Hey guys! Pheek is back and newly inspired with this story! This is by far the longest update I've ever done for this story! I hope that makes up for the lateness!

Getting down to business, I'd like to thank all who review/favorited/followed. You guys are awesome!

I'd also like to thank my awesome beta reader and one of my besties, Pinklife, for beta reading this!

And the answer to the trivia question is... Identity Crisis!

The winners are...

Ulimo

Guest

Darkfrost

blackjay48

SamxDanny

PixieDemon1029

Guest

Pinklife

Gammija

Great job to all!

Just so you guys know, this chapter has a bit of angst and some romance at the end. Just wanted to warn you... (I swear that angst haunts me like a plague and comes out at the strangest of times...You guys finally get to experience it.)

Also, blackjay48 asked me if I could put something about how Vlad got to Earth so quickly and if there are ghost hunters going after him. This got me thinking, and I am going to be putting some stuff about that in the next chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom! Seriously, do I look like a middle-aged man? No. I look like a geeky teenage girl.


A New Ending

Chapter 4: The Truth Behind Strength

Danny's POV

I swiftlywent ghost and sped off to fight the ghost without listening to any of their objections.

The wind pushed up against my face in a welcoming fashion as I flew off at top speeds to the ghost in question. Words could not describe how good it felt to finally feel free again. I knew that I owed it to my friends and sister to disappear as soon as I whipped that sorry ghost's butt, but for the moment, my world seemed to go back to 'normal'.

I knew that when I finally did meet up with my friends again, they were going to be mad at me for what I did but, at the moment, it was all worth it. They didn't and wouldn't ever understand how amazing it felt to have ectoplasm course through your veins. To feel the raw power go through your body, make your senses heighten, and the confidence that followed it. It was a feeling that I hadn't experienced lately and felt so good to get back.

About a hundred yards from where my friends and I were, I met up with two low-level ecto-pusses. Smirking, I threw ecto-blasts at both of them and quickly sucked them up in my thermos.

As I was capping my thermos, I didn't even see it coming. An ecto-net collapsed around me and fastened to itself around me. I let a smile grace my features at the normalcy of this situation as I easily phased out of the net. Turning to my captors, I saw the Fenton Ghost Assault Vehicle (GAV) and my parents climb out weaponless. Just as I was about to turn away and make my 'escape', my mom yelled, "Wait, Phantom! We just want to talk to you!"

I stopped and turned to them, forcing myself to act civilized, I landed on the ground about five yards in front of them. "No thanks! I want to keep my secret to myself, thank you!" Okay, maybe I wasn't that civilized, but at least I responded and landed—that had to count for something.

"Please! We want to help you! We could be allies!" my mom tried to persuade.

"I'm sorry, no," I told the woman with sincerity.

"Look, Phantom," my mom began as I turned around ready to leave. Her voice forced me to a halt. "We are sorry for what we've done to you for the past couple years. We didn't understand, and now we want to try to."

"I can't let you understand, I'm sorry. Not you two, your ghost hunters, I'm a halfa, doesn't that still bother you?" They were silent. "I know that it does, and you don't want to know who I am. It'd make things harder than they already are."

Just as I was about to take off, my dad said something that surprised me, "Let us help you." After being his son for sixteen years, almost seventeen years, I knew that this kind of thoughtful thing was something that my dad really meant. When he took the effort to say something like this, you knew to listen.

A pang of guilt struck me, as I forced myself to say, "Jack, Maddie, now is not the time for you to find out the truth. I'll tell you when I'm ready. Until then, I can't tell you."

"Why?" Maddie questioned desperately.

"It's really complicated. I'm sorry," I answered them. My heart was stinging as I turned my back on them, on my parents, and flew away, making sure to take up invisibility so that they couldn't see me.

