Okay, so I'm finally posting again for all you wonderful readers who waited an extra week! This is sure to be exciting, but hopefully not too predictable? Anyway, I say more at the bottom so please enjoy.=^-^=

Ch. 8 - Secret


After the mob, wolves and Zak running off, it was safe to say, seeing his son return with both Drew and Maddie was more than a relief. Something good had finally happened after one bad turn after another. The group, including Cheechoo and his researchers, were now back at the airship trading interesting information. "You should have seen them, they were awesome!" Zak insisted with enthusiasm. Fiskerton gave a nod before shivering at the memory. (And scary.) Zak nodded in agreement. "Yeah, that too, but they ran with their tails between their legs when-"

"That portal appeared out of nowhere." Danny interrupted. "Just like the giant sea serpent before." He gave the Zak a side glance which Zak eventually answered with a hesitant nod.

"Yeah, they must not like them." Zak, though unsure of why, got the message and nudged Fisk to agree.

"Werewolves? Really?" Doc asked his son in obvious disbelief. "Are you sure they weren't Amaroks? Or something, I don't know, real?"

Zak turned to Fiskerton who gave him a supportive growl. "No, dad, they weren't any Cryptid I've ever seen. What else to you call a creature that looks like a wolf but walks on two legs, and they were wearing clothes."

"And can speak Esperanto." Danny added in as he kept his attention on his phone.

"Yeah and can speak…." He paused before turning to Danny. "Wait what?"

Danny promptly put away his phone and explained. "You didn't hear them? They called us 'eksteruloj' which means 'outsiders' in Esperanto."

Zak crossed his arms. "Wait... you know Esperanto?"

Danny responded with a distracted nod. "Comes in handy."

Drew's eyes widened. "So they speak Esperanto too?" She paused for a moment of thought. " Just like those ghost wolves. This could help to explain why Esperanto is used in this area. If a new Cryptid migrated here, then they could have influenced the spoken language."

"But a Cryptid werewolf? That sounds more like a cheesy monster movie." Doc reasoned out with his classic skepticism.

Doyle rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I'll be sure to let the ghost wolves and the giant sea serpent parked out back know their existence is cheesy." He got an easy laugh out of Zak and Fisk while Danny wore an appreciative grin.

"I still haven't completely bought into the whole ghost thing either!" He shot back before crossing his arms. "And besides, the big problem here is what to do about the other Secret Scientists. We still don't have any idea what happened to them. That piled on why we came here in the first place equals first priority." Drew couldn't help but be slightly amused by the man. Maddie, however, seemed more distracted by her son. It's not as if he'd never experienced danger before, but he seemed so… adjusted to it. Had Amity Park really become so wild? The more she thought about it, the more it bothered her. Did she really know her son like she thought she did?

"If I could interject as well? There is still the matter of my city's serpent refusing to leave." The young king added in. He was all for adventure but this could pose a very real problem if left unchecked.

Drew let out a sigh as she nodded. "Yes and with Zak's powers as they are now, I don't know what we can do about it." The preteen in question slumped in his seat. Another reminder of how his powers messed him up was doing nothing to up his mood. Danny eyed him with a brow raised before turning back to his phone. The signal on it, which was supposed to be boosted by the airship's communications dish, had been cutting out for the past few minutes making it hard to keep in touch with Sam and Tuck in Amity Park. The lights dimmed slightly which caught the attention of all in the room.

"What's up?" Zak asked as he turned to his dad.

"I don't know. We should still have plenty of power even with the storm and cloud cover of the past day." Doc turned to leave the room. "I'm going to go check on the power reserves. Maybe the storm damaged something."

"Need a hand?" Dr. Cheechoo offered as he followed Doc out to the hall.

"There is a possibility that all this ghost activity is finally starting to effect more than just communications." Maddie pointed out as she headed over to one of the lab monitors. "Do you have a reference map of your power grid in here?" She asked Drew who stood to assist her.

As the conversations seemed to split off, Zak took his chance to try and get something out of Danny. Unfortunately, Danny had already started off down another hall. "Where's he going?"

"Said he was going to grab something out of one of his bags." Doyle informed as he sat down with a bag of chips. Fiskerton eagerly gestured for one as soon as he laid eyes on the bag. "He'll be right back, mini-man."

The boy slumped back and let out a breath. "Of course…" He then took up watching his mom work since he really didn't have anything better to do.

Maddie pointed towards a section of wiring near the top of the ship. "I bet if it is spectral interference, its starting here. The high traffic electrical currents would make it more susceptible then most of these other areas lower in the ship." She suggested as she expressed her opinion by showing Drew on the map.

"Is there a way to track where the energy goes from on circuit to the next?" Drew asked as she followed the map with her eyes. "That section is right under the solar cells. If we lose power from there, we should know what will be effected first."

Maddie gave a nod. "Of course. I can also pull a few of the interference diffusers from the Speeder. I always keep extras just in case. Even if it's not spectral interference now, we can go ahead and prevent it from happening."

