AN: I'm currently reading a fanfic that's pissing me off so much. It's one of my top five favorites, but only gets updated once every two weeks. And each chapter ends in a cliffhanger bigger than the last. _ So! I'm trying to avoid that with you guys. Cliffhangers will always be a thing, but I'm trying to update more often that this author XD Buuuut since it was Mardi Gras break, I spent all my free time on minecraft… oops
Chapter 4: The Core Sickness
Danny only remembered little snippets of what happened in the next few hours.
Sam's panicked voice, trying to wake him up then calling for Tucker. An argument followed and he was vaguely aware of someone trying to pick him up, but ended up half dragging him.
Little bits of conversation snuck into his head.
"...not injured…"
"...sick…"
"...11 YEARS-" followed by a string of curses directed at him.
"...parents know…?"
"...have to try…"
Whoever was dragging him nearly dropped him when he started coughing again, getting more ectoplasm on his clothes. He wasn't aware of who is it or how they react before he blacked out again. He didn't hear anything else for a while. Someone bangef on a door at some point and called for help.
"Danny…!"
Danny gave a quiet groan when stronger arms took him and carried him somewhere else.
He woke up a bit later when someone wiped his jaw with a wet cloth. It could've been minutes later, or hours, he couldn't tell. His eyes blearily blinked open, squinting slightly at sunlight filtering through the curtains. The first thing he saw was little stars on the roof- he was back in his old room. The cloth gently cleaning his face paused, making him look in the direction it was in. Danny's blue eyes met worried purple ones. "Sam…" he murmured, then his world went black again.
What he didn't see was that standing next to Sam was Maddie, a hand over her mouth, her eyes tearing up. "Phantom… He really is Danny, isn't he…?" She asked. When Sam nodded, Maddie fell back into a chair. "My boy… Oh dear God, I was hunting my son…"
"It was my fault…" Sam said quietly, focusing on cleaning off ectoplasm instead of looking at her. "I dared him to go into the portal, and it turned on while he was inside… He came out as Phantom, and has been ever since." She paused for a moment to sigh.
"Th-the portal turned on…?" Maddie asked, tears running down her face.
Sam nodded. "The 'on' switch was on the inside. I guess he bumped it." They sat in silence for awhile, lost in their own thoughts. Maddie was absolutely horrified at the thought of her son dying and being revived as a halfa in their own basement. Her mind kept conjuring images of what could have happened if something had gone wrong; if his body hadn't have been compatible with ectoplasm. Many people have died before because of ecto-poisoning.
After a few minutes, Sam got up to go toss the rag in with some laundry and get a clean one, leaving Maddie alone with Danny. "Oh, Danny…" She whispered quietly as she watched him sleep. Seeing his chest rise and fall with uneven breaths, she never felt so helpless. Their first test results came up blank, and they hadn't gotten a chance to do any others. His ectoplasm was showing signs of decay, but there was no clear cause. Everything she knew as a scientist pointed against any sort of reasoning. Ectoplasm simply didn't decay. Ghosts could be injured and killed, but not destroyed. Their bodies would turn into a puddle of ectoplasm, which never aged.
She and Jack thought it must be because Danny's ectoplasm was a mixture of blood, but then Sam told them what happened at the reunion. Other ghosts had appeared and claimed the "Core Sickness" was affecting them as well.
Their ghost alarms started going off non-stop, so Jack, Tucker, and Valerie had gone out to try and hunt them down. Of course, Valerie was much better at it… But Jack and Tuck helped as best they could. With Phantom temporarily out of commission, there was no one else to do the job.
Maddie looked outside when she heard a ghost fly by, closely followed by the Huntress on her sled. Danny shivered lightly, but his ghost sense didn't wake him up. She sighed quietly and went over to a hall closet to grab a heated blanket. She and Sam returned to his room at the same time, where she laid the blanket over him and turned it on.
"Danny Fenton, Danny Phantom… It's not even that creative." Sam laughed softly, trying to lighten the mood.
"I resent that…" Both of them jumped when Danny spoke, not expecting to hear his voice. His eyes were just barely open as he watched them.
"Danny…" Maddie started, but trailed off.
Pretending he hadn't heard her, Danny lifted his head to look at the blanket on top of him. "Why the heated blanket?"
"Your… ghost sense." She said hesitantly. "I thought it might help you sleep if you couldn't feel it…"
Before she had a chance to continue, Sam blurted out, "Where the hell have you been?" She sounded more hurt than angry.
Danny silently watched them for a bit, his eyes half lidded. His gaze on Sam, he murmured, "C'mere."