Even though I knew that my parents shouldn't know, I couldn't help but feel bad. From the expressions on their faces—especially my dad's—it took a lot for them to do that. If my parents had one weakness, it was their social skills. My mom was okay on most occasions, but it was obvious that she preferred to be behind the scenes, and my dad could never manage to say the right thing. And when it came to ghosts, all you got from them was aggression coated with an undieing curiosity.

Another thing they didn't do well with was being contradicted—which was probably the reason that they didn't believe anybody who said ghosts didn't exist for so many years. It was also the reason that I knew Phantom being a halfa got to them so much. All their lives, they had believed that ghosts were ghosts and humans were human, now they were being contradicted. I don't even want to know what would happen if they found out that their son was Phantom.

Why the heck does my life have to be so screwed up? I do my best to do the right thing, and all I do is get dumped on. Maybe one day, I can escape this nightmare of a life, and start anew. But I knew that this could never be full filled: a care free life was impossible for me. I'd always have to worry about ghosts, objection, and my guilt. I knew that I'd always be dumped on by somebody, whether Dash or a hunter, the hatred for me would never stop.

Sighing, I invisibly touched down in an alley a few blocks away from Tucker's house and went human. Pulling out my cell phone, I called Tucker. "Danny! What the heck dude!? Why did you do that?!"

"Tucker!" The boy kept talking. "TUCKER!" I yelled into the phone again, finally silencing the boy. I heard Sam's muffled yells on the line telling me that she was going to kill me the rest of the way the moment she got her hands on me. "You guys at your house right?"

"Yeah," I could tell that he would still be yelling at me if I hadn't stopped him.

"I'll be there in a minute," I told him.

"You better not fly!" he directed me as the 'ring of power' formed around my waist.

Sighing, I told him, "Fine. I'll be there in two minutes."

Just as I was about to hang up, Tucker informed me, "By the way, Sam is here, too."

"I gathered that," I deadpanned, hanging up.

Walking, I made it to Tucker's in about two minutes. Before I even rang the doorbell, Sam jumped out and pulled me into a hug whispering to me, "Don't you ever do anything like that again."

My best friends then grabbed my shirt and pulled me inside. In a second flat, the Foley's knew I was there and we were up in Tucker's room. "What the heck were you thinking!?" Sam exclaimed, and then Sam began laying into me with things like, "Are you stupid?!", "You could have been captured!", and, the one I actually found a little humorous, "You could have been killed!—the rest of the way!"

Tucker, who was wide-eyed like me for the entire thing simply added, "Yeah, dude, you had us really worried."

I looked up at my friends with sorry eyes, "Look, I'm sorry. It was just two low-level ecto-pusses..." I then mumbled the part about my parents.

"What was that?" Sam asked me, her big amethyst eyes looking at me quizzically, "What exactly happened?"

"Okay, here's what happened." I then relayed the whole thing to them—including my parents this time. They both looked at me as if I were going to drop dead. "What?" I threw them both questioning glances.

"Are you mad!? You actually talked to them?!" Sam yelled with an exasperated expression.

"I couldn't just act like they weren't there. If they ever do find out then at least they'll be on good terms with Phantom, err, me," I answered. What was wrong with what I said? I didn't piss them off or give them any idea as to who I was. What did I do wrong?

As Sam clenched her forehead, Tucker told me, "Dude, why say anything at all? What if you said something that led them to your secret?"

Sighing, I caught their drift, "Okay, okay, I'm sorry. I was being stupid, and I'll do better to lay lower. I promise." They both looked at me with sincerity.

"You better, Fenton," Sam began shaking her head with a smirk, "Or I swear I'll kill you the rest of the way."

"And I'll help," Tucker put in, raising a finger.

We all smirked at each other for a second, until my phone sprung to life with a guitar solo telling me that I had a text.

Glancing at the caller ID, I noticed that it was Jazz.

DANNY IF U R OKAY, PLEASE TEXT ME BACK, & WATCH THE NEWS.

Showing my friends the message, I texted back:

IM FINE—HAD A RUN IN WITH MOM & DAD. DONT WORRY EVERYTHING IS FINE. I'LL TELL YA L8ER. Y WATCH THE NEWS?