Drew agreed with a nod. "That's probably a good idea. I'm sure Doc would agree that it's better to be safe than sorry even if it's about ghosts." She explained with a tease in her voice.

Maddie seemed to stifle a small laugh as she headed out of the lab and towards the room she and Danny were staying in. "I can't believe all that's happened today." She stated aloud to herself. The events played through her mind. They fought with the Secret Scientists, met an undersea civilization, got kidnapped by a monstrous ghost, rescued by a ghost cat, and found themselves back home just in time to ward off werewolf cryptids who were attacking the kids. She gave a slightly exhausted laugh just listing it off in her head. She was just about to open the door to the room when she heard talking from inside. It only took her a moment to realize it was Danny which made her almost open the door before stopping just short of the button. Eavesdropping was wrong…. She knew that, but….. She pressed her ear to the door to listen when her curiosity got the better of her.

"and now I don't know what to do. Zak and Fiskerton flat out saw me use my powers, and even though I was able to cover up the werewolf fighting thing, I really don't know what to say to them." What is he talking about? Powers? He used them on the werewolf cryptids? "Tell them? Are you kidding? No way. The last thing I need is for Secret Scientists to be after me too. No, that list is long enough thank you." Maddie's brow furrowed further. What in the world is he talking about? Why would the Secret Scientists come after him….. is it about this power he mentioned? "Yeah, Jazz, last night was a super leap forward for how mom views Phantom. That isn't something I want to risk. Obviously, their secret got out somehow and I don't need that happening to me."

It was at that, Maddie's eyes widened. A secret…..? She could hear the ghost cat's words echo in her mind. "Children especially love to keep secrets…." Danny was keeping something a secret, that was quite clear… but what? She took a breath and stood up straight. Though she felt that meddling in her son's business was not the best way to help build their relationship back up, she did know one thing; if it's dangerous enough to get him chased after, then she needed to do something about it. She promptly opened the door with a casual air.

Danny noticed immediately and proceeded to greet her. "Oh… Hey, mom, I was just talking to Jazz... you want to say hi?"

She took the phone happily from the slightly nervous teen. "Hey, Jazz, how are things back home?"

"Everything's pretty good here. A lot of the power is back on though Dad isn't home yet."

Maddie raised a brow. "Oh well, be sure to let him know we're okay over here too when he get's home."

"No problem, mom."

Maddie then took notice of Danny stepping back towards the door and grabbed his shoulder to stop him. "I'm sorry, Jazz, but I…." She trailed off when she realized the line had disconnected. "Hmm?" She inspected the phone and saw there were no signal bars. "Must be more interference." She then turned her gaze back to Danny who seemed more interested in getting out of the room than getting his phone back. "Just hold on, Danny."

He turned around rather nervously. "What's up, mom?" He asked as confidently as he could.

Her expression became serious as she crossed her arms. "We need to talk, Danny, and you know what I mean."

Danny's panic started to become more obvious as he stuttered to respond. "W-what do you mean?"

Maddie shook her head with a sigh, knowing this was how he'd respond. "Look, Danny, I know you've been hiding something from me, and teenagers will do that. It's a natural part of growing up and becoming independent, but you should also know when to rely on others." She kneeled down on one knee and looked up at him. "I'm your mother, Danny. If you have a problem, I want to help, but I can't if you don't tell me."

Danny could feel himself in a corner now. How could she know? How long had she known? How much did she actually know? He rubbed his neck nervously which Maddie scrutinized a moment. That was a common gesture he did when he was nervous, but….. something else was nagging her in the back of mind about it. As she waited for Danny to say something back she felt him shiver and saw his breath form condensation. She immediately stood up. "Danny?" He was now on alert for some reason. "What was that, Danny? Are you cold?" She asked as she held her hand on his forehead. "You went out in that storm yesterday. Are you feeling alright?" Her worry was only growing with his new behavior….. wait, not new….. He did this on the Speeder before that ghost jumped from under his seat….. and back before that pack of ghost wolves attacked….. The trend wasn't hard to see when she put them together. She reached one hand into her pocket and pulled out her hand held ghost scanner.

Danny grew visibly more nervous at the action as he tried to pull away. "Uh, mom….."

"What's wrong, Danny?" She asked in a more pleading tone as she held tight to his shoulder.

He tried to pull her hand away but Maddie wouldn't let go. "Mom please just-" He looked from her hand back to her face to see her eyes frozen on the screen of her scanner. Dread swept over him like an all-consuming wave and he let go of her hand. "Mom I…." He trailed off and turned his head away.

Maddie still couldn't believe what she was seeing. The scanner had always gone off when Danny was around, but lots of their inventions misfired too. They had to adjust the settings to keep them from accidentally going off on him after a few too many mishaps. The thing that had her so confused and awestruck was that the ecto-signature being shown was the same one she got from Phantom the night before. "Danny…" He raised his hand back to his neck and that's when she finally put them together. That gesture which Danny had been doing for years….. Phantom did it last night. He looked just like Danny when he got nervous…. Just like him….. And suddenly everything made sense. Why their inventions went off on Danny, why Jazz was so pro-Phantom, why Phantom was able to evade their sensors all the time.

