Chapter 1: Symptoms

Danny's blue eyes opened slightly. Bright light cracked through the window, shinning directly on his face. He groaned and grabbed the pillow underneith him and covered his face. He shifted his body until he realized he wasn't going back to sleep anytime soon.

He lifted himself so that he was sitting upright on his bed. He rubbed his eye and yawned, getting up and looking at his appearance in his mirror. He scanned his face for anything wrong before heading towards the bathroom down the hall.

The halfa finally finished what he needed to be ready for school and came dragging himself down to the kitchen. He went to the cupboard and brought out a open box of cereal. He poured it into his bowl, with already prepared cold milk.

"Good morning Danny!" Jazz, Danny's overbearing sister said happily, walking into the kitchen with a couple of textbooks in her hand. He rolled his eyes at her and continued with his breakfast..

"How's my little brother doing?" She asked, fluffing up his hair with one hand.

He pushed her away, annoyed and tried his hardest to ignore her.

"You know Danny. Not answering to anyone, especially to your older sister is telling me that your depressed or that your brain isn't into the morning spirit. So come on! Its a new school day," She cheered. She went to get her breakfast, consisting of toast with butter and some scrambled eggs. She sat right beside her brother and watched him eat quietly. "You okay?" She said out of the blue poking her brother.

"AHH! Jazz! What the heck? Can't you leave me alone for once? I'm trying to eat," He huffed and finished down his bowl, throwing in the sink and retreaving his backpack from upstairs.

An idea formed in his head as he walked to his bedroom. He smiled and ran to his room, picking up his backpack and slinging it on his back. He paused for a second before getting ready to turn intangible, phasing out of the house and walking to school from there.

The tingling sensation of being intangible posessed him but before he could prepare for the jump down, he smacked right into the wall and losted the feeling of his ability.

He looked at his hand, questionly. "Weird," He whispered before concluding that he was too tired to use his powers and decided to go down the right way.

He passed his sisters and didn't bother to find his parents since they were probably out looking for ghosts to catch or fight. He walked out and shut the door, rushing towards his best friend's house.

"Where's Danny? I hope he's not late again," Sam said, counting out the lines on her palm. Her and Tucker heard hard breathing and found the shape of their best friend, running towards them.

With one look, the goth could see something wrong with her friend. His face was a little paler than normal and his breathing was hard and ragged. He gave a weak smile to them, "Hi guys."

Tucker returned the smile, "Hey dude. You're late again. Ghost fights again?"

He shook his head, "Not this time. Jazz's annoying self, asking me questions constantly."

He laughed, "Wow. Can't she get it that you don't want to talk to her?"

The halfa shrugged, "Guess not."

"Come on guys," Sam interrupted, "We're going to be late for school."

They nodded and the whole way, only the boys chatted. She watched all Danny's moves carefully. She could tell something was wrong...but what really was it?"

"You see that in the sky?" Danny asked his friend, pointing at a white star in the blue atmostphere. He opened his mouth to add another thing but his finger released a sample of ecto energy, which shot into the air, directly at the star.

He paused and looked at his smoky finger, "Whoops."

"What was that dude?" Tucker asked, looking at him and his finger.

"I guess it was nothing. I got up late this morning anyway," Sam couldn't find a hint of a lie in his voice and decided to believe it was true. Besides, he could handle it.

"Okay...Let's keep going," She said.

They continued forward but Danny couldn't help but looke at his finger. Wasn't he already in control of his powers? Were they getting to strong for him that he had to control them all over again? He took a breath. It couldn't happen, he wasn't that powerful. But that idea kept popping up in his mind. Was his ghost side getting stronger?

They soon arrived in school, in a matter of minutes. They hung around the courtyard until the bell rang, dismissing all the students inside. They all entered into the 2 double doors and finally passed to the desinated hallway of where their lockers were.

"So ghost hunting has been pretty slow. Even the box ghost hasn't come out and attacked anyone yet," Danny concluded. He walked up to his newly assigned locker, after that Pointdexter incident and unlocked the lock. He took out some books needed for his next class and put them under his arm.

"So what are we doing to do today? Nasty Burger? Strip mall?" Tucker asked.

