They stood in the lab in silence for a minute.

"So… do you still have it?" Sam asked, her tone quiet. It was far removed from her usual attitude, ringing with seriousness. Maddie nodded, pointing to a relatively small glowing vial that was the only thing on a tucked-away table. Sam walked over to it, picking up the glass and examining it. The liquid inside was a light purplish blue, but with little spots of green and red dotting it.

"It needed to have a sample of Danny's in it for it to work effectively-otherwise, it would just delay the… complete transformation." It took Maddie a moment to find the words. Sam nodded-it looked a bit like the cure for the ecto-acne, which reminded her of Vlad again.

"What will happen with Vlad after all this is over? I personally would love to just go kick his butt…" Sam said, gritting her teeth.

"I don't know. I think we should let Danny have his way with him." Tucker said, shrugging. "Unless we just start shooting him with ecto guns-which I'd still go for- usually these fights stay between them, unless we get dragged in, and I like it that way. After all, Vlad is one of Danny's strongest enemies, and it's more personal then with his other enemies."

"How does it usually go between the two of them?" Maddie asked. Jack looked faintly like he still couldn't believe Vlad had done everything. Sam and Tucker looked at each other, and Jazz's eyes drifted up to the ceiling, lost in a memory.

"Well, Vlad usually shows up, they exchange witty banter, most of the time involving one of you two, then they fight. Vlad usually almost wins until Danny does something to trip him up." Sam said, cocking her head. "Unless Danny's ticked about something, then they just beat on each other until somebody gives up." Maddie bit her lip and nodded.

"You said he was the Wisconsin ghost, right?"

"Yeah." Jazz chimed in. Sam shot her a look.

"Vlad Plasmius." Tucker said. "I never liked the name…"

"It's better than Phantom from Fenton." Jazz muttered.

"Hey, the name was Danny's idea!" Tucker argued.

"Well, it doesn't matter." Maddie interjected. "I think we should let Danny decide."

"Let… Danny decide what?" Everyone heard from the stairs, where the halfa was rubbing his eyes. Maddie quickly ran over.

"Honey, are you sure you should be u-"

"Mom, I'm fine. I heal fast." Danny protested, his voice starting to fall back to normal volume. He wiped his mouth, getting rid of the rest of the ectoplasm. She smiled.

"I guess there are some advantages to having ghost powers?" Danny smiled back and nodded.

"Definitely. How long was I out?"

"Only about ten minutes." Jack cut in, wanting to say something. Danny's eyes widened a tad.

"Really? Huh, I guess it wasn't as bad as it felt." He shrugged. "What were you guys talking about?"

"Vlad." His mother said. "I thought we should let you decide what to do with him." That stopped Danny in the middle of rubbing his eyes again.

"Huh, I haven't really considered that…" He mumbled. "I was more worried about myself…" Suddenly, his eyes flared green as he let a small smirk slide across his lips. "Hmm, I have an idea for Vlad… he's tricked me a few times in the past. I think it'd only be fair for me to try a little something on him, right?" Sam and Tucker grinned-they knew he had something good planned and leaned in to hear it.

"Jazz? Do I still have those clothes from the whole 'ghost catcher' incident?" She looked confused, and Danny grinned weakly as he tried to think of another term in which to put it. "'Fun Danny'?" As he bit his lip in embarrassment at the term, the light flipped on in his sister's head.

"Oh! Yes, I think you still have them, why?" He grinned for real again.

"Okay, then here's what we can all do…"


A few hours passed, with everyone doing small jobs. Maddie and Jack were making small adjustments to an older invention of theirs on Danny's request, and the teenagers were making a few final adjustments to their plans, still keeping the Fenton parents in the dark. Danny was the most worried, but he wouldn't tell anyone why. They thought it had something to do with the countdown, but there was something… more, that not even Jazz could put her finger on. By the time the sun had set, he was avoiding everyone's eyes.

"Okay Danny, I'll bite. What is it?" Sam asked, spinning her friend around to face her. Somewhere around five o clock, his eyes had been cemented a pale reddish-pink.

"Nothing." He muttered. "Just worried." She had long since noticed that the glow around his body hadn't faded, and it suddenly melted into a light green. She gasped quietly as she realized it showed his emotions.

"Danny, there's more. You can tell me-"

"No, I… I can't!" He said loudly, the green shooting to reddish for a moment before fading to blue. Sam decided to change her tactics.

"Please?" Danny sighed, then finally looked her in the eyes.

"You remember when we… went to the future, right?" Sam nodded, unsure why he was asking.

"Yeah… why?"

"And you know how most ghosts we meet tend to be evil?" Suddenly getting what he was so worried about, Sam laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Danny, you won't turn evil!" He narrowed his eyes and tried to turn away, but she kept her hand firm and refused to let him move.

"How do you know? My parents have always thought all ghosts are evil and-"

"And they've been chasing Danny Phantom for trying to help the town for months. Danny, since when do you let what your parents think influence you?"He gently moved her hand off his shoulder, holding it in his. Sam vaguely noticed that it was ice-cold as she gazed into his eyes.

