DP: M. of the Spirit Gems ch14

Andy had to act as though Dr. Johnson was his grandfather when they set foot in the museum—his mother said so. But he did not mind; he was helping out in a secret mission to save his father, so that was all that mattered when he entered the expo room while holding onto Johnson's hand.

Johnson looked at all the paintings of ghosts and the sketches done by Jasmine Fenton or other local artists of the ghosts Amity Park had encountered. "Fascinating," the man said in awe. "These pictures are incredibly accurate." He looked at the photos in another section. "And so are these. Daniel certainly had a knack for trouble, I'll come to that."

Andy pointed at a display. "Over here's where Uncle Tucker put all of the things about my Daddy, Dr. Johnson!" he said excitedly.

Johnson gently placed a hand on the boy's mouth. "Hush, hush, my boy," he chuckled, looking at the other people around them. "We mustn't give away your father's identity, remember? For now, he is only Danny Phantom."

"Oh; right."

They walked up to the section of Danny Phantom items and studied them. There was a giant painting, incredibly detailed, of the ghost-boy, and several news article clippings and photographs. Several children had donated pictures they drew of their hero as well. Inside the display box beneath the painting were several toys, action figures, stuffed dolls and even jewellery of the famed ghost himself. There were also sketches and notes in an open journal that Danny Phantom had written down at one point, detailing every single ghost he had busted in the past.

Andy pointed at the journal. "My mommy gave that," he said. "She said it belonged to my da—I mean Danny Phantom when he was a teenager. She said he used to draw down the bad guys and then write information about them. That one there is Skulker, the famous Ghost Hunter. He wants to hunt Danny Phantom all the time."

"You know very much about your father's career, Andrew," Johnson noted softly.

"He's my hero. I just can't wait to meet him for the first time. I hope he likes me."

Johnson chuckled and rubbed the boy's head. "I am quite certain that he will, my boy," he said. "When he worked with me, he told me how he would like to have a family one day. He never said when he'd have one, but he was certainly very fond of children."

Andy grinned at these words and looked up at an article that was hanging in a frame beneath the giant painting of the ghost-boy. It was the most recent article about Danny Phantom; the attack of the Ghost Keeper, the summer his father disappeared.

Andy pointed at it. "That's the day my daddy had to go away," He announced. "He lost all of his energy and his human body had to go to sleep in the Ghost Zone. Gramma and Grampa Fenton had to pretend not to know where he went, so they said he disappeared around the same time Amity Park was attacked."

Johnson stared at the news article, skimming over it quickly and looking at the pictures that came with it. There were a few photographs of the battle in question, and there was an image that showed the physical differences between the teenager ghost and the adult one from that day. The journalist who wrote the article wondered how the ghost was able to age physically, stating that it was a mystery no one knew the answer to.

"If Tucker was able to bring all of this information together, then the city must consider him their link to the famed ghost hero," Johnson muttered gently while rubbing his bearded chin.

Andy turned his head and gasped softly when he noticed the display unit at the very center of the giant room. He pointed at it. "Dr. Johnson, look!" he said. "There's the third rock!"

Johnson turned his head and raised his eyebrows. Sure enough, sitting on a stand inside a glass case, was the triangular, blue Spirit Gem. The third piece to their puzzle.

They walked up to the rope that separated the viewers from the display and stared in awe at the jewel. "There it is," Johnson whispered. "The third Spirit Gem. I wonder what defence mechanism it unlocks."

"Maybe it opens up the Ghost Portal and lets Danny Phantom out," Andy guessed. "Maybe one of the things it does is close all portals so that his ghost half can't come out. Because if it did, and he stayed out too long, it could make him disin… disen…" Andy frowned. "Disenteger—!"

"Disintegrate," Johnson corrected him with a soft laugh.

"Yeah. And if his ghost half disintegrates, he can't wake up his human body."

Johnson rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "That is a very good deduction, Andrew," he said. "Perhaps that is what it does." He looked about at the security cameras. "There must be at least four different cameras in here," he muttered. He looked at the paintings around the room. "And I noticed that each painting came equipped with a special motion detecting laser pointer. This may be more difficult than we anticipated. Your uncle certainly was not fooling around when he said he got the best security for this expo."

"We gonna go tell Mommy?" Andy guessed.

Johnson nodded. "Yes," he said. "I do believe we should."

*****