AN: Extremely sorry about the wait ;-; I got caught up in class work then realized "Oh shit I havent written anything in weeks" XD Kinda ironic that I just said I'd update more often...
Chapter 5: The Core Sickness (pt. 2)
Danny was laid down on a metal table in the lab. He sighed softly as the cold seeped through his clothes. Maddie checked his temperature while Jack got a few instruments ready. She frowned at the cold. "What's your normal temperature?"
"60- somethin…" he murmured, his head swimming.
"78. You're warming up." Since he wasn't all that focused she looked over at Valerie, who was lingering at the top of the stairs. "What happened?"
Valerie hesitated, a hand on the door frame. "I… was out hunting those ghosts when he found me. We were heading back and two of those Guys in White agents showed up and caught him in some kinda net. I didn't know they could do this much damage to a gh- to anyone."
"No problems with his core?" Maddie asked.
"His core?" Val raised an eyebrow.
Maddie nodded. "There's something wrong with it that's causing the ghosts to get sick. We… haven't figured out what exactly it is though."
"Ganna puke…" they heard Danny groan. Jack hurried over with a bucket, which Danny threw up into just a few seconds later. "Ugh…" it was a strange mixture of neon green ectoplasm and whatever he'd last eaten.
Maddie put her hand on top of his for moment before getting up. "I'll get you some water…" she headed up the stairs, where Valerie followed her into the kitchen.
The two of them stood in silence before Va asked. "How are you taking it…? With him being back…"
Maddie closed her eyes for a moment, her hands on a counter. "It's… hard. He's been gone for so long, and to suddenly show up in this condition…" she sighed and grabbed a glass cup. "I'm so glad that he's home. But I'm also scared because… he's Phantom. And he never told us. I'm sure he knew we knew about Vlad, but why wouldn't he tell us? We hurt him…"
"I didn't know he's Phantom either, and I hunted him almost every day. He never told me either." Val began, but paused, thinking about what Danny had said about seeing the future. "Maybe he was scared to tell us. That we wouldn't accept him."
They both glanced towards the lab when they heard him vomit again. Maddie sighed softly. "We have an extra bed upstairs, Valerie. Why don't you go take a nap?" She fixed the glass of water, while Val numbly nodded and went upstairs. Maddie stared into the water for a moment before grabbing an Advil and heading back to the basement.
Danny was sitting up on the metal table, his head in his hands, the bucket in front of him. It had a little air freshener that Jack had clipped to it. He glanced up when he heard his mother come down. All three of them looked exhausted.
She placed the water and pills next to him on the table. "Here, this should help with any pain. Danny…" she started, but trailed off, unsure of what to say. Jack was fiddling away with one of the random machines and a different ectoplasm sample from Danny.
"Sorry." Danny murmured, his throat raw from throwing up. "It was stupid of me not to tell either of you. I know I should've, I just… had my reasons. In hindsight, it was absolutely ridiculous of me to leave without-" he stopped to cough a few times. "...without telling anyone. It was necessary, though, for what was going on. I still should've come back sooner, at least…"
Jack put a hand on his shoulder. "Danny-o… We're just glad to have you back." He pulled his son into a tight hug, who stiffened up a bit in surprise. Too weak to protest, he just sighed softly when he felt Maddie hug him too.
"Glad to be back…"
Later that day…
Unlike his attacks before, Danny didn't seem to be recovering. He was weak and nauseous nearly every second of the day, and couldn't even keep down a few crackers he'd eaten. If not vomiting, he was often in coughing fits that left him gasping for breath afterwards. Sam had woken up early and went down to the lab. She didn't talk to Danny or even look at him, but helped with whatever she could. Val was also up, but she was outside rounding up more ghosts.
His parents were at a complete loss. They were getting extremely frustrated at the lack of progression. Jack had spent hours trying different trials on Danny's ectoplasm to see if it would react to anything, but was getting nowhere.
Maddie was going over her notes for the hundredth time when she let out an angered yell. "There's nothing! There's absolutely nothing!" She exclaimed, Danny throwing up again in the background. "I can't find a single internal force causing this!"
Jack shook his head. "Me either. So far, nothing I've used has had any effect."
Sam frowned and looked up from her own notes. "Maybe it's not internal." Jack and Maddie looked confused as she took out a Fenton Phone and turned it on. "Valerie? I have an idea. Think you can find another sick ghost?" She nodded after Valeri answered. "Call back when you find one. Don't catch it, just follow." She then turned to the others. "If nothing internal is causing this, then maybe it's external. It's not just Danny who's sick, other ghosts are too. So they probably have those Core Attacks too, right?"
Maddie nodded. "Yes, but every illness has it's symptoms. If this is some new ghost virus, they're all going to display the same things."
"Yes, but two people who have the flu don't sneeze at the same time. If something external is causing this, the Attacks might occur simultaneously." Sam pointed out. "If Valerie can find another sick ghost, we could prove it. I'm not sure where we'd go from there, but at least it's a start."
Jack's expression lit up. "You're a genius, Sammy!"
