Chapter 1

Act 1: Containment

Danny soared above the city of Amity Park, weaving through the sky in large arcs and loop-de-loops, laughing as he took the long way back home. He enjoyed feeling the wind through his hair when there wasn't a threat of bodily harm—er… ghostly harm?—from various enemies trying to hunt him down or causing general mischief, like the giant ectopus he'd just sucked into the Fenton thermos. After all, it was a nice spring evening. What better way to enjoy the sunset than going for a little roller-ghoster ride?

He saw the familiar UFO shape of the Emergency Ops Center on top of Fenton Works come into view and he slowly descended towards his bedroom window. "All right, just gotta unload the thermos into the ghost zone and—Whoa!"

A surprise ecto-blast whizzed dangerously close to his ear, and he looked down to see who had shot it. A hulking man wearing a crisp white suit and black sunglasses stood with an ecto-gun pointed right at him. "Great. The Guys in White are in town," Danny grumbled and rolled his eyes. "Hey! Don't you have something better to do? Like target practice or something?"

The agent glowered and fired off another blast.

Danny jumped away from the line of fire in the nick of time. "Geeze, I didn't mean on me!" A second agent appeared from around the corner and Danny went intangible to avoid the third shot. "And that's my cue to make like a tree and leave," Danny said, speeding away from the agents.

"Come in Unit Two, target in sight and heading northbound towards sector L, over," the guy in white spoke into a radio.

"Unit Two, copy. Responding, over."

Danny grimaced when he heard the crackling reply on the radio. "More of them? Great." Of all days they had to show up, it would be when Sam and Tucker both had plans neither could bail on. Danny glanced down and noticed them tailing closely behind him in a sleeker, more governmentally-funded version of the Fenton Family Ghost Assault Vehicle. They'd certainly upped their game since the last time he encountered them. Darn it, if only they were ghosts! Then he could fight them like he normally would, but he didn't want to use his powers against humans like that. He wasn't like Vlad.

"How the heck am I gonna ditch these bozos?" Danny looked around for a hidden place to transform back, but when he saw a second Gov-GAV speeding right towards him, he skidded to a midair stop. "Yikes!" Danny shot up in the air to get away, but before he could get very far, a glowing blue net wrapped around him and he plummeted back down to the ground with a thud. He struggled against the net, attempting to shoot it with his ghost ray, but it was little more than a fizzle in his palms. When that didn't work, he tried going intangible, but he didn't even flicker. "I can't use my powers?! Not good!" The two vehicles blocked him in and the swarm of Guys in White surrounded him.

"Come in, Eagle's Nest. Target secure," the leader spoke into the radio. "Alpha team en route to Sat Lab 024, E.T.A. 2200 hours, over and out," the leader grinned as he grabbed the net. "You're coming with us, ghost boy."

"This is so not good!" A surge of adrenaline coursed through Danny's body as the gravity of his situation hit him like a ton of bricks. Danny struggled in vain to escape the net as they dragged him towards the closest vehicle. Suddenly, shocks of pain shot through Danny's whole body, and a deafening scream ripped from his lungs. He felt the crash of his body being flung into the back of their vehicle, then everything went dark around him.

As Danny slowly regained consciousness, the first thing he felt was an awful pounding in his head. In fact, his whole body was sore, kind of like it was when Tetslaff had paired him up with Dash to be his fitness buddy. His eyes were heavy, too heavy to open, but he could reach out with his other senses. He heard muffled voices coming from somewhere nearby, but his ears were ringing too loudly to understand. Along with the indistinct voices, he could hear the hum of heavy machinery, not so unlike the noise his family's ghost-shield made when it was active. He could feel the familiar chill in his chest that came when he was transformed. Still a ghost, then. He noticed a slight pressure around his neck, like he was wearing a heavy choker necklace. There was a strong stinging scent of rubbing alcohol and ectoplasm that made his throat burn. He raised his hand to his forehead as he tried sitting up. "Man, I feel like I've been hit by a truck," Danny grumbled.

"The sedative's worn off, Dr. Minniack."

Danny's eyes went wide and he froze, his face paling. He felt as if his breath had solidified in his lungs. He knew that voice.

"Ah, excellent."

