Maddie woke up, and heard something. Call it intuition, or something, but somehow, she knew something was wrong with Danny. She quietly got up and ventured over to her son's room. Inside, she heard him tossing and turning. Every now and then, she would hear him mutter.
This happened a lot, but this time, she went into Danny's room and softly stroked his back in a comforting gesture. He muttered again.
In the dream
Danny looked on, horrified, as Dan bound his family. NO! he thought. He isn't supposed to be able to get out of the thermos!
"How did you get out of the thermos?" he demanded. "Why are you here?"
Dan laughed evilly. "You didn't honestly think that infernal thermos would hold me forever, did you? As for why I'm here... I've come to make sure you turn into me!
"No, I'll never turn into you." he shouted.
Out of the dream
Maddie was infinitely confused. Turn into who? And in the thermos? What was her some dreaming about? What was going on? Perhaps she would ask him when he woke up.
She watched him thrash around.
Then again, perhaps not. He probably wouldn't want to talk about it.
In the dream
"Of course you will! It's only a matter of time." said Dan. He surrounded his hand with an ectoblast and aimed it at Sam.
"No! Sam!" he yelled, jumping in front of her.
Out of the dream
What was wrong with Sam? Maddie wondered. What was going on? This question continued to surround her mind as she continued to try to comfort her son. She contemplated trying to wake him up, but stopped, startled, when he flinched as soon as she touched her.
In the dream
Dan blasted him, and he flinched away in pain.
"I'll make sure I don't! And if I fail, Clockwork forbid, Clockwork will keep me from doing it all again!"
Out of the dream
Maddie was confused. Again. Or still, as the case may be. Fail to turn into... who? Or what? And who was this Clockwork? She would definitely have to talk to Danny when he woke up. She shook him again, gratified when he didn't flinch this time. He didn't wake up.
In the dream
"You will turn into me, Danny! Count on it!" Dan yelled.
"NEVER!" Danny yelled, voice turning into a Ghostly Wail.
Out of the dream
Maddie screamed as tiny ecto sound waves emitted from Danny's mouth as he yelled a barely distinguishable, "NEVER!" The room trembled, but nothing more. Did he even know he could do that?
In the dream
Dan was blown down and promptly sucked into the thermos again. The thermos was encased in ice. He looked once at his family, and then...
Out of the dream
Danny sat up, bolt upright. His mother was staring at him in shock. He rubbed the back of his neck nervously as his mother spoke.
"What was that?" she asked.
"What was what?"
"The little ectowaves shooting from your mouth."
Danny winced. "I didn't just do that in my dream? Darn it..." he sighed. "I don't know." he lied. "It just happens sometimes."
"Daniel James Fenton!" she snapped, straightening fully. "I know that you know what that was and you aren't leaving this room until you tell me what that was!"
Danny winced. "I-" he was cut off by a blue wisp. "I've gotta go..."
"Well, you aren't!" Maddie snapped.
Just then, the Box Ghost phased into the room.
He waved his arms above his head. "BEWARE!" Then he spotted Danny.
"AH! It is the ghost child who traps me in the cylindrical container!"
Danny growled at this. The stupid Box Ghost had basically given away his secret. He whipped a thermos out from on top of his nightstand and sucked in the Box Ghost.
"Stupid Box Ghost." he muttered. He looked slowly up at his mother.
"Why did that ghost call you a ghost child?" she asked. "Only Phantom gets called that..."
Then she gasped. "Oh. My. G-d. I can't believe I never saw it before. The body shape, the hair, the eyes... even the name. Except for the coloring... Danny, are you... Phantom."
Danny slowly bent his head down. He allowed the rings to form around his waist and travel along his body. When they had finished, he looked up with eyes that shone from within.
"Danny..." Maddie said slowly. "Why didn't you say anything? We would have understood!"
Danny shook his head slowly. "Would you have? After all your rants about ghosts having no feelings, deserving to be ripped apart molecule by molecule, about them all being evil? I couldn't possibly be sure."
Maddie's eyes teared up. "Oh, my... No! I hunted my own son!" she cried.
"Mom, it's okay. Nothing really happened. I'm okay. I understand; ghost hunters always go after the ghosts they see. Few check to see what kind of ghost it is first; good or bad."
Maddie looked up. She had stopped crying. She embraced her son. "Oh, Danny..."
"It's okay, Mom." he repeated.
She smiled. "I'd like for you to tell me about a few of your adventures, Danny. I'm sure that you know plenty about ghosts!"
He smiled, too. "OK. You were right about one thing, to start with. All ghosts have obsessions. Even half ghosts. You just guessed wrong about mine."
"What is yours?"
"To protect."
"Interesting. I suppose it makes sense. What are some of the others? The more interesting ones?"
"Well, the Dairy King has two. One with cheese and the other with royalty..."
She listened attentively as Danny told his stories. She laughed and gasped in all the right places. One thought rang in both of their minds.
Everything is going to be so much easier.