"Sam, this is from my experience too. Other then Frostbite and Wulf, how many ghosts can you name that don't have some form of evil intent? All of them were people at one time too, other than the animals." As she opened her mouth, he quickly added, "Box Ghost doesn't count."

"Cujo, Dora once I talked to her… Danny, you of all people should know!" She paused to think of the right words, and remembered something her mom had once told her when an old friend had made fun of her when she was little and she had thought life was over. "The future is never set in stone, you can be whoever you want to be. Don't let what others have done weigh you down." Suddenly, Danny's eyes flew wide open. He started muttering something to himself. Sam caught the words 'second chance' and 'might not' before Danny suddenly grabbed her in a tight hug.

"Thanks, Sam!" Confused and blushing, she only hugged him back lightly. She noticed his aura (She supposed that was what to call it) had turned a bright yellow and assumed that meant he was happy, so she smiled. She had no idea why her words had cheered him up so much, but as long as it had worked, she didn't care.

"Uh, you're welcome?" She said hesitantly as Danny let go of her, rubbing the back of his neck. The aura had turned a light pink, which probably meant embarrassment. Just as they turned their gaze from each other, Tucker walked in to see the blushing Sam rubbing her arm and Danny rubbing the back of his neck and was surrounded by a faint pink glow.

"Did I just miss something?" His eyes glittered mischievously and his mouth turned up in a smirk.

"No!" They both yelled at him. His grin widened.

"Right… anyway, Danny, your parents say the adjustments are done. If you want to try it on…" He nodded.

"I'll come right down. Thanks, Tuck." He nodded to his friend, who flashed one last smirk at them before leaving. Danny finally stopped rubbing his neck long enough to grin nervously at Sam and wave a hand in the direction of the lab. "Shall we?" She nodded and took the lead. As they passed the clock, Danny gulped at the number.

6:52.

Down in the lab, Jack was proudly examining what looked like half of a handcuff. (Incidentally, it was because before their modifications, it had been part of a pair of handcuffs.) When he spotted Danny, he ran over.

"Danny-boy! We finished it!"

"I can see that!" Danny laughed, holding out his hand. Before sliding it on, he turned to his mother. "Mom… how much did you do?"

"I worked with a lot of the inner gears, honey. Your father designed the outside."

"He did a good job," Tucker commented, and Danny had to agree. Instead of just plain silver, the coloring was weave of black, green, and the usual Fenton orange with the large F being the thing hiding the clasp.

"Yeah. It looks really cool, Dad." Danny approved, sliding the bracelet on.

"Danny? It'll work better if you went ghost first." Danny shrugged.

"You two are the geniuses." He pulled it off and went ghost before sliding it on again, clicking the clasp and feeling a small jolt before it quickly faded. "Activate Fenton Ghost Protection Mode!" The boy called. A green scan passed through everything in the room before Jack's voice announced,

"No ectoplasmic intruders detected."

"Sweet! It works!" Danny called, pumping his bracelet-laden arm.

"Of course it works, we made it!" Jack proclaimed proudly, which earned a giggle from Danny, Tucker, and Sam.

"Danny, as glad as I am to help, what is this plan of yours? You wouldn't tell us before." Maddie said, her tone still excited, like… well, like an inventor whose invention just worked. Danny, a big smile still plastered on his face, turned to her.

"Okay. Here's how this all is going to fit together…"


After Danny's explanation of the plan, which was relatively simple, Tucker suggested they relax for the last few hours they had. Danny winced at his choice of wording, but agreed. After Danny checked that all of the materials were in a bag was, Danny said they were finished. They ended up arguing over what movie to see, (Danny flat out refused anything to do with ghosts) but everyone settled on a fantasy they'd gotten a while ago but had never had time to watch. Danny, Sam, and Tucker sat on the couch, while Maddie, Jack and Jazz took the chairs. Jack made popcorn and brought in fudge, and they all watched for as long as they could.

By ten forty five, everyone was out but Danny, Sam and Tucker, who insisted they needed to stay up with Danny. He tried to insist that he'd wake them up before he left, but they refused to sleep, assuring him that the late-night patrols helped them keep themselves up. He was glad for their company as the clock crept up past eleven ten… eleven fifteen… eleven twenty five. The movie was still going (it was an entire series recorded on disk) but Danny had long since muted it. Instead, the trio was making up dialogue-Danny with the black haired boy, Sam the fluffy haired girl, and Tucker the red-head. Finally, when eleven forty ticked by on the clock, Danny decided to wake up his family.

"Guys? Guys! Wake up!" Tucker turned the TV off as Danny lightly shook Jazz and his mother as Sam tried to wake up Jack. Jazz came to quickly, and Maddie woke up a second later.

"Wha..? We fell asleep?" Maddie muttered.

"Yeah. It's eleven forty." Tucker answered. "We've got twenty minutes."

"Huh?" Jack muttered, rubbing his head. "Where's the ghost?" Danny chuckled.

"No ghosts, dad."

"Oh, right." Jack said slowly. "What happened?"

"You ate almost the whole bucket of popcorn and half a pound of fudge and were the first one to pass out." Danny supplied. Jack grinned sheepishly.