Danny shrugged, "I'm really not in the mood to go anywhere. It's just that I've been tired lately and I'm thinking a good nap will help me out. Sorry though."

The geek nodded, "It's okay. Next time right?"

They all smiled and the 2nd bell rang, telling everyone it was time for class. The trio split apart, Danny taking Mr. Lancer for Science, Sam for art, and Tucker for technology.

Danny walked up to his homeroom and slipped inside, realizing that his favorite bully was no where insight. He walked up to his seat and sat down on his chair.

Dash arrived moments later with a frown printed on his face. The hybrid backed up a bit, hoping that the bully wouldn't catch sight of him. He was proven wrong when Dash smiled at him evilly and walked right up to him.

"Hey Fenton. Couldn't find you for your daily wedgie but I found out what were playing for P.E. Dodgeball," The small boy gave a huge gulp and backed up. The larger boy noticed this and came closer, "Be prepared Fenturd."

He walked away towards his seat in the back, leaving the boy with a bad feeling in his stomache. He was going to get hurt. Again. Why was it always him anyway?

Class started and soon ended in an hours time and Danny walked to the gymnasium. He found Tucker already in the locker room changing and he joined him. They changed into their uniforms and headed outside.

The whole time on the bleachers, Dash kept passing Danny facial expressions of Danny's soon to be pain after the game. Danny tried to ignore him but with all the jocks laughing and pointing it was hard not to.

"Ignore them Danny. Their just jerks," Sam said confidently. Danny sighed.

The P.E. coach soon came out holding her clipboard and a red dodgeball. She looked at it and gave a tug on her lips, "Today class," She said looking back at the group of students, "We're playing dodgeball. You know what groups you're in."

They heading into their 'groups' which was actually all the popular kids in one side and the losers on the other. The cheerleaders stood in the back as usual, playing with their nails and glossiping. The jocks stood in the front, their knees bent to sprint for the ball.

"Play!" The coach shouted.

The jocks darted forwards, balls already in their grasps. They shot at the losers, not missing any of them. Many were pushed back or fell onto the floor from pressure. More and more teens fell down, crawling to the bleachers.

Soon it the only one that remained was Danny. He held onto one ball, his eyes scanning what to do. At least 7 jocks remained, each holding one ball each. He didn't know what to do. If he took the first shot he would make the others shoot back. Sweat dripped down his body, making him more uncomfortable.

Come on Fenton! Danny looked at his surrounds and decided what to do. He used as much strength as he could muster into his ball power which shot right at Dash.

His eyes widened and he was hit back. All the jocks stared at their main captain and looked back at the defendless boy. Danny breathed hard and felt something sting his hand. He felt pain on his heart and grabbed his chest. He breathed carefully so that he wouldn't draw attention but it felt like he couldn't feel blood push through his body. He kept his expression on the jocks in front of him, who firmly gripped their ball and threw it at the small boy.

He felt time slow, the balls spinning right at him. He jumped out of the way, slidding on the waxy gym floor. Danny looked at them and rushed to the locker rooms.

The jocks frowned and followed after him.

Tucker shot up and ran after his best friend and the jocks after him. Sam watched slowly, afraid of what them might do to him.

Danny looked around of where to hide. He chose the bathrooms and darted in there, locking the door. He went to a stall and sat down painfully. During the whole time, his heart twitched, bring pain to him everytime he moved. Agony shot through him as he leaned on the stall's wall.

"Why do I feel bad?" He groaned. He kept his breathing rate okay and felt his heart restore back to its normal self.

Green ectoplasm soon leaked out of his pants. He didn't notice until it started touching his fingers. His eyes shot open and he realized what was happening. He screamed as loud as he could. More ectoplasm came out of his pants, making the puddle of goo bigger. He was melting.

He used as much energy as he could to make the ectoplasm return back to his body. As on command, it entered back into him, creating his body again.

He sat up, his whole body shaking. He walked out of the stall and looked at his face in the dirty mirror. It was paler than usually and he understood all about his powers. He was becoming unstable.

"FENTON COME ON OUT. THERE'S NO HIDING WHERE YOU ARE!" Dash screamed, pounding on the door.