Sam hesitated before stepping closer to the bed. She yelped when he suddenly grabbed her arm and dragged her into the bed with him. He turned on his side, wrapped one arm around her, put his head on her shoulder, and went right back to sleep. "D-Danny!" She protested, blushing brightly. She tried to wiggle out of his grasp, but it didn't seem like he was going to budge any time soon.
Despite the tears still running down her face, Maddie laughed.
XXXINEVITABLEXXX
Danny woke early the next morning and immediately groaned at his sore body. He paused and snickered softly when he noticed Sam hadn't moved from where he'd trapped her. She was fast asleep, her face turned away from him. Moving slowly so now to disturb her, he got out of the bed.
He sighed as he stretched and thought over what he remembered from the night before. Maddie had called him 'Danny' and not 'Phantom', meaning she probably know who he was. 'Great… just fuckin great…' he groaned. His ghost sense when off and he scowled at the window. Some random ghost bird flew by, followed shortly after by Valerie. Her speed was slower than normal, and a little off balanced. 'She's probably been at it all night. Stupid girl.'
Silently changing to Phantom, he turned invisible and flew outside. His chest immediately felt tight with a dull ache, but he ignored it. He followed after Valerie, watching her with bored curiosity.
Valerie slowed down when she had the ghost captured in a thermos. She frowned down at one of her radars. It showed another nearby, but it kept flickering in and out of detection. "The hell…? Damn thing must be broken…"
Danny floated around her in languid circles, reclined back as if he were laying down. Deciding he wanted her attention, he took a slow breath and started to sing. As Phantom, his voice had a slight echo, but when he sang… it sounded like three or four people talking at once.
"And I'll use you as a warning sign; That if you talk enough sense, then you'll lose your mind… And I'll use you as focal point; So I don't lose sight of what I want…"
Valeria looked around frantically, trying to pinpoint the voice. His echoing and overlapping voice was absoluting haunting (pun intended) and sent chills down her spine.
"And I've moved further than I thought I could, But I miss you more than I thought I would. Oh I'll use you as a warning sign; That if you talk enough sense, then you'll lose your mind…" He let his invisibility fade for a moment- allowing her to recognize the DP on his chest and the black/white theme, but nothing more.
Valerie relaxed slightly and sighed. "You… you should be in bed…"
Danny smirked. "As should you, little Huntress. Been up all night?"
She flew down to a roof, where he followed and floated a few feet away, staying invisible. Ignoring his comment, she answered, "Of course I've been up all night. Someone has to deal with the sudden ghost infestation since you apparently won't."
"Ooh, harsh. I don't exactly play the hero anymore, Val." He chuckled.
She stiffened. "Are you saying you play the villain? Have you turned into an evil ghost, Phantom?"
'Right to the point, ne?' "Mm… not quite. If I were evil, everyone would be dead by now. And I mean everyone. But of course, that would destroy the Ghost Zone as well, so it's a big 'no.' No, I play more of an… indifference. I couldn't care less."
"So why did you come back? Why did you leave in the first place?" She glared at where she thought he stood.
"I left… because I've seen the future. I've seen what I could have become- and it's not pretty. I was starting to turn into that, so I left before I could hurt anyone." He answered truthfully.
"What could be so bad that would force you to leave?"
"Turning completely evil."
"And… you thought you were turning evil?" She sounded skeptic.
He sighed and became visible in front of her. "Yes." She jumped back in surprise, a hand going to one of her ectoblasters. His flaming hair alone was something to take in. He scowled at her reaction. "Typical." His legs turned into a thick tail as he hovered around. Mimicking a scared voice, he said, "Oh, it's Danny Phantom! A big bad ghost! Kill it!" He huffed and crossed his arms.
Danny frowned when she took a few steps closer to him, but didn't pick up any defensive position. "What?"
Much to his amusement, she swiped a hand through his hair. "I-It's cold!"
Danny paused for a moment before laughing. "Of course it's cold! I have an ice core."
"But it's fire!"
He shrugged. "It's just for show, really."
"Just… for show?"
"Yep. If I get too weak, or just for the hell of it, I can easily do this-" The flames suddenly became solid hair and flopped down in a messy white mop of hair that matched his human form.
Valerie stepped back, her arms falling to her side. "Yea… I see it now." When he raised an eyebrow, she shook her head. "Who you are. Danny and Phantom… I can't believe I never saw it before."
Danny shrugged, though was smirking. "You weren't exactly looking for a human counterpart. No one was, even with how obvious it was. I mean… change a few colors and bam. Fenton becomes Phantom."