Maddie gently ran a hand through Danny's sweat-dampened hair. He was panting as he laid on his side, his eyes shut. "I don't want him to go through that again…"
"We don't have much of a choice, Mrs. Fenton. I know none of use like to see him in pain, but it'll be the last time if I'm right." Sam said softly. She jumped slightly when Valerie spoke up on the Fenton Phone-
"Alright, Sam. I think I found one."
"Good. Keep an eye on it, and tell me immediately when it has an Attack,"
Maddie sighed. "Danny, sweety… You're going to have to change to Phantom for a little bit."
Danny groaned, his eyes opening a fraction. "Do I have to…?"
She gave him a stern look. "Do you want to get better or no?"
He gave a pitiful little whine, but let the white rings form around his waist and transform him into Phantom. Instead of fire, his hair was the normal white mess than hung in front of his eyes. He winced and curled up, his expression twisted. "Hurts…"
Maddie watched him worriedly, her hand still running through his hair. "It's ok, Danny… It's not for long. You'll be better soon, I promise."
Danny gave her a tiny exhausted smile. For a while, the only sound in the room was his ragged breathing and the occasional coughing fit. No one dared speak; the air tense as they waited for anything to happen. Sam looked up from some papers when Danny started to hum and smiled lightly.
"What's with him and singing lately?" Valerie asked over the phone. The volume was high on her end so she was able to hear everyone.
"It… keeps me calm." Danny answered, his voice hoarse.
Before Val had a chance to respond, she noticed the ghost she was watching start to wobble in the air. "Ok, guys, I think it's about to happen."
On the metal table, Danny stiffened. At the same time, Val watched a ghost howl and drop out of the sky, and Maddie watched with fearful eyes as her son screamed and convulsed. Jack jumped to his feet, but they could do nothing but wait for it to end. Danny gripped the edge of the table as his body flickered in and out of sight. When it did so, they caught glimpses of his pale blue core spinning and glowing weakly in the center of his chest- right where his heart would be. The metal began to bend and contort under his grip as he screamed again.
Danny's core gave a soft pulse before his body reformed and he went limp, panting.
"It stopped." Valerie's voice echoed in the room.
Maddie put a hand on Danny's shoulder. "You can change back…" Danny immediately did so, his pain lessening.
"It's definitely an exterior force if it occurs simultaneously amongst multiple affected ghosts." Jack said as he started taking notes. "But where is it coming from? Are ghosts in the Zone affected? It is natural or something science made?"
"How can we stop it?" Maddie added.
"Valerie, keep an eye on other ghosts to make sure it's always at the same time." Sam said. "This could've been a coincidence."
"It seems as though the longer a ghost has been exposed to… whatever this is, the worse the symptoms get." Maddie continued as if Sam hadn't spoken. "We could find ghosts in various stages and experiment with ways to block the cause. But to block some sort of ghost-related invisible force… The shield!" her eyes lit up and she got to her feet, hurrying over to a wall full of various buttons, screens, and weapons.
As soon as the glowing green shield was activated, Danny seemed to relax. He coughed a few times, but it clearly didn't hurt him nearly as much.
Jack and Sam looked surprised. "Did… did that really work?" She asked.
Maddie, looking rather proud of herself, shrugged. "We'll just have to wait and see if he gets better. It won't be immediate."
Danny started coughing more, catching their attention. It didn't sound as… violent, but was still a cause for worry. "V-Vlad… Call Vlad… He was s-sick first…" he was barely able to get the words out, nearly choking on a mix of blood and ectoplasm in the process. He coughed up a thick mass of it into the bucket. He took a few shaky breaths. "The shield helps."
Maddie and Jack ran upstairs to get the house phone. When they were gone, Sam got up and went sit on the edge of the table Danny was on. "Danny…"
He looked up. "Sup." his voice cracked lightly.
She sighed. "What… what did you mean earlier when you said singing keeps you calm?"
Danny grinned, but it wasn't a very convincing one. "Just a little something Frostbite taught me. I'm a lot more like Dan than I'd ever hoped to be, and there ain't shit I can do about it. So… would you rather me go terrorize some people or sing a little song?"
Sam's expression hardened. "Is that why you left? Danny, you know we could've helped you deal with it. It's been a team effort from the very beginning-" she was cut off when Danny sat up and grabbed her wrist. His eyes turned red.
"Not with this. This isn't something that could have been avoided or fixed. It's who I am. It's who I was always meant to be. Nothing is going to change that." He practically growled. "Let me get one thing straight. I didn't come back here for any of you. I came back for Vlad. If he hadn't gotten sick, none of you would have ever seen me again. And as soon as Jack and Maddie figure out a way to stop this fucking disease, I'm gone." His eyed faded back to blue.
Sam's own eyes were wide with shock. "What- why not give us a chance? I know we cant do anything to stop you, but… Danny, we're your friends. No matter what happens, we always will be."
"I'm not the same kid you once knew, Samantha. I've done a lot of bad things."
AN: oooh, but what bad things has he done~? Again, sorry about the wait XD I don't have a preview for the next chapter, nor am I sure of when It's going to come out… Spring break is in two weeks, so I'll have a lot of time to write then. I'd say the fic is already about a third done. Unless I can think of some fillers to extend it XD
Oh well. Until next time!
-Sapherer