"It tasted so good…" Everyone laughed at that as they all stood up. They had agreed to pass midnight in the lab-Danny had insisted on it. As they passed the clock in the kitchen, Danny read out loud,

"11:46." A chill settled across the six that had nothing to do with Danny's malfunctioning ice powers. As he flicked on the light to the lab, Tucker noticed something.

"Hey, that glow from before is gone dude." He noted out loud to Danny.

"I was glowing?" He raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Yeah, didn't you… you didn't see it?" Sam asked. Danny shook his head. "It looked kind of like a toned down version of when your emotions were tied to the weather-you glowed when you were angry or sad." Danny looked confused.

"I did?" Tucker rubbed his chin.

"Huh, maybe only we could see it… ah well." He shrugged. "It doesn't matter now." Danny nodded, walking down the stairs. The other five followed him, all feeling as nervous as he was. When they were standing in the middle of the room, Maddie walked forward.

"Danny… you'll be back, won't you?" He nodded, leaning forward for a hug. She quickly took it, squeezing him tight. When she let go of her son, there were tears dancing in her eyes, threatening to spill out.

"Guys, Danny Phantom belongs in this town as much as any of you do. He'll be here as much as I possibly can… working alongside the Fentons, if he can." He smiled weakly at them. Jazz walked forward next, and for once said nothing. She just held her arms open, and Danny hugged her too.

"Good luck, little brother." She walked back to be with their parents. Jack just gave him a thumbs up. Sam and Tucker came together last, and just rushed up, grabbing him in a bone-crushing embrace. He hugged them back, feeling the warmth of their bodies.

"I'll never forget either of you." He whispered.

"We won't let you." Tucker said, grinning. Danny wiped a tear out of his eye before smiling weakly, fighting back the urge to cry more.

"I'm going ghost!" He yelled for what he knew to be the last time, creating the rings. This time, they were both a light green, and he shivered as they passed. His costume was still altered- the DP symbol was bright red and his boots and gloves had red swirls. There were also streaks of blue of his pants and dashes of white on his shirt.

"Hey, can someone take a picture? This looks sweet." Danny said. Tucker quickly snapped a photo with his PDA as Danny struck a shy pose, waving. Sam looked over at it-in the picture, his personality bled through as Fenton, no matter what he looked like.

"Perfect." She whispered. Tucker's PDA suddenly beeped.

"I set it for an alarm at one minute to midnight." He explained. Silence fell over everyone as they all looked to Danny.

"Now we wait." He supposed out loud, quickly closing his mouth after speaking. The minute passed like an hour, and they all looked at their watches. The last seconds ticked by like on a bomb, until it struck midnight. Danny suddenly groaned, clutching his chest.

"Danny!" Everyone chorused, their eyes widening in shock. His white aura had intensified, clearly causing the teenager pain. He fell to his knees, pulling his other hand to his head.

"Gah!" He yelled Sam almost ran forward, but Tucker held out a hand to stop her. Danny levitated about an inch above the lab floor before he let out one loud scream and fell silent. They expected him to be panting, but he was just staring ahead vacantly. It looked like a trick of the light, but his hair looked more blue then white. His outfit had returned to what it had always been, with no colors other then the black jumpsuit and white gloves, boots, belt and symbol.

"Danny?" Jazz took a step forward, as her brother let both of his arms drop and his legs melt into his tail.

"It's… it's over. It's over." He whispered. "I can't believe it's over." Jazz reached out a hand.

"Danny?" She repeated, concern seeping into her sisterly tone. He turned to her, and she resisted the urge to jolt back. His eyes had blood red irises.

"I'm… I'm okay. Well, as okay as I can be." He said quietly to her, and she sighed loudly in relief. Everyone let out the breath they didn't know they'd been holding. He smirked weakly, examining his hands, before turning around and flying over to the bag. He quickly prepared himself, taking special care with his hair, hands and shoes. He tossed the bag onto an empty table, then turned to the staircase.

"Well… I guess… I guess I'll be off."

"Danny…" Jazz called after him. He turned back to look at her. Her teal eyes were pleading. "Please be careful." He smiled at her reassuringly.

"I'll be fine. I promise." He turned back to the other four in the lab, before repeating himself. "I promise… I'll be back." Then, without another word, he turned and walked up the stairs.


A/N This is the longest chapter so far. Woah. It's not especially dramatic, but I think it's a good cliffhanger. I originally planned something more extravagant for the transformstion, then I realized a chemical shouldn't do that, so you get this, woo hoo. Next chapter-The confrontation with Vlad! To clear a few head canons up-No, I assume Danny couldn't see himself glowing in Torrent Of Terror. I think his reaction would be more then just 'I have felt kinda tingly...' it would be 'Holy crap I'm glowing bright red!' Next, since the whole fight with Dan at the Nasty Burger technically didn't happen, Sam wouldn't know why those words would have such an effect on Danny. We all clear? Okay. The next part is where the real fun starts!

PS If anyone can guess Danny's plan, they get a cookie.

Rate and review please!