Chapter 3
In the Ghost Zone (a few minutes earlier),
Danny was opening his presents which had been cleared of traps or that could be used against him.
"Thanks Dani" Danny said giving his clone a hug after he opened a snowglobe that would show him where she was so he would stop worrying about her. And the best part was that Vlad wouldn't be able to use it
"Least I can do after you saved me last week" she said as Danny placed the Snowglobe gently next to the Danny Phantom P.D.A.; his new guitar; and a few other things. The one present that he had on him was a necklace (Wulf's gift) that would open a portal to a specific place in the Ghost Zone. The exact location was a 'you'll see'
"Now for your last present" Clockwork said as he floated towards the ghost boy. "Desiree. Remove the spell"
"Say the magic word" she said teasingly.
"I WISH you would remove the spell" Clockwork said giving her a look
"Not quite what I meant" she muttered before saying "So you have wished it, so shall it be!"
The red and black room then turned into what looked like Fenton Works Lab
"Do NOT tell me we've been home this whole time" Danny said
"Danny Phantom." Clockwork announced. "Welcome to your very own lair"
"And once we leave after the party," Skulker said. "We won't be able to come in."
"How?" Danny asked
"Your Dad's ghost shield generator" Tucker explained
"We'll still be able to come from the ghost zone entrance" Frostbite told him "Just we won't be able to come down to the basement"
"We all pitched in for this one" Spectra said. "Every ghost needs a lair. Even half ghosts"
"It's a rule" Walker said
"But what about Plasmius and Dani?" Danny asked
"I'm not old enough yet" she said.
"you have to be a ghost for a full year apparently" Sam explained
"As for Plasmius, he's a bitter, lonely man." Tucker added. "His house is his lair. You have to share your home with your parents. That doesn't count."
"So, we made your lair look like home" Jazz said
"Guys…I can't thank you guys enough." Danny said
INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT!"
"What's going on?" Danny asked over the alarm.
"Someone's coming into your closet." Skulker told him.
"Probably Mom or Dad" Jazz realized
"What do we do?" Danny asked panicking. "If they see a ghost portal in my closet…"
"Got it covered" Tucker said digging through his backpack
"It's time to end this party anyways." Clockwork said before waving his staff and the ghosts vanished (with the box ghost yelling 'Beware')
"Here we go" Tucker said pulling out a spray can.
"Take a DEEP breath" Sam told Jazz
Tucker stuck his hand and the can into the portal and sprayed while explaining his plan
0000
Maddie opened the door and was greeted by a VERY bad smell
"Danny?" she asked while holding her nose
Sam, Tucker, and Jazz all came out panting with Danny looking just disgusted as he came out last. Jazz ran over to the window and opened it.
"I win" Danny told his friends
"Why do I get the strange feeling you cheated?" Sam asked him.
"Dude. The challenge was 'who can stand Foley, by Tucker Foley the longest in a confined space WITHOUT holding his breath!'" Tucker added
Danny just gave them a look that said 'not my fault I don't need to breath when in ghost form'
"Danny. I'm SO sorry" Maddie said. "We thought we were still in June"
Suddenly, Sam, Tucker, and Jazz started laughing really hard. Mother and son turned to them and saw that they had noticed Danny's 'artistic' changes to his posters that Jack had put up
"Can I add something?" Sam asked as she calmed down
"Be my guest" Danny said
She pulled out a sharpie and walked over to the Masters' Blasters poster and wrote in big bold letters: DANNY PHANTOM ROCKS!
"Me next!" Tucker said as he ran to the poster and where it said at the bottom 'beats disasters', he crossed out the beats and wrote 'causes.'
"You guys don't really care much for Vlad and his new team do you?" Maddie asked
"Danny Phantom's saved all of our lives Mom" Jazz informed her mother
"What?" she asked "Why didn't you children tell us?"
"Would you have believed us?" Danny asked
"Point taken" she sighed before turning to Danny. "Let's go downstairs"
"Okay" Danny said confused
Everyone went downstairs. Danny was instantly greeted by a bear hug courtesy of his father wishing him a 'Happy Birthday'. Danny had to admit, it was SLOWLY turning into just that.