The two scientists approached him and his wide, fluorescent green eyes snapped to look at them. He had to force himself to stay silent. There, standing in front of him, dressed in a long white lab coat over her signature teal and black jumpsuit, was his mom. Dr. Madeline Fenton. Her chilling gaze showed no hint of familiarity, and her normally caring, expressive eyes had hardened into a steely mask of contempt. Of course it would. She hated ghosts, and, for now at least, he was a ghost. Why was she here with the Guys in White? After the way they trashed their house, she liked them about as much as ghosts.

Danny watched the geekish scientist rummage around in a storage cabinet, getting out packages of scalpels, syringes, and every other kind of poking, slicing, and dicing tools. There was even a bone saw. Danny cringed when he noticed how many sharp instruments Dr. Minniack was grabbing. He seemed more like a 'Dr. Maniac' to Danny. Other than the strange sense of glee Danny thought he saw in him, there was nothing outwardly remarkable about him. He had brown, average length slicked back hair and brown eyes set behind dark-rimmed glasses. The scientist methodically organized every piece into place next to the beakers, microscope, and other various lab equipment prepared on the table next to him. How could he get out of this? Danny's only option was to comply, biding his time until he could attempt using his spectral tricks. Not ideal, but it was his only option for now.

"Dr. Fenton, would you collect the preliminary data on our subject?" he asked her as he handed her a clipboard with a few sheets of paper and a pen. "I'll set up for the first round of testing."

"Of course, Doctor." She walked over to Danny and started examining him while filling out the paperwork.

"He's got you doing a worksheet?" Danny asked with an incredulous inflection. From what he knew of her career, he doubted his mom would be the one taking orders here. "Shouldn't the foremost authority on ghosts be the one telling him what to do?"

"Awake for not even five minutes and you're already trying to drive a wedge? You ghosts are all the same."

Danny winced. "N-no, I just meant—"

"Save it, you ectoplasmic malefactor," she cut him off coolly.

Danny shrank back on the exam table. Being on this side of his mom's disdain for ghosts made his chest feel hollow. "This reeks."

The phrase made his mom pause and scrutinize him with her gaze, eyes narrowing as she searched for something in his. She looked away and shook her head, then continued examining him. She placed her stethoscope on his back to listen to his breath sounds and then attached what almost looked like a blood pressure cuff to his arm. So far, this seemed more like a medical check-up than a kidnapping to Danny. She even did that thing where they hit your knee with a rubber hammer to make it bounce.

While she was busy doing her tests, Danny looked around the room to scope for any potential escape routes. The room was large, about the size of his family's basement lab, and blandly finished with white walls and polished concrete floor. The only light was from the cold, sterile fluorescent bulbs embedded in the ceiling, casting a harsh glare that seemed to strip away any possible warmth, and it sent a chill down his spine. No windows he could attempt to escape through. Was he even above ground? Danny tabled the thought as he noticed eight small devices that looked like the corners of a giant ecto-containment cube. So that's where the ghost-shield hum he'd noticed earlier was coming from. His half of the room was a ghost-only prison cell. Maybe if he transformed back, he would be able to just walk out? As soon as the idea popped into his head, Danny noticed the security cameras in all corners of the ceiling. Of course, he should've expected that from the start. Going un-ghost was out of the question. He couldn't let them figure out his secret. Who knew what they would do to him then? The only physical way he could see to leave the room was through a singular armor-plated steel door with wire-reinforced glass like all the glass in his school. Of course, it had to be on the furthest side of the room. As he looked around the room, Danny couldn't shake the sinking feeling that there would be far worse horrors in store for him than the deadly-looking instruments displayed on the worktable.

Danny's attention shifted back to Mom when she made a small, frustrated huff. The same one she always did when she noticed he hadn't cleaned his room like she'd asked, or when his dad forgot something important, like their anniversary. He could tell that whatever her data was showing, it wasn't what she was expecting, and it irritated her.

"This makes no sense. These readings go against all other recorded data we have on ghosts." She stood and went over to Dr. Maniac to show him her findings. "For a ghost his size he should be half the weight, he breathes, actually breathes, not an imitation like some ghosts do, his ectoplasmic pressure reads more like blood pressure, and is significantly warmer than the typical baseline. He even has deep tendon reflexes."