What to do? Face Dash? Or get pounded? He took a breath and unlocked the metal door. Dash's face was beat read with anger and so were his pals. They grinned wildly at him and edged closer.

"Time for your beat down Fenturd," Dash continued, cracking his fists.

Danny backed up, afraid. Afraid because he couldn't use his powers or get himself out of this.

"Dash get away from him!" Tucker yelled, running infront of the halfa with a frown. He put his hands out, telling him not to touch him.

Dash laughed, "Does Foley want to get beaten down too? We'll save space for you AFTER we destroy Fenton."

The geek continued to stay there, his hands out. The large boy shrugged and pointed at the brown boy, "Move him out of the way. Fenton's mine."

The other jocks came infront of their captain and forcefully grabbed the boy away from his friend. Tucker yelled out until he was taken away from them.

Soon Danny and Dash were alone. The large boy gave a cruel smile, punching his fist, "Time for payback Fenton."

The hybrid backed up and leaned on a cold wall, not having any ideas to get out of this.

Dash picked up the small boy by the neck and let out one fist to punch him. The boy squirmed in his grasp, trying to hopefully get out. He put speed on his fist and rammed it into the boy's stomach. Danny screamed and felt the grasp of Dash disappear from his neck. More kicks were given to him, making him feel a bad feeling in his stomache.

His eyes opened and felt hard coughing come from his throat. Soon blood came out of his mouth, dripping onto the locker room floor.

Dash smiled wider and gave one last kick to him. Blood poured out of the boy's mouth, in unequal amounts. The large boy soon left and Tucker returned with widen eyes. He leaned next to his friend and patted his back. "Breath Danny. Calm and breath."

He did as he was told and got up, his head full of nausea. He looked at the blood infront of him and felt sick to his stomach.

"Tucker..." He whispered, his blue dull eyes looking at him.

"What?" He replied. He helped Danny onto a bench and watched him.

He felt his throat, "Wat-ter..."

He nodded and found a water fountain not far from where they were sitting. He put Danny's arm around his neck and helped him towards the large machine.

Danny leaned his face to the water fountain, his eyes small and his hair in his face. He drank slowly from the fountain until he stopped the machine. He looked back at Tucker and gave a small smile, "Thanks."

"No problem. Come on, we need to get you to the...nurse," Tucker hesitated on the last word but gave full worry to his injured friend.

"No..I'm okay," He replied.

The brown boy shook his head, "No you're not. We need to go to the nurse."

"What's going on in here?" A new voice shouted. The boy's looked at the teacher in the door, a frown plastered on his face. "Are you going to tell me?"

"Dash beat Danny up. He was coughing up blood," He pointed a spot onto the floor where the crimson liquid laid, "I tried to help but the jocks wouldn't let me go. I heard Danny screaming."

Mr. Lancer frowned, "Is that true Mr. Fenton?"

He gave a weak nod at the teacher's direction. He frowned.

"Very well. Mr. Foley take him to the nurse. I'll have a chat with Mr. Baxter later," They both nodded and walked out of boys' locker room.

They passed everyone else on the way to the exit. Sam eyes widen seeing Danny pale and worse than before. She ran from her seat to her friends, "What happened?"

Danny didn't answer since Tucker could do it, "Danny was coughing up blood."

"Oh my gosh. Danny be okay," She said. He nodded and continued their walk to the nurse's office.

He wasn't sure how long their were walking but it seemed like forever. Every step made Danny want to yelp but he kept quiet, not trying to alert his friend of his condition.

"Almost there," Tucker whispered. The hybrid continued forward, walking on his shaky and weak legs. It left like forever when Tucker leaned him on a streatcher at the nurse's office.

Danny's half lidded eyes looked at his friend once more before closing.

Tucker looked at Danny again and saw his eyes closed. His breathing was ragged but still strong but his face was pale. Probably from blood loss. He gave one last smile before leaving his friend and the first aid teacher alone.

He walked slowly to class thinking about what kind of punishment Mr. Lancer was going to give to Dash. 2 weeks detention? Suspension? Suspended from Football?

"Where is he?" Tucker drew his attention from his thoughts to the voice infront of him.

