Dash was not getting any warmer. None of them were. They needed to get inside, and fast. Sam and Tucker recognized where they were. They saw past the snow and ice.
. * . * .
"Jazz, move aside. That can't be our son!" Maddie said coldly, waving Jazz over.
Jazz shot back an "Of course it is!"
"It's an imposter! That Phantom is masquerading as our son! I'll tear him apart!"
Wes stepped forward. "It's true! Your son is half-ghost."
"Impossible. You can't be ghost and human!" Maddie retorted.
"I've seen it!" Jazz cried out. "I've seen Danny turn into Phantom and Phantom into Danny."
"They're one and the same!" Wes agreed.
"Stop! He must have you both under his thrall! But I will not be swayed! Stand aside."
"No!" shouted Wes.
"I'm warning you!"
"Maddie!" chimed in Jack. Maddie's head jerked toward him, alarmed. "I believe them." His voice was small but strong.
"What?" Maddie gaped.
"I saw the fear in Danny's eyes when he woke up. It's the same Danny we've lived with for 14 years. The same Danny we've raised. The same Danny we love!"
And Jack stood between Maddie and Danny. And Maddie raised her sword. And Jack dropped his gun onto the Lab floor. She hesitated.
And then a crash. The sound of someone falling down the stairs to the Lab from above.
Tucker and Sam heaved Dash off the ground a moment later. They looked into the greenlit room and it stared back at them. Tension was palpable.
"What's going on?" Tucker asked.
"Phantom is masquerading as Danny and they're being controlled by him!" Maddie spat, pointing her sword at those in front of Danny. Behind Maddie, near the Portal, looking either confused, scared, or both, was a handful of Amity Park's citizens.
"Mom, seriously! I'm me! I can explain-"
"Silence, ghost! Give me my son!"
"Mrs. Fenton!" Sam interrupted. "Danny's not- Phantom hasn't taken your son!"
"And he's not controlling anybody!" put in Tucker, too sure of himself that it gave Maddie pause.
"What do you know? You don't study ghosts for a living!"
Sam and Tucker couldn't help look at one another, then at Danny, who watched them, helpless.
"Mom! I'm Danny Fenton! My favorite colors are red and white. I wear a tank top to the pool because I sunburn easily. I wanna be an astronaut. I had a crush on Paulina forever. If I'm not Danny, how would I know all that?"
"Danny! Not that this isn't important, but you need to go help Valerie and Vlad fight Vortex!" Sam said. Danny whipped around.
"Valerie and Vlad? Together?"
"She knows. So do Dash and Paulina," Tucker said, gesturing to Dash, shivering and held up by Sam and Tucker still, then over his shoulder at Paulina who stood on the stairs.
"I'm sorry, Mom, Dad," Danny said, and he transformed. "Jazz, Wes, thanks." And he flew through the ceiling.
. * . * .
Vlad had tried to use duplicates to circumvent the crows.
But as soon as they appeared, Vortex conjured more elementals.
Valerie growled, zooming to and fro, trying to lose them and get a clear shot at Vortex.
Wind buffeted Vlad. Cold, drenched, unbalanced, tired, surrounded- this was not his finest hour.
"Need a hand," said a voice- Danny's voice- and Vlad looked around, seeing no one. Invisibly, Danny said, "I'll face him, he doesn't know I'm here."
"Wait, take this." Vlad held out the Crystal Ball Staff. The Ring of Rage glinted ominously.
Danny scooped it up and zoomed off, unseen.
In the end, it took only one look at the Staff for Vortex to fall under its subjugation. The moment Danny appeared before him, Staff raised, Vortex succumbed. With the power of the Ring backing the Staff's crystal, he stood no chance.
Under Danny's behest, Vortex banished the crows and parted the clouds. Ice melted, snow evaporated, and hail stopped falling.
Vlad and Valerie flanked Danny as he guided Vortex to FentonWorks. Amity's refugees and Danny's family gaped at the procession.
Vortex went through the Portal.
"Daniel Fenton, you will explain yourself this instant!" Maddie demanded.
Danny threw his hands up defensively. "I had to help Val and Vlad!"
"Not that! You went into the Portal and it killed you! Why would you be so reckless?"
At that, Danny couldn't help it. He broke down. Here he'd been so worried his parents would kill him if they found out he was Phantom. But really they just wanted to kill him for being stupid enough to be in the situation where he turned into Phantom! And this realization, this plot twist, was too much. It was all he could do to not completely break into pieces. Maddie came forward, followed closely by Jack and Jazz, and they hugged him. Danny dropped the Staff, no longer needing it.
And Amity clapped. (Way to intervene on personal, family business, guys).
Sam and Tucker hugged him when the Fentons let him up for air. And Wes smiled, and surprisingly Kwan slapped him on the back (hard, but strangely comforting).
At some point, Plasmius had disappeared and Masters reappeared, and Valerie had shucked the Huntress suit. And the heat rose, the cold left, and Amity began to heal.
That night, as Sam looked to the sky, unable to see, she spotted the moon, as red as blood. And something gripped her heart: Somewhere between awe and foreboding.
Wes flew above Amity, one eye blaring red, hand in hand with Kwan-Johnny, a shadow floating on the air just below them.
And Vlad towered above the city, cape billowing, teeth bared in a gruesome smile, the Crown of Fire firmly on his head, the Ring of Rage proudly gleaming on his finger. The Crystal Ball Staff twirled easily in his hand.
And Danny slept, dreaming of red and white and black and fire. But no gold. For he never gave the Fairy Circle another thought.