"You know…we should all go out and celebrate. Because it just hit me" Jack said. "Not only is it your big 1-5, Danny, but this is the first birthday of the portal which YOU got to work"
"Yeah" Danny agreed half-heartedly as he realized something:
He had kept his powers from his parents for a FULL year now. And his parents did look upset for loosing track of the days
"Is there anything we can do to make it up to you?" Maddie asked
Danny saw the looks in his friends eyes knowing what they were thinking: full access to the Fenton arsenal, later curfew, money…
Danny turned back to his parents. He suddenly realized something: he was sick and tired of all the lies, half-truths and secrets
"how about a promise?" he suggested
"We'll never forget your birthday again" Jack promised
"Not what I had in mind" Danny told his father
"What DID you have in mind?" Jazz asked wondering if he was going to do what she thought he was going to do
"Promise me you WON'T…um…what's the word?" Danny asked "Act until I give you a FULL explanation"
"Explanation?" the parents asked confused wondering if he was going to explain about his low grades and the many missed curfews and the detentions.
"He's not…!" Tucker gasped
"I think he is" Sam said before running to the window and closing the blinds
"Remember how I got the portal working?" Danny asked his parents
"Uh…" Jack said trying to think
"You never did tell us the details" Maddie told him.
"Tucker. The disc" Danny said
"You're sure about this?" Tucker asked as he fished out a DVD from the backpack
"A year is long enough" he said taking the disc from his friend and handed it to his mother. "This is the security disc from the lab from a year ago today to a week later"
"What are you doing with it?" Maddie asked suspiciously.
"Because there's something on it I didn't want you to see at the time" Danny told her.
She took the disc and placed it in the DVD player and pressed play.
Everyone gathered around the screen and watched as the date in the bottom right corner blinked a year ago that day. Sam, Tucker, and Danny were in the lab. Due to the position of the camera, they couldn't hear the conversation going on. But they did see Danny put on his white hazmat suit with the black gloves and boots that had vanished that day. Then the Danny on the screen walked into the portal with his friends watching curious. Suddenly, there was a bright green and white flash from the portal and Danny screamed in pain. Those who were viewing the accident for the first time winced at the scream.
"DANNY!" the Sam and Tucker on the screen yelled in terror
The portal then formed into the vortex they could go down to the lab and see today. Then, a white glove grabbed the edge of the portal. Finally, a familiar body crashed down unconsciously on the lab floor causing the parents' mouths to drop and turn to their son in shock
"I'm going ghost" Danny whispered under his breath and allowed himself to turn into Danny Phantom.
He allowed the news to sink in before explaining himself
"We think that the ectoplasm from the portal fused with my D.N.A. allowing me to have ghost powers." He told his parents. "This is why I've been late coming home, skipping class, and my grades have been dropping…I've been using my powers to fight ghosts. We catch…what's the average Tuck?"
"3 ghosts a day…not counting the Box Ghost" Tucker said. "And that's a slow day"
"Three ghosts a day on a SLOW day?" Maddie exclaimed in shock almost scared to know what a fast day was like.
"And some are harder than others" Danny said
The next thing Danny knew, his mother was hugging him pretty tightly.
"Why didn't you tell us?" she asked
"I was scared" he admitted as he slowly returned the hug
"Danny. We'll always love you" Jack told his son.
"And we're so proud of you" his mother added.
"You are?" Danny asked
"Yeah" Jack said. "A full fledged ghost hunter at 14…unless it took you a while to decide to fight ghosts"
"I've been fighting off ghosts for 11 months Dad" Danny said. "It's been getting relatively easier with time"
"Relatively?" Maddie asked concerned.
"The earlier ghosts that I fight with constantly like Skulker, Technus, Ember, the box ghost, and Vl-Plasmius get easier with each fight as I gain experience and more control of my abilities" Danny said. "But once in a while I end up fighting a new and powerful ghost like Nocturne, Undergrowth, and Vortex"
"It couldn't have been easy with us and that Red Huntress hunting you on top of that" Maddie said brushing her son's now white bangs from his face
"It's kept me on my toes" he said with a shrug "It hasn't been easy though: school, ghost hunting, and the secrets…"
"Well, no more secrets. Alright?" Maddie asked
"Alright" he promised before hugging her again and felt his father join in the hug.
Danny sighed with relief. He had his parents' acceptance which was the best birthday present he could ask for.