In about three seconds there was a response.

GLAD 2 HEAR. JUST DO IT.

Sighing I replied:

K.

Looking over at Tucker, he pulled out his PDA, and turned on the news. The newscaster, Tiffany Snow, came on-screen and began in her nasally voice, "Hi, I'm Tiffany Snow, and this is news at five on channel five. The biggest story at the moment is the new information we got about Phantom this morning. Here is the footage from this morning's incident."

I sat through the embarrassing twenty minutes of footage, ending in my stupid response that I was still kicking myself for. The screen then turned back to Tiffany, who announced, "The ghost boy hasn't been seen since then, but the ghost authorities would like anybody who does to contact them at the number on the bottom of the screen so that they can catch the halfa, find out who he is, and take care of him. And, if Danny Phantom is watching this, we would like to ask him to bring himself in. We are not looking to hurt you, we are simply looking to understand." She paused and then continued on with the newscast as Tucker shut his PDA off.

"Well, at least my parents didn't tell anybody they saw me," I pointed out, feigning happiness. This whole thing was a mess. If I'd have just shut Plasmius up this never would have happened. Regardless of my feign and their previous moods, Sam and Tucker both let out a distant 'yeah'. "I'm just going to have to try harder to avoid everybody."

Getting the same response from them along with a silence, I asked Tucker, "I can still crash here tonight, right?"

Jumping out of his reverie, Tucker responded, "Let me ask my mom. Be right back." The geek then left the room, leaving Sam and I alone.

"I'm doomed aren't I?" I asked her.

She looked up at me with a small smile, "No, you'll be fine. You just have to lay a little lower."

"If I lay any lower, I'll practically be laying in my own grave!" I quipped. She gave me blank expression, and I replied more seriously, "Yeah, I guess. I just hope my parents aren't getting suspicious of me. Especially since they didn't tell anybody that they saw me," I explained. I didn't really realize that I was worried about that until I said it, but the words seemed to take the form of worry.

"I think you'll be okay. Your parents do like to get credit for their discoveries, we both know that. I'm pretty sure that they don't know your secret, Danny," the Goth told me, putting a hand on my shoulder with a comforting smile.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," I responded with an uneasy smile.

She must have sensed my uneasy because she was about to say something else when Tucker rushed through the door frantically babbling, "WE HAVE A BIG PROBLEM!" He told us this exact phrase about ten times until finally elaborating, "You can't stay here. My parents are saying that since they know that we—meaning Sam and I—know Phantom...err...you, the authorities are going to come talk to us in the morning! You're not going to be safe at either of our houses! What are we going to do!?"

I stared him wide-eyed and did a double take with Sam. This isn't happening. It was fine for me to be put through stress, but my friends shouldn't have to suffer for me. "They're probably going to question Jazz, too, so that means that your house isn't an option either," Sam mused with frustration as she collapsed on the bed.

That's right! My own sister isn't going to get out of punishment. Guilt began flooding into my mind. I can't believe I was doing this to them. They all hated the spot light, and now they were being put directly into it—all because of me! Groaning, I fell on the bed in a similar fashion. "I'm sorry guys," I apologized, sitting up, "This is all my fault. You guys wouldn't have to go through any of this if it weren't for me, and—"

"Now is not the time for apologies Danny!" Sam scolded, "We have a problem we have to figure out!" The Goth took a deep breath, and asked Tucker, "Are you sure that it's just the three of us and not Danny?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure. They have no reason to suspect him. Well, at least for being a friend of himself," the boy responded.

"Okay," Sam replied with a deep breath, and, I wouldn't have caught it without my enhanced hearing, but I heard her curse Vlad. "The problem right now is finding a place for you to sleep without your parents suspecting anything, and the problem in the morning will be the authorities," the girl mused.

"Right," Tucker and I answered, and I continued, "I guess I'm going to have to go home."

"How are you going to do that? Jazz said that the place was booby-trapped," Tucker pointed out.