"That is fascinating, Dr. Fenton! If its readings are this abnormal already, imagine what other new information it'll give us." The other scientist eagerly approached with a rolling tray filled with agar plates, microscope slides, and cotton swabs. Danny breathed a small sigh of relief when he saw the scientist had left the surgery tools on the table.

"Let's get started then, shall we?" The scientist smiled, but Danny wasn't sure if he was trying to look friendly. There was a dark glint in Dr. Maniac's eyes that made Danny's stomach twist into knots, and suddenly the nickname Danny had given the scientist seemed far too accurate.

They collected their samples in relative silence, only speaking to note where the samples needed to go or if they needed more than one for multiple tests. It was all very boring and Danny felt himself dozing off until he felt a tug on his scalp and the distinctive sound of scissors snipping a chunk of his hair.

"Hey!" Danny shouted as he jumped into the air, but the scientist fixated on the hair in his hands. When Danny looked at it, he saw why. Strand by strand, the hair went from a crisp snow white to his natural dark black.

"What an intriguing reaction." The scientist rolled the strands in between his fingers, completely ignoring Danny's outburst. He went over to the table they'd been organizing their samples and placed some of the hair into one of the prepared beakers, and swished it around with the liquid inside. The hair partially dissolved as it tumbled around in the beaker, which made the scientist gasp. "This being isn't a completely nitrogen-based entity. It's got traces of carbon."

"But ghosts are nitrogen-based. It's what gives their ectoplasm such flexible properties and powers their abilities," Mom said, sounding as if she was defending her own research, which, in a way, Danny supposed she was.

"I understand that, Dr. Fenton, but this test is definite. What we have here is a being the likes of which the world has never seen." Dr. Maniac turned to look at Danny and there was a wild look of determination. "We are on the cusp of a magnificent scientific discovery."

"Dude, could you be more of a crazed-up fruit loop? You're making Plasmius look normal." Danny said with a sneer. He was really starting to dislike this guy.

Dr. Maniac chuckled. "Wisecrack while you can, ghost. When I'm done with you, you'll be a gelatinous pile of mindless ectoplasm." He turned to Danny's mom. "I need to requisition more equipment. Continue gathering the samples in my stead." He rushed out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

Danny looked down at his mom as a feeling of unease bloomed in his chest.

"Let's get to it, Phantom," she said as she gestured to the table.

He frowned and floated back down, then sat back on the exam table. "So, what's next?" he asked, keeping up the mask of indifference.

"I gather more samples, just as Dr. Minniack said," she responded tersely as she grabbed a swab. "Open," she said as she held the swab by his mouth.

Danny complied, and she swabbed the inside of his cheek. When she took the swab out, he gave her a guarded look. "Then what? Is that when you'll tear me apart molecule by molecule?"

She glanced at him, seeming to recognize the phrase his dad often said when he saw Danny's ghost form. "It depends on what we decide to do based on the data the samples provide."

"What are all these samples supposed to show?"

"We don't know yet. That's why we're taking them to examine."

Danny pursed his lips, unhappy with her answer. He didn't like not knowing what to expect. "How long is all this supposed to take?"

She shrugged. "However long it takes. Now, are you going to keep interrupting me with questions, or can I continue with my task?"

Danny quieted down, a sullen feeling overwhelming him. He hated the way she was talking to him, the way she was looking at him, the way she was treating him. She continued taking samples in silence until she put the swab kit away.

"All right, that should be it for now. We'll be back later," she said, then rolled the cart of samples out of the room, switching off the light behind her.

Danny looked around the darkened room and stood from the table. With no one else in here, the room felt that much more confining. He paced around in the cube, feeling a wave of anxiety come over him. He didn't like the feeling of being penned in. It was like he couldn't breathe. The stale air was oppressive around him and he couldn't calm his nerves. When he got tired of pacing, Danny went to the corner of the room and sat with his legs pulled tightly to his chest. How was he going to get out of this one?

Author's Comments:

Hello! I'm Asa, nice to meet you!

Thank you for reading my first chapter. I hope you enjoyed and stay tuned for the rest! It might be a wild ride. I welcome all feedback and constructive criticism, if you have any you'd like to share! I would love to improve where I can.

See ya next week!