school)
"So how would I solve this when x is raised to a power of 3/2?"
"As hard as they look, fractional exponents aren't too different from the whole ones. When you have a fraction as the exponent the numerator is what the variable is raised to and the denominator is what power the root is. So for this problem four is raised to the power of three, 64, and then square rooted which gives you 8." Mr. Lancer paused. "You could also look at it as square root of four, 2, and then 2 cubed which will still gives you 8. Sometimes that approach is easier since you work with smaller numbers." He explained. "Do think you can do the next one by yourself or do you want to go over one more?" Mr. Lancer asked.
"I'll try it first."
Mr. Lancer gave Danny an approving nod as he watched his improving student diligently trying to solve the math problem in front of him.
After a little over a week of Mr. Lancer's forcing/coercing him to come after school, Danny now found himself coming out of habit. He usually stayed for twenty to thirty minutes depending on the day's work load though there were times he left earlier or later.
Like the loyal friends they were Sam and Tucker for the most part stayed after with Danny on a daily basis as well. Today, however, the two had taken Danny's advice and left right after the bell rung to go wait on line for tickets to the new movie Serpents Trinity.
"You know, this isn't so bad when you have someone explaining it one on one. I think you could have been a good math teacher Mr. Lancer what made you to decide to go into English?"
Mr. Lancer looked at Danny before walking to his desk and grabbing a photograph. He handed the metal frame to the confused raven haired teen.
'I wonder when this was taken.' Danny thought looking at the slightly yellowed black and white picture. The photo was of a young woman who looked to be in her late twenties with long curly hair Danny assumed was either red or dirty blond. She wore a cheerful tie-dye dress and a butterfly necklace that must have shined like a diamond if all the glares it gave off were any indication. Her eyes were a color he had never seen. They couldn't be blue, green, or violet and despite being in a colorless photo he knew they weren't brown. They looked like a slightly lighter version of the woman's hair color. Pushing the question out of his mind Danny focused on her smile. It was one of the warmest and most sincere he had ever seen.
"Who is she?" Danny finally asked handing the photo back.
"Faith Kyna. She was my English teacher senior year of high school. You hear about these teachers that change a student's life with something they say or do, well she was one of those teachers with me. My mom died in a car accident early that year and my father didn't handle it well; he turned to drinking. I had been a pretty good student up until that point but senior year it all started to fall apart." He didn't stop talking as he rolled over his desk chair and sat down. "As much as I tried to focus I just couldn't. My mother's death, my father drinking himself under the table most nights, working to pay off some of the bills because his liquor money cut into the budget.
"At that point school work seemed to be the least of my worries and as a result my grades plummeted, they were worse than yours Mr. Fenton." Danny looked a bit offended at the remark but didn't interrupt. "Miss Faith pulled me aside one day and told me to meet her after school. She didn't force me to explain what was going on, but she said she was going to make sure I did my work."
"How?"
"She was a determined woman. I believe that if it was for her students there's nothing she wouldn't have done. Miss Faith followed me to my job for a whole week when I skipped and stayed there following me around and reading Hamlet to me until I went home. She even invited herself over for dinner once or twice to drive her point home. After that I got it, she wasn't about to give up on me and she wasn't going to let me give up on myself or my school work either."
"So what happened?"
"I asked my manager for a slightly later shift so I could stay after school. I stayed because Faith skipped a day's lesson plan and instead gave an inspiring presentation about the importance of school. She explained that a solid education and degree was necessary to succeed. It didn't guarantee a job or a good life, but not having one almost did guaranteed never having either. Faith said that if anyone wanted to waste their life then that was their decision, but no one was about to do that on her watch, not if she could help it. She really got through to me and I realized then that that was what I wanted to do to."
"You mean helping people, making an impact? But there are so many other fields you could have gone into. Jobs like counselors or psychiatrists they help people get through problems. Firefighter and polices risk their lives for complete strangers they might never know. Doctors go around curing and healing, they can save hundreds. A lot of times those guys are the real heroes."
Mr. Lancer nodded. "Yes I consider them heroes, but I believe that teenagers need the most help because they're going through the most difficult phase in their life. It's a time where you're expected to act like an adult, yet you're treated like a child. I felt teaching would give me the best chance to help some of the more troubled teens I ran into. All doctors, firefighters, police… everyone is a student at one point and some of those who become great might only do so because of the right mentor."