"Not only will you have to worry about that, but the minute the authorities come in to talk to Jazz, they're bound to run into you," Sam pointed out.

"Crap," I whispered. This was a nightmare. My friends and sister were going to have through 'torture' because of my secret and the whole town was way to close to finding out my secret than I had ever imagined. Finally answering him, I explained, "I'm just going to have to risk it, Sam. Maybe I can get to school before the authorities come to my house. More suspicion would be raised if I didn't go home. And, maybe Jazz can turn it off the ghost defenses."

"Fine. But do you really think she can do that?" Sam questioned with a bit hope.

"In theory, yes," I stated. "Any person in the family can. I'll shoot her a text." After fumbling around with my phone I finally sent a message reading:

CAN U TURN OFF THE GHOST DEFENSES?

In about three agonizing, silent minutes I got a response.

I'LL TRY. GIVE ME A SEC.

Sending back a 'K', I looked up at my friends and told them, "She's going to try. If she can, then I should be able to sleep at my house and disappear in the morning before the authorities come and the interview starts. I'll just get to school early for once, and then I'll meet up with you guys at lunch or something, and you can tell me what happened."

They both responded with an okay, and Sam pointed out, "What should we do for the interview?"

"Just refuse to tell them anything. That shouldn't be that hard, right?" I questioned.

"True," she agreed as my phone beeped to life, and we all jumped and looked at the screen.

Instead of getting a text from my sister, I got a text from my mom. We all did a double take between each other and the phone. "Please tell me that this isn't happening and that I'm a completely normal teenager with no worries other than the norm, and ghosts and halfas don't exist," I begged them in a giving up tone while closing my eyes to avoid looking at the phone.

"Sorry, dude," Tucker replied, "Can't do that."

Sighing at how much I hated my life, I read the text.

DANNY—PLEAS COME HOME EARLY 2DAY. RIGHT NOW PERFERABLY.

Sighing, I texted back:

Y?

This day would just keep on getting worse wouldn't it? I thought as the phone beeped again.

LOTS OF GHOST CRAZINESS. WE WANT U HOME NOW.

Groaning with frantic worry, I responded:

HOW DOES THAT AFFECT ME?

It only took about five seconds for her to text back:

NO MORE QUESTIONS, JUST COME HOME.

All I could bring myself to text back was a 'K', and I looked up with my friends in worry as I hit the send button. "I'm doomed," I groaned. I could feel my whole body shaking with fear as I looked up at them, hoping they would have the answer; hoping that they would know how to fix this.

It was then that it finally hit me that I was doomed. Everything we had done to keep my secret a secret had just gone down the drain. All precautionary measures we had gone through, all the reality changing, the alternate universes, time travel, it all went down the drain. The last couple years of hiding suddenly seemed pointless. I'd lost, and now I was going to pay for losing. I finally realized for the first time that my life was over. There's no reality change this time, no timeline difference, and no excuses. Everything that happened now was going to stick.

Nobody could be accepting of a halfa—especially after what happened with Vlad. I had always gripped on to the little piece of mind I had that told me that my parents would accept me. They had in two alternate time lines*, so why wouldn't they now? But now that piece of mind, that hope, seemed to dwindle into nothing. For once, I felt alone. I knew that my friends and sister would always be there for me, but nobody else ever would. The world can't accept freaks like me. To regular humans, I was a threat to humanity, something that didn't deserve to live. Freaks like me belonged away from civilization where they wouldn't cause anybody pain: where they wouldn't get in the way of normality.

Even though I believed this true, knew that I couldn't just leave. I couldn't just leave my friends and sister to work through the mistakes I had made. I had to be there, because it's my fault. It's something that I had to fix, and it's time for me to act.

"You're not doomed," Sam informed me in her take charge voice. "They might not know your secret. They know that Jazz is a friend of Phantom and that we are, so how much of a stretch is it that they might think that you're friends with him, too?"

