Chapter 10: Scientific Analysis
Third Person POV
The vial containing the blue liquid fell to the ground, spilling its contents all over the floor. Dipper quickly grabbed a small towel and rushed to clean up the liquid while Ford just stared at the growing blue stain on the carpeted floor. He shook his head and removed his glasses to rub his eyes. An image of a blue skinned, purple clad ghost flashed across his mind and a name came along with it.
Clockwork.
Ford's eyes snapped open as he remembered his encounter with the powerful spirit. Their conversation replayed itself in his memories. Clockwork said that Ford needed to accomplish what he was sent here to do. Ford frowned as he didn't know whether to trust the mysterious spirit's words or not but, frankly he had no reason not to believe what Clockwork had said. He was the 'Master of Time' after all, and if Ford had learned anything in his 30 years of hopping from dimension to dimension it was that being who seem like they are of importance often turn out to be important. The older man sighed as he was now on the clock (quite literally) to find out what he was here to do. Ford's eyes drifted towards the other room where the rest of the group was. Whatever he was sent here to do had to involve the ghost boy in some way.
"Great-Uncle Ford? Are you okay?" Dipper asked as he threw out the towel he used to clean up the blue liquid and glass. Ford looked down at his nephew and nodded.
"I'm fine Dipper. Shall we resume our work?" He questioned with a small smile on his face. Dipper smiled back and nodded. The two of them resumed analyzing the sample they had gained. They began to search for anomalies, compare it to other samples, and prepare multiple tests. All the while Ford couldn't shake the feeling that he was constantly being watched now. He eventually just ignored the feeling and focused fully on his work. He was going to figure out how to help Danny and bring his family home as fast as he could.
Hey, Sparks here. I'm filling in for the Line Breaks today as they went on vacation. Hope you're liking the chapter so far!
Stan and Soos had returned to the room with vending machine snacks for everyone. It mostly consisted of chips, candy bars and the assorted trail mix package. Mabel grabbed a candy bar for herself and brought over three bags of chips for Wendy, Sam and Tucker. The four had each pulled up a chair and sat down in a sort of circle. They had been exchanging adventure stories ever since Stan and Soos left the room. At first it was just a fun exchange but now it was slowly turning into a friendly competition of who has had the more dangerous adventure. "Okay, so you may have dealt with a one-eyed demon possessing your brother's body, but did you ever face the King of the Ghost Zone?" Tucker challenged.
Mabel plopped back into her seat on a chair next to Wendy as the lumberjack placed a hand on her chin. She nodded as she thought over the technogeek's words and smiled, "No, I have not. But have you ever been through an actual apocalypse?" Mabel's eyes widened when Wendy brought up Weirdmaggedon. It was still a sensitive subject for them all and none of them liked to talk about it. Sam's eyes widened as well and Tucker's jaw dropped so low one could wonder if it could have actually hit the floor.
He shook his head, "Not buying it. You're making that up. I'll believe the weird portal messing up your town's gravity, but an actual apocalypse? No way."
Wendy's brow furrowed at the teen's disbelief. She had only brought it up because she thought that would finally make her and her friend's adventures win their little game. She didn't actually want to go on talking about it. It was her own fault for bringing it up in the first place. Balling her hands into fists and lowering her head Wendy whispered, "It did happen, and that's that."
Mabel was shocked to see Wendy lose her cool and put a gentle hand on her friend's tense shoulder. Wendy looked over to Mabel and, seeing the younger girl's concern, resumed her laid back nature and leaned against the back of her chair.
Sam and Tucker stared at the two girls in awkward silence. The goth girl turned her gaze to Tucker and promptly punched her geeky friend in the arm causing him to cry out in pain. Wendy and Mabel immediately looked over to them and held back laughter as they saw Tucker's pouting face and him rubbing his now sore arm. But all four of them froze when they heard shuffling noises near the beds. Slowly, they all looked to the beds and saw that Danny was starting to sit up. Tucker and Sam's eyes filled with joy and they leaped out of their seats to check on their friend.
"Ugh," Danny groaned and placed a hand on his forehead, "What hit me?" Danny slowly opened his eyes to see that he was in an unfamiliar place. A sense of panic rose in his gut and he felt his heartbeat quicken until he caught sight of his two best friends. Sam and Tucker rushed to Danny's side and both wrapped their arms around Danny in a group hug. "Oof! Hey, easy on the hugs guys, I feel like I just got run over by the Fenton Family Assault Vehicle." He joked. Sam and Tucker released Danny from their hug and the raven haired teen was confused to see that neither of them were reacting to his joke. "Guys?" He questioned. It was then Danny noticed the other people in the room with him. He felt like he recognized the old man wearing a red beanie with a blue and jeans and larger man with the green shirt and brown shorts standing to his left, and brown and red haired girls to his right. He just couldn't figure out why. He looked to his friend's for explanation.
Sam and Tucker shared a look as if silently discussing who should be the one to tell him what was going on. In the end, Sam was the one to turn to Danny and begin to try and explain. "Danny, after you defeated Technus something happened." Sam started, "You started experiencing pain and eventually passed out. These people," when saying this Sam gestured to the others in the room, "knew about you and found you. They took us here, at this hotel, and a man-"
"Ford." Stan interrupted, crossing his arms.
Sam looked back at Stan, frowning, "Ford." She corrected, "Said that your life was at risk and he could help you." As Sam explained, Danny felt himself grow pale. Now even more people knew his secret. His eyes scanned over the people in the room once more and he paused when his gaze fell on the brown haired girl. He now knew where he had seen her before. She was one of the new people at Casper High, her and the red haired girl. Even more than that, she was the girl he had met the other day that said her and her group were from another dimension!