Danny's eyes widened. "That's me isn't it? I was one of those kids you picked up on your needs-help-radar." It was more of a statement than a question and Mr. Lancer laughed.
"You're correct. I saw potential in you Danny; those first few weeks you produced good work and participated with active interest. Then there was the accident at home and when you finally came back you weren't the same. Half the time you were asleep and the other half when you weren't you couldn't focus. Any work you gave me was barely done and the idea was usually misconstrued and stretched thin. While I was glad it wasn't plagiarized, there were times I almost wished it was so you would have read the correct answers instead of beating made up ones into your head."
"I've gotten better though. I mean I almost never take naps in your class and when I do it's not on purpose. My homework record has also improved, I've made quite an effort towards getting it done. As for focus well, no offense but Shakespeare isn't the most riveting topic for me and I'm not a morning person, but I still try." Danny pointed out.
"There has been major improvement on your part and seeing it was a relief. I was honestly worried, that's why this year I made it a point to try Faith's method on you. It worked for me and I had a feeling it might have the magic touch for you."
Danny was about to reply when a blue mist escaped his mouth. 'Damn. Today was going so well to.'
"BEWARE! I AM THE BOX GHOST!" "Will you be my friend?"
'The two biggest losers in the ghost zone? Well there's a nomination for biggest joke of a team for the year.'
"Oedipus the King! We need to get out of here now Mr. Fenton!" Mr. Lancer cried grabbing Danny's arm and dragging him out the door. "The auditorium should be safe once the ghost shield is activated. I want you to head there while I run to the office and call for help. The generator for the shield is right in front of the stage. I assume you can turn it on since you're familiar with this kind technology. "
"Probably, but when did the auditorium get a ghost shield?"
"This past Saturday, your Dad also installed one in the cafeteria and gym in case there were ever any ghost emergencies." 'So that's the business he had to take care of.' Danny thought remembering his Dad's excuse to leave the docks. "Just stay there until I finish calling for help." Mr. Lancer ordered turning a corner to head for the main office.
As soon as Lancer was out of sight Danny transformed and started running in the opposite direction. "Looking for me?" He asked spotting the two ghosts. "Catch me if you can!"
Danny took off for the nearest exit hoping to minimize any damage to the school by taking the fight outside. He stopped several yards into the football field when the box ghost emerged from the school. "Prepare to feel my doom!" He yelled as several boxes sitting on the bleacher stared to fly at Danny.
"Be my friend! Please! I'm so lonely!" Klemper yelled flying into the open field. "We can have lots of fun together, like going sledding or building snowmen!" He added hurling bowling ball sized snowballs at Danny.
"Sorry Boxy I don't think I'll be feeling your 'doom' anytime soon and Klemper, you don't have snowball fights in late May." Danny replied dodging the boxes and snow before shooting ice beams at the two. The box ghost took the hit and fell like a stone from the air while Klemper didn't so much as flinch.
"Nothing can freeze me, my heart is already ice. And you'll pay for hurting my only friend!" He shot several large ice spikes at Danny who created a shield and simply watched as the spikes struck the translucent obstruction and crashed to the ground in pieces. "Well if Lancer asks I can honestly say I used a ghost shield." Danny muttered to himself dropping the shield and firing a ghost ray that Klemper barely managed to avoid.
"I only want to be friends. Why won't you be my friend!" He cried flying down to the box ghost.
"Because you keep causing trouble. I can't have people thinking that I do that to. Do you have any idea how much work it's taken for this town to start accepting me?"
Klemper put his hands on the ice encasing the box ghost. "That's shallow! I wouldn't care if the other ghosts labeled me a traitor for hanging out with you! Why would you care what people think if we started hanging out?" The ice surrounding the ghostly pest reverted back to water.
"Thank you." The box ghost said sincerely. "Now Phantom, prepare to feel my WRATH!"
"And my loneliness!" Boxes of ice materialized out of thin air that the box ghost started hurling at the halfa while Klemper fired an ice beam from his eyes. Danny hardened a beam of energy into a small handmade shield to try and deflect the boxes while he countered Klemper's ice vision with his own.
