Shadows

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom, casserole, the universe, or narwhals. One of those things belongs to Bunch Hartman, and I don't know who invented casserole.

{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}

Maddie POV

"Eat Ectoblast, ghost scum!" I yelled as I pulled the trigger. A green ray of Ectoplasm shot out of my Fenton-Handgun, towards Danny Phantom. The Ghost Boy ducked out of the way, and trapped us in a shield as he shot ectoplasm at the Wisconsin Ghost.

"Let us go, ghost!" My husband, Jack, yelled as he pounded on the shield.

Phantom's shadow was inside the shield for a moment. I blinked, almost hypnotized by it. For a moment, it looked like my Danny's shadow. The similarities are hard to ignore.

Phantom's hair fell causally into his eyes, just like Danny's. He stood (Floating, but still) just like Danny. And he almost acted like Danny to. Just take away the white hair, the ghostly glow, and the annoying witty banter, and you got someone that looked and acted a lot like Danny.

"Weird," I thought to myself, watching Phantom blast the Wisconsin Ghost, and the vampire-like ghost shooting back. "The Wisconsin Ghost almost looks like Vlad too.."

"Mads! Help me with this shield!" Jack shouted as he tried to shoot the shield.

"Jack, I think Phantom's trying to protect us from that ghost, not trap us. I know it seems crazy, but just watch for a minute!"

Jack looked at me like I was crazy. I probably was, but I was a scientist at heart. If I had a theory, I had to test it. And in this case, Phantom was my theory.

The instant Jack stopped shooting the shield, Phantom seemed to get a energy boost. "Maybe us banging on the shield was weakling him." I said aloud to myself.

"You can't protect those people and defeat me at the same time, Daniel." The Wisconsin Ghost had grabbed Phantom, pinned his hands behind his back, and was burning him with his ectoblasts. I winced at the Ghost Boy's screams.

"Leave-them-ALONE!" He yelled. After he yelled alone, he twisted out of the ghost's hands, and fell to the ground.

"You don't even have enough energy to fly!" The Vampire-like ghost taunted. "And you think you can defeat me? Haven't I proved again and again that you'll never-" he got cut off by Phantom. "I said, leave us ALONE!"

The moment "Alone," was uttered, waves of energy erupted from his lips, and a horrible wail emitted from the Ghost Boy. The waves blasted the Wisconsin Ghost backwards, into the abandoned warehouse.

Phantom fell to the ground, exhausted. The shield that was protecting me and Jack dissolved. Jack ran over to the Wisconsin Ghost as he flew away.

Phantom pushed himself upwards. For the weirdest of moments, he looked like Danny getting out of bed on a Monday. The ghost flew off, turning invisible.

Jack walked back over. "You just want to go home?"

I nodded. "Let's just go home."

{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}

I paused when I heard the door open. "Hello? Anyone home?" Danny called.

"Yes honey, I'm in the kitchen. I'm making casserole for dinner!" I called back.

Danny walked in, just as the pan slipped out of my hands and onto the floor. "Oh, my bad." I said to myself, bending down to pick up the pan (which luckily had the lid on, so nothing spilled).

"Here Mom, I'll get it," Danny said as he bent down to pick up the pan.

I blinked. Danny's shadow looked like Phantom's. In fact, didn't Danny's HAZMAT suit look like Phantom's? Yeah, it did, it just had the colors inverted.

Than it clicked. Danny Phantom. Danny Fenton.

I fell to the floor, ice clutching my heart. My son... was the Ghost Boy? But how? And why didn't he tell us? How could I be so stupid? And what type of parent was I to not notice that my own son was dead?

"Mom? Mom, are you alright?!" Danny asked, grabbing my arm.

"You're Danny Phantom, aren't you?" I stated, looking into Danny's baby blue eyes, so unlike Phantom's radioactive green ones. But their face structure and hairstyle were the same. And Phantom looked even more like Danny when he used his ice powers. His eyes turned that same shade of blue.

Danny looked away. "Yeah."

That's all. Just a "Yeah." No asking if I won't tell anyone, no denying it, and no running away. Just a "Yeah." He sounded guilty, as if he was apologizing for being a hero.

I pulled him into a hug. "Danny, you're a hero. And my son. You don't have to sound sorry for being dead."

Danny's eyes widened. "Mom, I'm not exactly dead. Remember how I got the Portal working? Well, when it turned on, I was inside of it. We think it turned me into a half ghost."

My mind raced. A half ghost? How is that even possible?

"Well, I don't care if you're human, ghost, or something in-between. You're my son, and I love you." I said, hugging him close.

I process his words, and freeze. "Danny? Who is 'We?'"

"Oh, Sam and Tucker, Jazz too. Sam and Tucker were there when it happened, and Jazz figured it out on her own."

I laughed. "That sounds like Jazz."

Danny stared for a second, and started to laugh along with me. "Yeah! And once she found out, she started to poke me to make sure I was solid!"

That made us both laugh harder.

"Should we tell Dad?" Danny asked. "Since you already know, and you will probably tell him anyway."

"I think we should. But not now, I have a casserole to bake." I said, gesturing to the forgotten pan on the countertop.

"Yeah. Dinner first."

{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}

There! I'm actually proud of this story! Why? It's more than a hundred words! XD

ANYONE WHO REVIEWS WILL GET A BUNCH OF COOKIES!

Anyone who doesn't review will get eaten by my NARWHAL!

Thanks for reading!

-FallingNarwhals