She crossed her arms. "Yea. Figured that out pretty quickly. So… how?"
"Gatta be more specific than that, girlie."
"How are you both?" She snapped. "A ghost and a human. It shouldn't be possible. It isn't possible!"
Danny rolled his eyes and let white rings travel across his body, turning him into his human self. "It's very possible. Extremely uncommon, obviously. I was inside our ghost portal when it was turned on, and I got zapped with all the energy of the Zone; effectively killing and reviving me at the same time. My DNA just happened to be compatible with ectoplasm, so I survived. Vl- the only other Halfa wasn't so lucky and had a bad case of ecto-Acne for years." He shuddered lightly. "Electrocution isn't fun. I wouldn't recommend it."
Valerie's helmet retracted so Danny could see the regret in her eyes. "Oh, god Danny… I… I hunted you… I thought I was keeping you safe! I-"
Danny raised a hand, silencing her. "I don't need a pity party, Val."
"I…" Val trailed off, then sighed. "You… shouldn't be out, Danny… You're sick…"
He scowled. "They're going to make a big fuss."
"Of course they are! You've been 'missing' for eleven years and show up out of the blue because you need their help!" Valerie nearly yelled.
Danny rolled his eyes. "Sheesh, you haven't mellowed out at all…"
She glared at him. "Whatever. Just go back, ghost boy."
He gave her a sly smirk as he shifted back to Phantom. "Race ya."
Val's helmet formed again. "You're on, ghost boy!"
He laughed and dived off the edge of the building before shooting off towards FentonWorks- Valerie just a second behind him.
The two of them raced through the city, dodging buildings and signs. To give her a fair game, Danny didn't go intangible to fly through anything. His legs were a tail again, which helped his flight, but he wasn't going near his top speed. Val's sled could only keep up with so much. He stayed just a few feet ahead of her, going a little faster if she managed to catch up. He could tell the little tease was frustrating her, but he only laughed. Humans below looked up when they heard Valerie's sled and cheered her on. More cheering broke out when they realized who she was chasing.
Danny frowned when he heard the distinct whine of an ecto gun charging up. He turned his head to look back at her just in time to see a net appear at his side and wrap around him. The force sent him onto the balcony of a nearby building, where he growled and struggled to pull off the net.
"Danny!" Val called.
"Subject apprehended." A male voice spoke up. Danny looked up from the net to see two men in white suits fly onto the balcony via jet pack.
Danny snarled, baring his fangs in an animalistic way. "Thought you guys disbanded."
The two men ignored him. One looked at the other, "It's still fighting, activate the net." The other pushed a button that caused an electric current to move throughout the webbing.
Danny yelled as electricity shocked his entire body. It resonated with his ectoplasm, weakening him. Unfortunately, the sudden drain triggered another Core attack. His yell turned into a violent scream.
Val, who had never seen one of his attacks, thought it was just the net. She charged up one of her guns, aiming it at the two agents. "Let him go!"
One of the men frowned. "Aren't you that Huntress? Siding with a ghost… She must be overshadowed."
She flew back some when they pulled out weapons- just seconds before Danny's scream amplified into a Wail. Unlike the ghostly moan it was before, Danny's Wail sounded more like a baritone howl. The two agents were right in it's path and were thrown off the building. The sound shook the building they were on, causing people inside and below to panic. It only lasted a moment before falling into silence.
Valerie rushed over and tore the net off of him. His body still flickered with the attack, though shortly stabilized. "M' ok…" he murmured, but gave a quiet whimper when she tried to move him.
"Come on, Phantom… Gatta get you back before those guys show up again." She wrapped an arm around his shoulders and hauled him up onto her sled with her. It gave a sound of protest at the extra weight, but still took off into the air.
She landed on the roof shortly after and took him inside through that door. "Turn human." She said as they went downstairs.
The bright flash of light caught the attention of everyone inside, who immediately rushed over. Danny gave a little cough, and ectoplasm immediately ran down his chin.
"Danny!" Maddie exclaimed, eyes wide. She and Jack took him from Val as he stumbled and brought him down to the lab.
"I'm fine…" he tried to weakly protest, despite not being able to stand on his own. "Mm fine…"
An: THERE WE GO- chapter four! I'm sorry it's short, but I haven't been writing much.
...boop :3 So… I'll see you guys soon!
But for now….
"V-Vlad… Call Vlad… He was s-sick first…" Danny was barely able to get the words out, nearly choking on ectoplasm in the process.