Mr. and Mrs. Fenton were talking to Mr. Lancer, their voices full of worry.

"He's in the nurse. She'll give him some pills to make him okay. I suggest that he leaves now so that he can get some rest at home," Both adults nodded and rushed after the old teacher who was going where Tucker was just at.

The Fentons ignored the boy's presence and only focused on their son.

Tucker continued to the gym, where he changed back, grabbed both his and Danny's backpack, and unlocked the door to his friend's locker and taking his clothes. He stuffed it in his backpack and walked outside. Sam was already dressed and she gave a smile to him.

"How is he?" She asked.

Tucker shrugged, "He passed out when I laid him on the stretcher. Not good I think."

"Oh," She looked down for a second.

"But he'll recover from this. He has quick healing remember?" She nodded at him.

The bell rang signalling the end of class and the lunch period. They walked silently to the lunch room, Danny on both of their minds.

"How is my baby?" Mrs. Fenton asked.

The nurse looked at her clipboard and wrote a couple things down before replying. She looked back at them with a straight face, "He was bleeding internally around his stomach but the hole isn't that big or else he would still be coughing up blood," She handed the worried mother a box that held a couple of pills, "Give him those. 2 pills for every 12 hours. They should stop and repair the bleeding damage inside him. Don't let him have any hard foods such as pizza or steak. Give him soft food. He should be able to go to school tomorrow. If he starts experienceing stomach aches or if he vomits give him some water. I think that's it. Any questions contact the hospital."

Mrs. Fenton took the pills and gently held them as if they were going to explode in her hands and looked back at her sleeping son. Jack carefully picked him up bridal style and walked to the exit slowly.

"Thank you so much," She said to the nurse and followed after her husband.

"Mom! What happened?" Jazz's voice echoed in the hallway. She ran after her parents, who stopped and waited for her.

"Your brother got hurt in a accident. Well it wasn't really an accident. That boy, Dash Baxter hurt him. He's bleeding internally but its stopped," She said to her daughter's worried face.

She looked at her pale brother and closed her eyes, "Thanks for telling me. I'll see you after school okay?"

Mrs. Fenton nodded, "We'll take care of your brother. We're not going ghost hunting til he's well."

She smiled, "That's good. See you guys soon. Bye."

They smiled at her and continued their walk to the front of the building. But before they could leave, they entered the office so they could check out their son from school. Mrs. Fenton quickly signed the paper before following her husband out of the room.

In a matter of seconds, the two adults were already outside, carried their son away from the school building. They boarded him into the large RV, Mrs. Fenton sitting beside her son and Mr. Fenton driving home. He drove it forwards and sped towards their home.

"Dash Baxter. Please report to the principle's office. Dash Baxter report to the principle's office," The intercom announced to the whole school.

Sam and Tucker looked at each other and watched as the big bully groaned, getting up from his seat and marching to the office.

After the door had closed, many whispers were exchanged on what was the reason the jock had left.

"They say he beat up that Fenton kid."

"I was there when it happened."

"Fenton looked like he was going to pass out."

"I heard his screaming."

Tucker rolled his eyes, "Can't wait to find out what happens to him. He deserves what he gets."

Sam nodded, "Think about it. The only reason Dash hurt Danny was because Danny hit him with a dodgeball. That doesn't give him a reason to injure him. Dash gets hit all the time at football practice."

The geek laughed, "That's so true. I wonder how Danny is anyway. I hope he's okay."

Dash walked into the dim litted room seeing his principle sitting on a office chair. She had a firm frown on her face, showing a sample of her anger.

"Dash Baxter?" She asked.

"Here," He replied. He sat down on the chair infront of her and looked at her.

"Do you know what you've done in 2nd period? You bullied a defendless boy and injured him, making him cough up blood. We do not tolerate this kind of behavior. Me and Mr. Lancer have decided on a punishment for this kind of abuse. You have been excluded from the football team and you no longer go to this school."

His eyes widened, "What? What do you mean I don't go to this school anymore? I do go here!"

She shook her head, "Not anymore. What you've done is wrong and will not be tolerated her. Return your books and football equiptment by tomorrow please. I've already called your parents and their headed here. I suggest you think about what you've done and apologize to Daniel. Now please be seated outside so you're parents can find you."