Danny was winning the battle of the ice when a particularly fast box crashed into his shield sending him hurtling backwards. Right into the schools electrical lines.
10,000 volts surged through Danny's body superheating his ectoplasm and freezing the halfa in midair until the transformer blew from the ecto energy leaking down the lines from Danny's body. As the metal box exploded, the wires, and consequently Danny, fell to the ground. Spike of broken ice and shard of shrapnel sank into his flesh upon impact letting ectoplasm flow free. A primal scream tore itself from Danny's mouth as the pain caught up with his brain and overloaded his mind.
"We did that." The Box Ghost stated numbly. "We took down the halfa."
"Box Ghost, I just wanted to be friends. I didn't want to cripple him. What are we going to do?"
The Box Ghost looked at Klemper. "We should flea lest we face the wrath of the gothic one or any others."
"But we should help him." Klemper insisted.
"What can we do? Nothing. If we stick around we'll be in trouble. It's not just the humans; any of the far frozen will have our heads for this, assuming Skulker doesn't take them first as compensation for stealing his prey and anything Plasmius will do will make beheading seem pleasant in comparison. We should go. Now."
"But-"
"STAY IF YOU WANT TO!" He screamed. " But I'm leaving."
Klemper watched as his temporary partner sped off. When the Box host was out of sight he stared down at the smoke rising from Danny's twitching form. "I never meant for this to happen. I'm sorry."
xXxXxXxXxXx
It hurt. Every part of his body that he could feel felt like it was on fire and being touched by the sun's corona. A million freshly sharpened knives stabbed at his nerve endings and his skull threatened to burst from the pressure. The pain wasn't as bad as the portal accident but then again Danny couldn't even remember the sheer amount of pain from back, it had been inconceivable.
Trying to reign in control of his limbs Danny attempted to sit up which resulted in his arms giving out and him falling back to the ground. 'I feel like I'm gonna melt.' The thought greatly worried him because he knew that in his ghost form potentially he could. Danielle had a very similar structure and she had melted into nothing; it was only the ecto-dejecto that had saved her.
'I need to get home. Not sure I make it there right now but I need to, Mom can help me.'
As Danny lay there sucking in deep breaths to dull the pain and trying to stop shaking a thought struck him.
'Good thing glass is an insulator.' He thought reaching for the necklace that had miraculously survived. With trembling fingers Danny unscrewed the lid and carefully forced his shaking fingers to bring the capsule to his mouth. He downed to small amount of liquid with a grimace. 'God this stuff is worse than Tucker's body spray. I wonder how long it takes to kick in.' His question got an immediate response as Danny felt some of his strength return. 'Right… ectoplasm diffuses quickly.' With the small energy boost Danny managed to bring his seizing limbs somewhat under control.
Gently he got to his feet and after the sudden light headedness faded a bit he took a hesitant step forward half expecting to fall. Still standing he took another and another until he was walking.The squelching of his steps made him look down. 'This bleeding's bad, I either need to get home soon or slow it down.' He watched for a moment as glowing green poured down chest, stomach and sides. 'It'll be close, but I might have enough juice to fly home.' Wrapping his hands and arms around himself to stem some of the bleeding Danny shakily took to the air.
Blood loss started to catch up not even two minutes later. The world was spinning and his head was feeling lighter than a feather but he kept going. With each block Danny got closer to home but also to the ground. He finally dropped from the sky when he was mostly down his street with only two houses to go. Groaning he managed to climb to his feet and walk the rest of the way. When he reached the front door he sagged against it trying in vain to catch his breath and regain his bearings while he took an inventor of himself.
One of his legs was numb and the other felt like it had a sprained ankle. His torso felt like well-done ground beef and each breath was like a stake being driven through his chest. He wished he could kick the unnecessary habit that his ghost half refused to let go of. Multiple ribs had to be bruised and at least one was broken and piercing a lung. It was a good thing there was no living tissue in of need a functioning repertory system, but when he reverted that would be a bit of a problem. Lucky for him his human side didn't need as much air as the average person.