"About as much as the stretch that I am Phantom," I deadpanned in a pessimistic demeanor.

"Sam's right, Danny," Tucker added, putting a hand on my shoulder, "Don't give up hope yet. We've all put too much into this thing for you to give up."

Looking up at my determined friends standing in front of me, I couldn't help but feel a little hopeful. Maybe I was just mildly doomed. It's possible. I perked up a bit, and let out a small, slightly forced smile, "Yeah, I guess you're right."

I nodded at them. "I better get going then." I was just about to say my good byes when my phone beeped again, alerting me of an incoming text from Jazz that read:

GHOST DEFENSES R DOWN. MOM PROB TXTED U. IM PRETTY SURE THEY DONT KNOW, CAUSE THEY KEEP REFERIN AS DIFFERENT PEOPLE. C U SOON. B CAREFUL.

I texted back another 'K, THANKS', and moved on to my friends. "See, what did we tell you?" Sam reassured, "If they ask you anything, just act clueless—which isn't very hard for you," I heard Tucker snicker here for some reason, and I looked at them in confusion. Getting no explanation, she continued, "and you'll be fine. Simple as that."

"Okay, and you guys do the same tomorrow morning," I told them. It was then that I was hit by another thought: this could quite possibly be my last night with my secret in tact. If my friends and Jazz weren't able to dissuade government about my ghost half, and they did end up figuring things out, then I would be on the run for the rest of my life. I couldn't just live normally anymore: I'd be hunted forever.

I guess that I always knew that my secret getting out was inevitable, but I always tried to put it the burden on future me. That's why I changed reality and time even. But this was it. When people find out my secret, they'll never accept me, and there's nothing I can do about it. My thought process was interrupted by Sam, "We'll do our best."

"I guess I should probably go now," I pointed out, looking down at my phone.

They both let out an airy yeah, and I turned toward the door. "Good-bye, guys." A sad smile formed on my lips as I said this. For some reason, it seemed as if this was the last time that I was really going to see them. That this was going to be the last good-bye. I felt a pang of sadness attack my heart, and I found myself holding back a tear.

They both gave me similar good-byes as if they felt the same way. But we couldn't give up yet. It was too early to give up hope. Then again, why hadn't we before now? All the stuff we'd been through in the past couple years, and we'd never given up. But why? That made me really have to think. Even when they died in the other reality, I never gave up. And even when Freakshow changed reality, we all still never gave up. Sam didn't give up on me when her wish came true, Jazz gave me the initiative and advice to get me through my dark future, and Tucker pulled through when he was being controlled by Hotep-Ra. There were so many occasions that we could have given up, but we never did, so why was now so different?

I guess it's because now is real. Most of our hardest adventures were in another reality or timeline that we could change. The other ones like with Undergrowth and Nocturn we were the only people around, and all they entailed was our battle tactics. Not that they were easy, but we all used skills that we already wielded.

But now, we had to avoid a truth. In the past couple years, all of us had gotten better at lying and covering up the truth. We'd done well, but now our efforts were being stomped down, and their was nothing we could do about it. The most we could do was not admit the truth, but we all saw the inevitable ending when this finished. They're was no way out of this one. We were finally in over our heads, and their was nothing we could do about it.

I gave them one last look and left the room and then the house without another word. My secret was laying on their shoulders now. If tomorrow went badly, people would know my secret. But if it did get revealed, I wouldn't blame them. This was Plasmius's fault. He knew that this would happen when he revealed my secret. I hated him. He did this to me; to my friends and sister, and he was going to pay. I don't know how yet, but he will pay.

I was only about a block away when Sam came up behind me. "Hi Danny," she greeted sadly, walking beside me.

"Hi Sam," I replied back, holding back a tear. Looking at her miserably, this girl was one of my best friends, and always will be. She's kept me sane for this long, and that was one of the reasons I felt drawn to her. I think I always will be friends with this girl, but if and when I have to run, I don't think I'll ever find out if we could be anything other than friends.

