Chapter 7

Shit! Danny cursed as he flew through the afternoon sky in no particular direction. Shit, shit, shit! It was only his first day of pretending to be a normal teen, and he almost blew his cover because he was careless. This is going to be a lot harder than I originally thought.

Danny knew how to keep a secret: the proof being that the entire world thought Phantom was just that - a ghost. Not some hybrid ghost-human with an alter ego of a high school senior. He had no problem keeping things under wraps, it would just take a great deal of effort to be as cautious and meticulous 24/7, 365 days a year in order to keep his extracurricular activities hidden from his two closest friends. Danny was so used to being open with them about everything - about his ghost-crazed parents, about the Ghost Zone, and about his ghostly abilities. From now on, he would have to take extra precautions to eliminate all "ghost talk" when hanging around Sam and Tucker.

Danny sighed as he gently hit his fist against his temple, hoping the shock from the punch would help this new reality sink in. But keeping his ghostly half a secret from Sam and Tucker wasn't the only issue weighing heavily on Daniel's shoulders.

"Just who is that ghost?" Danny said aloud as he gracefully landed atop Casper High with a subtle thud. Danny began to pace back and forth, right hand supporting his left elbow as he cupped his free hand beneath his chin in thought. He closed his eyes trying to recall the voice and appearance of the Chimera ghost that appeared to him in the men's restroom of the Nasty Burger.

Only youuuu can freeee meee from this hellll...The last words spoken by the beast before it disintegrated into smoke looped through Danny's head.

"Free you from what?" Danny, frustrated, threw his hands up in the air, and floated down to the ground to sit Indian style on the corner of Casper High's roof. He rested his head in his hands with his elbows propped against his outspread knees.

He thought back to the events of the men's restroom. He remembered how Tucker had just been frozen, mid step as he was walking through the door. Was he up against some time-controlling ghost like Clockwork? If he had that much power, why did he need Danny's help to get free?

Danny scratched at his chest absentmindedly, running his fingers across his medallion hidden snuggly beneath his black and white spandex.

"Right," he said as he traced the outline of the medallion with his middle finger, "I should probably go ask Clockwork." Certainly he'll know what's going on. And with that, Danny took off in the direction of Fenton Works, his destination being the ghost portal that was nestled away in his basement.

As Danny saw the Fenton Works sign peek out from the tops of the surrounding buildings and apartment complexes, he turned invisible as to refrain from attracting any unnecessary attention from below. He landed in an empty alley way, just a block away from Fenton Works, and transformed back into Danny Fenton. Not even a minute had passed and he was already ascending the front stairs to his home.

Danny was just going to go straight up to his room on the second floor, letting his parents aware that he had returned from school, then invisibly phase through to the basement and into the Ghost Zone. Except when he opened the front door, his parents were already waiting for him in the living room.

"Mom! Dad! I'm ho-" he called before he realized they were standing before him. "What's up?" Danny asked warily, not sure why they were waiting for him with arms crossed. Did the effects of the Reality Gauntlet wear off already? Did they suddenly remember everything that had taken place a few days ago? Can't be, Danny thought, otherwise they would've come for me at school instead of waiting patiently for me to return home.

Their expressions weren't too far off from the worst day of Danny's young life when they found out about his ghost half. But they didn't seem to have any weapons in hand and didn't approach him as he walked through the door...what was going on?

"Forget something?" Jack asked sternly.

Danny squinted his eyes trying to remember if he was supposed to pick something up from the store on his way home from school or if he forgot to take out the trash in the morning. He wasn't given much time to think when a second voice spoke from what he imagined to be the couch to his right.

"Hey Danny."

Danny looked over and saw Sam and Tucker sitting on the couch, his phone and backpack in their laps.

Where was his mind today? He got so caught up in his thoughts about this new Chimera ghost, that he totally forgot he had just abandoned his two best friends in the middle of their after school snack.

"Be more mindful of your belongings, Danny," his mother scolded him as she and Jack turned to go resume whatever they had been working on prior to Sam and Tucker's arrival.

"Mm," Danny acknowledged his mother before shuffling over to his friends seated on the couch. He mumbled a quick "thanks" as he hurriedly took his belongings from Sam and Tucker. Attempting to avoid an awkward confrontation between him and his friends, Danny immediately spun around to head up to his room on the second floor.