His right arm was mostly in tact thankfully but his left could barely be bent around his waist. It was likely fractured in at least two places based on the stabbing flares of pain by his wrist and several inches above the elbow. Standing, let alone walking, was even worse than breathing. Even without his bum leg Danny could barely see past the black spots that dominated his view of the spinning world. His body's supply of ectoplasm was running dangerously low and Danny was knew he wasn't about to last too much longer without some kind of help. 'I made. Don't know how, but I made it.'
Feeling ever so slightly better Danny focused the last of his energy and phased through the door. A pained 'oof' escaped his lips as his body thudded to the living room floor staining the periwinkle carpet with his ghost half's green blood. 'I need to get to the lab; they're probably down there… just- just a little bit further.'
No matter how hard he struggled through, Danny didn't have the energy to get up, his core was drained. Giving up on the idea of walking, Danny scrounged up the will power to force his body to crawl. After what seemed like an eternity but was only a minutes the halfa reached the steps leading to the lab.
"Ma-" his voice gave out. "Maddie!" He tried again. Danny's voice was hoarse and refuse to reach the needed octive but he gave another shout, desperate. "Maddie! Help!"
"Who's up there!" She demanded not recognizing the voice immediately.
"It's me. Phantom!" He yelled trying to right himself to a sitting position. The attempt failed miserably and instead Danny went tumbling down the stairs and landed in a heap at the bottom, the wind getting knock from him. "There goes another rib or two." He gasped.
"My God, Phantom what happened, are you alright!?" Maddie cried as she and Jack rushed over.
"Not gonna lie…" he laughed spitting up ectoplasm. "I've been better." The laughing turned to harsh coughing and soon the pain sent Danny curling in on himself. "God I can't breathe." He chocked out trying to suck in oxygen.
"You're a ghost you don't need to breathe." Jack stated in disbelief.
"Well sorry," Danny wheezed, "but this one thinks he does."
"What happened?" She repeated grabbing Danny by the arm pits. Jack followed her lead and grabbed his legs and the two moved him to a clear examination table.
"Nothing much… I was thrown into some power lines… and then landed on a nice, sharp pile of ice." He pause a moment as a thought struck him. "Your capsules- you wanted a report… They work, I had to use mine to make it here." While Danny was getting out his story Maddie ran to an emergency medical cabinet near the portal and lugged over a large steel box.
"You made it so don't worry, we'll fix you right up." She said pulling a bottle and syringe out.
"What is that stuff?" Danny asked eyeing the filling syringe.
"Just something to knock you out. You'll be more comfortable that way."
Danny got a look of panic in his eyes. "No! No I can't be knocked out. I might, I could… It-It's better if I'm awake."
"Maddie I'm not sure Benzine's gonna work on him anyway. We don't how it'll react to his ectoplasm." Jack pointed out.
"It's going to work… and I'm not giving you a choice." She added giving Danny a pointed look and testing the needle.
Danny tried valiantly to pull away but he could barely move a muscle. He screwed his eyes shut when he felt a pinch in his skin. 'They're gonna freak, they're gonna freak, they're gonna freak, they're gonna freak, they're gonna freak, they're… gonna… frea…k.' His head rolled to the side as he passed out.
Jack stared at the unconscious ghost. "What are you planning to do? He's a ghost Maddie, I don't think human first aid is going to cut it. Hell I'm surprised the Benzine worked. Maybe letting him fade out would be better; put him out of his misery."
"No." She stated firmly. "The bleeding's only slowed slightly so we still need to stitch up the cuts or he'll bleed out. It's probably best to take off his suit and see if there are any other outstanding injuries that need treating as well. Once he's patched up Phantom'll need a big shot of the supercharged ectoplasm since a transfusion won't be possible." Maddie paused and watched Danny's chest. It rose and fell in a fairly steady rhythm but he appeared to be wheezing and having trouble getting the air he needed. "I'll grab the portable oxygen tank since he's having trouble breathing and I think it's a good idea to hook him up to the ECG and EEG. While I'm getting those and setting him up I want you to start stitching."
"For God's sake Maddie he's a ghost!"
Her eyes narrowed. "So what, you're quitting? You want to just let him fade Jack?"