He picked himself up and walked out of the office, sitting on a brown chair and ready to face his parents' lecture about child abuse and his wrong doing. He closed his eyes for a second and heard a couple of footsteps entering the office. He looked at them and his eyes widened.

It was Danny and his parents. He was asleep in his dad's arms, his face paler than the last time he saw him. Both adults had serious faces on which made the boy feel guilty.

The blue jumpsuited woman signed a paper before following the large man out.

He glanced once more at the injured boy and felt his decision punch him. He had caused that. He had hurt an inoccent boy. Just because of a stupid dodgeball.

Images of the boy's body flashed his mind before thinking, 'What if I had caused more than just that? What if I had stayed longer and hurt him worse?'

Dash closed his eyes and felt guilt drown him.

The last bell rang giving everyone cheers. Sam and Tucker rushed out of their class and met outside, deciding to visit their injured friend. They walked and talked the whole way there and paused at the front of the large brick building.

The Fenton Works sign sparkled, sunlight reflecting off the metal. They covered their eyes for a second before walking up to the door and knocking on it.

Mrs. Fenton answered and gave a big smile to the teens, "Hi guys. You looking for Danny? He's awake already and in his room."

They called a thanks and marched up the stairs to their friend's room. They burst through the doors and discovered that Danny was nowhere to be found.

Tucker frowned, "Where did he go?"

Sam shrugged, "Probably bathroom. Come on let's surprise him."

He raised an eyebrow, "How?"

She smiled, "Hide in his closet and scare him. Let's see if he's still scarable."

They both smiled and ran into the closet, moments before Danny arrived in his room. He shut the door softly and locked it. He yawned loudly and gave one last stretch. He wore only jeans, and his hair was completely damp. He scratched his head and looked himself in the mirror.

He noticed his face paler than this morning and he didn't think it was from Dash. He felt bits of pain but he didn't melt again, thankfully.

"Wow. I am really pale. I hope its not causing it," He uttered to himself.

Sam and Tucker who were watching him, looked at each other questionly. What was causing it? Wasn't it from Dash?

Suddenly a blue mist appeared from Danny's mouth and he groaned. He summoned the rings around his waist which traveled around his body. His face was a familiar determined expression as usual.

But before he could take off, he clutched his chest and fell to his knees, returning back to normal. He gave a small groan as his form melted slightly. A large green puddle surrounded Danny making feel worse than before.

Sam and Tucker eyes widened more and they quickly jumped out of the closet. They surrounded their melting friend with a horrored expression.

"Danny!" Sam almost screamed. She made a gesture to touch him but Danny backed up at her actions. His eyes widened and forced the green puddle back to him. He leaned up against the wall, unable to get up from the pain in his stomache and heart.

"Please answer us Danny. We want to help you," She whispered. She was afraid if she said it any louder than the scared halfa would freak. His face looked paler than just a few minutes ago and she knew it wasn't from being afraid. Something was seriously wrong.

He attempted to speak only to feel pain sizzle up his chest. He whimpered and fell onto his side, holding himself tightly.

Tucker walked over to him and felt his arm, which burned him on contact. He gave a loud yelp and looked at his throbbing hand. It showed red blisters but nothing to hurt him majorly. He looked back at him and whispered to his friend, "Don't touch him. He's burning hot."

Her eyes widened, "I'll go get some ice...lots of it."

He nodded and continued to watch his best friend, who kept moaning and squirming on the carpet. Minutes passed and Danny's eyes shot opened. He got on his butt and looked at his friend.

"T-Tucker?" He asked, squinting at the blurry figure infront of him.

"Are you okay?" He replied. The boy nodded at him and wrapped his arms around his knees.

"I'm...hot." He murmured. Tucker nodded.

"Sam's bringing some ice," She soon walked in with a large pot full of ice. She set it near the hot blooded boy and started to hand him some cold cubes. He held them for a moment before it melted into his palm.

He looked up at her and stood up. He dropped himself on his bed and closed his eyes.

"Are really okay? You were melting. What was that all about?" Sam questioned.