"Danny?" He froze mid-stride as his name was spoken from behind. "Are you okay?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, man, you just up and left. Everything okay?" Tucker chimed in.

"Uh, yeah." Danny was mulling a couple different excuses around in his head, trying to think of the most believable scenario. "All of a sudden the burger didn't agree with my stomach. You know, after being sick over the weekend and all. Which I owe you for my tab-"

"You weren't in the bathroom when I went to check on you, though," Tucker was prying Danny for an explanation that he wasn't willing to give.

"Uh, yeah, took a wrong turn and ended up in the back alley. The door wouldn't open from the outside, so I just sat out back for a bit."

"Are you feeling better now, at least? And don't worry about the bill, I covered for you," Sam nudged Tucker in the side, noticing that Danny was getting a little finicky and uncomfortable.

Danny just nodded as he ran his fingers through his raven black hair, grateful that Sam had halted Tucker's onslaught of questions for the time being.

...

He had hoped is friends would leave after returning his phone and backpack, but they followed him up to his room. Closing the door behind her, Sam asked, "Danny, can we talk?"

"Bout what?" Danny was anxious for them to leave. He needed to go see Clockwork, and he didn't know how much time he had before the Chimera ghost returned. He certainly didn't want to get caught by Sam and Tucker right after his narrow escape back at the Nasty Burger. Spending the least amount of time with them as possible was his best option at the moment.

"We know," she said.

"Know what?" Shit! They couldn't have pieced things together already, could they? Just from his slip up at Nasty Burger when his ghost sense manifested? No way...Unless the Reality Gauntlet couldn't completely erase all of their memories of him as Danny Phantom. Maybe him being half-ghost was too big a part of their memories for the Reality Gauntlet to totally erase or replace them.

"Phantom," Tucker said as he took a seat on the corner of Danny's bed. Sam leaned up against Danny's dresser between Tucker and the door.

Danny nearly tripped over his own feet as Tucker spoke the word.

"How come you never t-"

"I can explain!" Danny whirled around in a frenzy, the color draining from his cheeks.

"We didn't know you liked him so much."

"I-huh?"

"You never told us you were a Phan," Sam chuckled at her pun.

Danny just stared between his two friends on the opposite side of the room from him, both of which had gentle expressions on their faces. He had to take a minute to process what they were saying, before relaxing knowing his secret was still safe.

"I, uh...how'd you know?" He was still uncertain of what they were actually talking about, so he tried turning the conversation on them.

"Little miss nosey over here," Tucker jerked his head at a blushing Sam, "thought it was a good idea to go through your phone before bringing it back here."

"My phone?"

"We found a whole bunch of Phantom articles in your browser history," Sam emphasized that it was a group effort.

Danny was furious. He was mad at himself for being careless enough to leave his things behind, but he trusted that his friends would respect his privacy no matter what.

"You went through my phone?!" Danny's voice was steadily rising and getting louder. Sam and Tucker briefly looked at each other, and Danny had a feeling they hadn't comprehended that their actions were wrong.

"Dude, it's not that big a deal," Tucker defended.

"Not that big-Do I go through your personal shit?"

Danny only ever cursed when he was really furious. Sam and Tucker were beginning to realize that had struck a nerve, and that maybe going through his phone without his permission wasn't the best thing to do. Sam tried to apologize, but was promptly cut off when Danny abruptly raised his arm and pointed a stiff finger towards the door they had just come through.

"Go."

His two best friends were hesitant to move, not knowing whether they should ask for forgiveness for their immature behavior or if they should just zip it and go home. Tucker looked as if he was about to speak, but then Danny exclaimed,

"Now!"

They hurried out, stunned by the turn of events that had just occurred, but they understood that they had upset their friend.

Suddenly Danny's mood had gone to shit, but his decision to erase their memories of his ghost half was turning out to be a good one. The invasion of privacy definitely pissed Danny off, but he couldn't let that get in the way of what was really important at the moment: getting answers. Right now he needed to push unnecessary thoughts and emotions to the side and focus on the task at hand.

"Clockwork," Danny said to himself, a determined look on his face. White rings appeared at his waste and traveled over his fit, slender figure to reveal a sleek jumpsuit, glowing green eyes, and snow white hair. Phantom was on a mission, and off to the Ghost Zone he flew.