"No! But air, stitches…" He seemed to deflate. "Honey how do you this is going to work? You seem so sure of yourself, like you're a hospital nurse who's done this a dozen times. I brought up that point for a reason; he is a ghost. I'm not saying it to discriminate," he said raising his hands in a calming gesture, "but it should change any approach we take. I mean air? I don't know why he's still trying to breathe, especially since he's out, but he doesn't need oxygen. You know that Maddie, that's a 101 basic. And thread isn't going to work either. Even if Phantom is solid enough to use it on, he's gonna phase through any standard stuff. We'd need something phase resistant. I don't think we should even be worrying about the gashes though, ghosts heal fast. His ectoplasm should just close the wounds over. I'll agree with the ECG and EEG because his electrical output is important to monitor and it's an interesting data opportunity, but other than that I think just giving him a shot of your charged plasm will fix him up right up."
Jack stopped a moment looking Maddie in the eyes, willing her to understand his point. "I get that you want to help him, I do and I'll help, but you can't go treating him like a human. Most likely the treatments wouldn't have an effect but potentially there could be an adverse reaction and his condition would worsen."
That made Maddie pause. Danny was human. She was treating him how she would any other human (with the exception of the ecto shot of course), but Phantom, and that's who Danny was right now, was a ghost. She assumed there was cross over, after all even from her distance she could see the red in his ectoplasm and Phantom had mentioned feeling ribs break. What Maddie didn't know, couldn't know- not without extensive testing anyway- was how far the crossing went. Phantom might not have needed the air but tried to get it simply as a result of reflex. He still breathed as Danny and it was likely the mindset carried over to Phantom.
As far as basics went, she was pretty sure Phantom was no different in most regards. If that was the case he probably didn't need the oxygen, after all there was no living tissue to utilize it. Maddie needed to think carefully about what to do because Jack was right. She wasn't treating Fenton, she was treating Phantom and that made a difference.
"You're right. He should be fine without the oxygen tank, but his wounds aren't healing Jack, that's why he needs the stitches. I think the jolt knocked his frequency out of alignment. His electromagnetic field isn't where it's supposed to be and that's keeping him from functioning normally." 'It would also explain why he hasn't reverted back. His human aura must need to line up almost if not perfectly with his ghost aura for the change to take place.' "We can use the Fenton Fisher line instead of thread. Can you start that while I get the monitors?"
Jack walked to a messy pile of scrapes and devices by some shelves near the table and rummaged through the clutter until he produced a slightly glowing ball of plastic fishing line. "On it Mads."
Maddie nodded to him before walking to the giant metal cabinet on the right side of the lab by her person work desk. She opened the squeaking doors and scanned the second to last shelf on the bottom for the two small electronics. Spotting them on the end she grabbed the little metal devices and a box of electrodes sitting next to them. She left the cabinet open in case she needed anything else than went back to Phantom.
After she set the ECG and EEG down Maddie bent over and inspected the front of Phantom's suit. 'There should be a zipper here. I'm sure this is a Fenton hazmat suit… aha!' Grabbing the little metal clip hidden in the spandex Maddie gently unzipped it. What she saw made her frown. Scars. Dozens of old and new looking scars covered Phantom's body like a canvas. 'But his healing…' There where only maybe two or three nasty looking ones but Maddie still didn't like seeing her son's body litter with even small injuries. With the kind of gentle touch only a mother could have she removed Phantom's arms from the suit and lifted his upper torso so that when she laid him down the hazmat suit was under him.
With the fabric out of the way Jack started feeding the needle through Phantom's skin. With hurried but careful stitches he quickly set to sewing his damaged son up.
While Jack focused on the gashes Maddie took four electrodes out and hooked them up to the EEG before peeling off the plastic covers from the suction part and sticking two of them to the sides of his head and two to his forehead. When they were secure she flipped a switch producing a low whine. Watching the numbers and sin waves like a hawk she blindly grabbed another four cords and by feel connected them to the ECG. As the vital fluctuations slowed to a stable crawl she stuck the four additional suction pads to Phantom's upper torso and chest area then pressed a little red button on the second machine.
. . . . . . .
"Well he's sewed up tighter than the lips of a secret keeper. How are those number looking Maddie?"