Little did anyone know, but I like her, a lot, more than friends, but I guess fate didn't want us together since it decided that I wasn't even going to get to make a move on her before my secret collapsed. I had, as of late, began to realize why I was called clueless.

"Mind if I walk with you?" she asked.

"I'll never mind," I answered her. She sent me a strange look, but a small smile graced her beautiful features.

We walked in silence until we reached her house and we both stopped. She was about to say good-bye and walk up the steps to her house, but I took her hand, before she was able. "Umm, Sam," I began awkwardly, as she walked in front of me, "I know that things are going to be insane from now on, and that my secret won't last much longer. But I've been wanting to tell you something for a while now, but I haven't known how to till now, and I guess that I still don't.

"Look, I know that you've been put through a lot of stuff because of me, and I'm not even sure if you feel the same way about me, but I may never see you again, so I just wanted to tell you that I-" My harangue was interrupted by a pair of lips on mine.

We stayed like this for a while, until she finally pulled away. "Be careful ghost boy," she told me as she walked up the steps of her house. "Just know that after everything we've done, I'd still do it all over the same way again. Just remember that. Please stay safe, Danny." She then walked through the doors of her house without another word.

I just stood there for a second and took in what happened. I kissed Sam! Sam! If my life wasn't going to end tomorrow, this would be really cool. Turning, I made my way to my house.

I guess she really did like me, and I guess that I really did like her. I made a promise to myself that I would never forget that moment. That moment when I finally made a move on a girl I'd been crushing on for most of my life and she gave them back. That moment when I finally gave into feelings I'd been oblivious to forever.

I finally let the smile that was holding in break through when I was about a block from home. Sam had been there with me for it all. Not Paulina. Not Valerie. Not any of the other girls that I had fallen for. Just Sam. I made a promise to myself and to her that if I did have to disappear, then I'd tell her before I left. Maybe I'd even steal one more kiss.

A tear finally left my eye as I stood in front of my house. Looking around, I turned intangible for a second so that all traces of it would be gone. That tear seemed to be the only thing that actually made sense all day. It was the last sign of defeat. It was the white flag that said that I couldn't take it anymore.

But it also sang out a tune that had my friends and sister in it. The people who even though they seemed to have given up, still hadn't. The people who were going to be by my side through it all. It reminded me of all the good times we've had. All the things we've overcome. It reminded me of the strength that they gave me.

And then it hit me, the strength that we had together was the reason that we had never given up. It was the reason I got through the first few months I had with my powers. It was the reason my friends and I had stayed strong through it all. Call it cheesy, but our bond, our friendship, was what gave us our strength.

Clarity was something many people took for granted, but I had finally found mine. I was filled with that unified strength again. That strength gave me a reason to fight back again and gave me something to live for. Feeling strong again, I pushed fearlessly through the door.

Because as long as I had my friends and sister, I had my strength, and I was ready for anything that would come my way from now on.


*I'm counting the Masters of All Time and Reality Trip.

Good? Bad? Ugly? I won't know unless you review.

Seriously, how did you guys like it? I'm trying to institute the adventure and friendship genres I put up, and trust me when I say that the next chapter is going to be legen...wait for it...dary! Legendary! True story. (I don't own HIMYM)

Sorry bout the angst and romance, but just sort of comes in swings and this story, along with of few of my other ones have fallen victim to that. Throughout the rest of the story, am going to try to put in more friendship and adventure aspects that I have this listed under into it.

Also, does anybody want Valerie in this story? I've had ideas with her, but I want to know what you guys think.

And finally, the thing everybody is waiting for, the trivia question.

What is the name of the creepy old abandoned hospital on the edge of Amity Park before the letters on the sign fell off?

That's all for now. I don't know when I'll update, but I'm starting school on Tuesday, so, unlike other authors, the pace might get quicker. Simply because I procrastinate with my homework and write instead. XD

I'll do my best to update AFLR and AHC soon.

Please Review.

~Pheek out