"Sam." Danny said, his tone firm. The violet eyed girl stopped explaining and stared at Danny. The two raven haired teens locked eyes. "What is going on?" He asked. Sam noticed the fear in Danny's eyes under a layer of confidence and bravery. She bit her lip, how was she supposed to explain what was going on when she barely understood it herself? Luckily, she didn't have to as in that moment, Dipper and Ford came back into the room with Dipper holding a vial of glowing green liquid. Everyone's attention turned to the two who had just entered the room.
"After multiple tests, Dipper and I have come to a result." Ford stated, "And there is good news and bad news that comes along with it." He held out his hand to Dipper and the smaller boy handed him the vial. Ford turned back to the group, "Which news would you like first?"
Each member of Team Phantom swallowed hard. "What's the good news?" Tucker asked.
"The good news," Ford began, "is that Danny is not in any immediate danger."
Team Phantom gulped at the news. If that was the good news, one might be concerned about what the bad news was. "And the bad news?" Tucker asked once more.
Ford held up the vial of green liquid, "This was the sample I took of Danny's blood. At first it was the normal red color with flecks of his green ectoplasmic blood mixed in. I took small samples from it and performed different tests on it. While I was doing that, Dipper here noticed the large sample changing. We put some of the sample on a slide and observed it." Ford adjusted his glasses with his free hand and a concerned look crossed his face as he continued, "We witnessed Danny's red blood cells be consumed by his ectoplasmic blood cells." Gasps came from almost everyone in the room. "That's not all," Ford said, "The ectoplasmic cells multiplied after consuming the red blood cells."
Danny felt his stomach twist into knots at Ford's revelation. He felt himself grow pale and tasted bile at the back of his throat. He sank back into his pillows, pressing a hand against his forehead. Sam reached for Danny's other hand and squeezed it in comfort.
Mabel leaned against Wendy and the lumberjack teen comforted her. Soos and Stan shared a look of concern. Dipper's eyes turned sad as he watched Danny grow pale and seemingly lifeless. The Pines and their friends hadn't known these kids for very long but they already cared about them. And they were all concerned about Danny.
"But there is one more thing." Ford added, a slightly cheerful tone to his voice. Everyone weakly turned their gaze back to the older man. He held up the vial, "As many of you probably don't know, red blood cells are responsible for transporting oxygen to your body's organs and tissues. Due to Danny's red blood cells being destroyed by the ectoplasmic bloods cells, his bodily functions will slowly start to deteriorate and shut down until he becomes. . . well, to put it bluntly, a full ghost."
Many of them wondered why would Ford be cheerful about sharing that. It didn't really help their current situation. If anything, it made everything worse. Danny was going to become a full ghost and they were powerless to stop it.
But Ford wasn't done. He held up the vial containing Danny's green blood and cleared his throat. Everyone looked up at him and he guided their attention to the vial. "While what I said about Danny's red blood cells is a very important factor, we cannot forget about Danny's white blood cells." Ford gave the vial a small shake and flecks of red could be seen swishing through the liquid. Danny's eyes widened when he saw the flecks of red. "White blood cells help one's body fight infections, diseases and foreign invaders. Though Danny's body has recognized his ectoplasmic blood as not a threat, it has been fighting back from the ectoplasm from completely taking over." A feeling of hope swelled in Danny's chest and he felt Sam squeeze his hand tighter. Even Tucker reached out for a fist bump, which Danny happily gave.
"But the white blood cells won't be able to hold out forever." Ford said glumly. The mood in the room quickly became serious again. No one knew how much more of this emotional roller coaster.
"For crying out loud Poindexter, is the kid going to be okay or not?" Stan cried, throwing his arms in the air.
Ford adjusted his glasses once more, "It is hard to say. Danny's episode earlier was a result of his lowering white blood cell count. The count got so low that the ectoplasm was able to take over for a brief moment and forced him to go into a comatose state, albeit a very short one. The cells have stabilized themselves and are fighting back against the ectoplasm but unless we find a permanent solution soon, Danny may become a full ghost forever."
Sam felt a lump form in the back of her throat. Her concern for Danny was becoming almost overwhelming. "How much time do we have?" She asked.
Ford scratched his head, "Once again, hard to say. It could be weeks, months, years even. It all depends on how tough Danny's immune system is. We will know if it gets worse if these episodes become more frequent." Ford placed the vial into his breast pocket, with its contents already showing more flecks of red. Green was still the dominant color but it was progress. "Until then," Ford continued, "we will have to keep a close eye on Mr. Fenton here."
The group sat in silence. Team Phantom comforted one another and Stan went over to help comfort Mabel with Wendy. Soos joined them and Dipper followed. Ford watched the over the group before returning back to his makeshift lab in the next room. He removed the vial from his pocket and placed it in a holder on the table. He leaned against the table and sighed, removing his glasses to rub his tired eyes.
"Clockwork," he muttered, "you better be right about me."
In a faraway place and located in a large tower, a blue skinned, purple cloaked spirit watched Ford from his chamber. As he shifted into the form of an elderly man, a rare smile appeared on his face. He turned away from the screen that showed him the elder Pines and floated out of his chamber. "I am never wrong about anything Stanford Pines." He said confidently.
A/N: Hey peoples, sorry about the major hiatus. Had a bit of a writer's block. Thank you all for reading and I'll see you all in the next one. :)
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