Maddie set her needle down and wiped the ectoplasm dripping from her hands on the thighs of her suit as she turned her head to read the home made devices again. "The brains waves are on par with what you'd expect to find of someone in a deep state of sleep though they're at the low end. The waves are cycling between .8 and .9 Hz. As for the ECG… well it's usually used to monitor pulse so I'm not what exactly sure what it's recording. If I had to take a guess I'd say it was picking up his core. I didn't know they 'pulsed' but I have no other explanation. Whatever it's picking up though isn't doing well; the reading's been getting steadily weaker."
"We can look into that in a few minutes. I think you should shoot him up with that ectoplasm you were working on a few days ago. He looks like he really needs it."
Maddie sighed. "It's not quite ready but I guess it'll have to do." The scientist looked at Phantom's paler than usually face and from her peripheral view noted that his chest was barely rising. Know it would have to do Maddie marched back over to her work desk and grabbed a slightly glowing stainless steel cylinder sitting quietly in the middle. "This really needs to sit for another week and a half." She muttered to herself.
Setting the container down on the table Phantom was occupying Maddie unscrewed the metal lid and pulled out a large glass tube sitting in the container's core. "I guess an IV bag would be the best way to get this into his system." She speculated looking at Jack who nodded and walked to the metal cabinet by the portal Maddie had initially gone to. He returned with an IV stand in one hand and an empty IV bag and tubing in the other. Jack dropped the plastic tubing to the table after setting the IV stand down then slit the bag's top with a clean scalped. He peeled the plastic open and held it up for Maddie as she finished removing the air tight lid from the see through tube. It came off with a hiss similar to that of opening spoiled juice.
Keeping the glass steady Maddie poured the not-as-ready-as-she-would-have-like liquid into the bag. When the tube was empty she placed it back into the cylinder as Jack connected the tubing to the bag. Satisfied that it was secure he stabbed the thick needle at the tubing's end into Phantom's wrist then twisted the valve open as he fastened the bag to the stand. The two watched silently as radioactive green flowed from the hanging bag down the thin tube into Phantom.
"Think he'll be alright?" Jack asked after minute.
Maddie saw Phantom's aura brighten ever so slightly and she nodded. "Yeah. He'll pull through, he's always been a tough kid."
A/N: I would just like to say that it did not take me 11 months to update. I have a beloved Naruto time travel fic, 'A Wrinkle in Time', that was finally updated in December after 11 months and some encouraging PMs to the author (That joy is what made ch 3 so long).Though I apologize for getting this out later (much later) than I had originally anticipated, I point out that it could have been worse. Veranderung wasn't updated for two years. I think I cried when the update alert went out. That said I hope this didn't disappoint those anxiously waiting for its release. I have an alternate ending where Danny's dies without even making it home that I wrote after my sister said "I'm getting married in four months guys! And next summer me and Allen are moving to Florida! How great is that?" I'm very close to my sister and affording plane or train fair won't be possible more than once a year so that kinda depressed me even though I am happy for her. Danny took the brunt of that depression in the alternate version and kinda sorta exploded. Literally.
Side Notes:
1- The movie Sam and Tucker ditch Danny to go get ticket for, Serpents Trinity, is the story that will likely never get published because I will probably never get around to finishing. Its story and characters, I'm proud to say, are all original and I have snippets of the story written out as well as lengthy character bio's and some drawings of what my OCs look like.
2- Lancer to me seems like the kind of person who was inspired by a teacher which led to him becoming one himself. I wanted to have him connect with Danny so I figured a sad back story and similar student situation might do the trick. Faith= faith, Kyna= wisdom so her name translates to faithful wisdom.
3- I, as mentioned in a previous a/n, am a fan of Haiju. I support some of her theories regarding Phantom's structure. I would find it weird if Danny's bones, muscles and everything else simply melted into liquid ectoplasm whenever he transformed, only to reform when he shifted back to human form. As such I firmly believe that he retains a vast majority of his human physiological structure even in ghost form, though his heart stops beating and he doesn't need to breathe.
4- When Jack mentions 'Benzine' he is referring to Benzodiapine, a sedative, anti-anxiety, anticonvulsant, and muscle relaxant.
ECG- Heart monitoring device that records the heart's electrical impulses
EEG- Electroencephalography; is used to monitor brain waves