He looked at a random spot on the floor and sighed, "I honestly don't know. But I'm sure it'll pass. Just don't worry about me. I'll make it through it."

She frowned, "Whatever you say. We'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

He nodded, "Thanks guys."

Both teen waved good bye and walked down the steps slowly. After exiting the house, they gave worried faces to each other and exclaimed, "HE NEEDS HELP!"

Danny carefully examined his hands, seeing sweat break out of his pores. He tightened them into a fist, making him angry, "What's wrong with me?"

He closed his eyes and forced his head to smash onto his comfy pillow below. He gave a small scream into his pillow before whispering, "Please just make this end."

He sobbed for a while, feeling more agony punch him making him feel worse, and soon fell asleep.

Both teens walked home, coming up with ideas to save their friend.

"How about we try ourselves and heal him?" Sam shook her head.

"We don't know anything about chemisty or medicine. How about we just tell his parents the truth?" The geek asked.

She sighed, "We can't. It's his secret. Plus why can't we believe that he'll be normal soon anyway? He's survived so much."

Tucker scratched his head, "I don't know. I don't think this will just pass. We need to do something now."

"Like what?" She questioned, "It's probably around 5. What can we do?"

The boy froze and stared off into space for a second. She walked up to her friend, worriedly and poked him, "Tucker?"

He looked back at her and whispered, "Masters." She looked at him confused and he said it a little louder and put confidence into his voice, "Masters. Vlad Masters. He can help us."

Her eyes widened and she shook her head furiously, "No. We shouldn't. He's-"

"Able to help us," Tucker interrupted. He looked at her sadly, "I wouldn't bring him there either but it's our only option. Okay?"

She nodded and let a tear escape her eye. She embraced her friend in a hug and cried out, "I don't want to lose him. I really don't."

He petted her hair for a while before nodding, "Neither do I. Come on, let's talk to Vlad."

It was another normal boring day for Vlad Masters. He stared boredly at his newspaper, nothing taking his attention. He slammed the paper on the table and got up, pouring himself another cup of tea. He was about to sip his hot beverage when a loud, troublesome knock was heard.

"Butter Biscuits. Who could that be?" Vlad uttered as he walked up to the front of the door and swung it open.

Daniel's friends stood their with a worried expression all over their faces. They had looked like they had ran here and that the fact that Daniel wasn't with them brought even more concern.

He eyed them for a second and straightened his suit, "Ms. Manson. Mr. Foley. To what do I owe the pleasure of your presense? And where's Daniel?"

Their eyes lowered to the ground making a growing concern punch the billionare.

"He isn't well," The goth girl replied. Tears were on the edge of her eyes making the man's eyes widen. He ushered in the teens and forced them to sit, ready to hear the tale of Daniel's problem.

When both friends were comfortable, Vlad looked at them with worry, "What happened?"

"He's melting," The boy said.

Those two words threw off the man into another world. Daniel was melting. He IS melting. Reasons were shot into his head until he couldn't take it.

"And? What else? I need to know what he's dealing with," The man said, inpatient. He wanted to help the 14 year old return to normal. But if these teens didn't know then he would have to find out himself.

"I'm not sure. But I know one thing, he's isn't looking good and he needs major help immediately. You were the only one that could help," The girl replied.

He nodded, "I need to see him then. Do you have school tommorow?" A nod was earned from both teens, "Then bring Daniel here tomorrow. Skip school if you have too. I need to see him. Don't tell him where or else he'll panic. I need to see what he's suffering from."

They nodded, "Okay Vlad," Sam whispered.

He looked away, "If you want to know. The reason I'm helping is because I still care for Daniel. Even though he doesn't for me. I'll always look as him as inoccent boy who wanted to be a hero...I'll see you tomorrow."

The teens walked out of the mansion and started their way home, knowing that their problem with Danny would be resolved hopefully. Steps were taken until Sam screaming in pure delight. Danny was going to be okay!

End of this chapter! I'm surprised how this turned out. Not sure when I'll update.

If you're wondering why I made Dash beat Danny up, that will play a small part of this story later on. There's a reason why I included that.

So anyway, I hope you enjoyed this story! Review!