She was so wrapped up in her thoughts, she hadn't even realized she'd let go of his shoulder. "Mom…?"

She looked over to him with a confused and worried expression. "Please, Danny…. Please tell me you're not…"

That was all he needed to hear to understand that she'd figured it out. He knew better than to try and deny it at this point. His mom was a genius, and how he'd kept it secret for so long is a miracle in itself. Here it was, the moment of truth. "I'm sorry, mom…" He started and then let out a breath. He then paused a moment before looking her straight in the eye, fully confident in his decision. "But I am." He finished as the white ring flashed around his waist. It separated and enveloped him leaving Phantom in its wake. Maddie was more than speechless from the presentation. It was as if the information just couldn't be processed in her brain at the moment. She found herself taking a step forward, but she wasn't sure why. All Danny could see was an almost blank confusion as he instinctively backed up from her approach. It was slightly unnerving and he couldn't really tell what it meant. "Wait!" He pleaded with a hand to block her path. "Please, I know it was wrong to keep this from you, but I'm still me, mom. I'm still Danny…. I'm not-" He was cut off when his mom pulled him into a hug.

"It's alright, Danny." She comforted. She held him tight and pushed his head onto her shoulder.

"Mom?" He really didn't know what to do now. She accepted him?... right? He remained quiet for a moment before he heard a sob. He lifted his head away to see his mom crying over him.

"Oh, Danny….. I'm such a horrible mother! I didn't see what was happening to you all this time. I-I hunted you…" It only made sense for him to hide this from her. She and Jack went after ghosts with every intention of destroying them or dissecting them. He must've been terrified! No child should ever be afraid of their own parents….

"It's alright, mom.."

"No its not." She corrected as she held tight to his shoulders and held him slightly away. "It's not alright, Danny. You shouldn't have to be afraid of your own parents….. scared in your own house." She felt so much shame in her words. She had no right to even think about an apology.

"But I'm not." Danny informed as his face formed a small smile. "I'm not going to lie and say I was never scared or thought about that, but at the end of the day you guys are my parents. I knew you would never knowingly experiment on me or anything…. Despite my own paranoia at times…" He added in sheepishly as he thought back to his apprehension of moments ago. He then pulled away from her grip and hugged her. "I love you, mom."

Maddie couldn't stop herself from hugging him back despite her guilt. "You don't know what that means to me." She then let him go and stood. "But that still doesn't make it right…" She stated in a regretful tone. "Even if we didn't know, we should have. I should have noticed."

"And I shouldn't have kept it from you…" Danny countered. "It kinda goes back to earlier when I argued with Zak. It was stupid of me to fight with him, but I….. I guess I was pretty jealous of him. He had powers and his parents supported him in everything." He brushed his fingers through his hair. "And then I yelled at you….. That was so stupid." He stated in self-reprimand.

She pat his shoulder. "I knew you weren't mad at me, Danny. You were both a bit hot headed."

"So uh…." Danny started with hesitance. "I'm not in trouble….?"

Maddie was surprised at her son once again for that particular question. She just couldn't help but crack a smile. "No, Danny, you're not in trouble. I can't blame you for keeping this a secret considering how your father and I expressed our views of ghosts."

Danny let out a breath of relief. "Oh man….. One less thing to worry about."

Maddie took him in a hug again. "I am proud of you, and I'm sure your father will be too when we tell him."

Danny froze at that. "Uh….."

"We are going to tell him." Maddie reaffirmed. "He's your father and I think he deserves to know." She wore a stern expression and Danny's pleading would never sway her now.

"Alr-" He was cut off by his ghost sense again.

Maddie felt him shiver and inquired what it was. "That again?"

Danny pushed away a bit and she let him go. "Yeah, there must be a ghost still nearby…." He trailed off when he saw the confused look on his mother's face. "Uh…. That was my ghost sense, mom. It happens whenever a ghost I'm not aware of is nearby."

She seemed genuinely fascinated as her own scanning device went off in her hand. "Well, isn't that an interesting ability."

Danny shrugged as he floated up and looked around. "It definitely comes in handy…. This way."

"Hold on a sec, Danny." His mother requested as she pulled a Fenton Bazooka from a long case.


Several of the Saturdays, who had remained in the lab, now stared off into the snow outside which was not devoid of movement. Komodo, who had seen the return of the ghost wolves first, dragged them into the hanger to show them. "Looks like they want a second try at tearing us to shreds." Doyle noted with unhindered curiosity.

"Then why don't they attack already? I mean, they've just been standing there for like… 5 minutes." Zak countered in slight frustration. (I don't want them to attack!) Fiskerton pleaded as he remained glued to the window. "Well neither do I. I was just pointing it out."

"Doc and Paul should be here in a minute." Drew informed as she rejoined them in the hanger. "We should be ready for a fight."

Doyle turned to her. "Okay, so where's the Ghost Hunter?"

Drew crossed her arms. "She went to get some special parts to block out ghost interference, but it has been a bit longer than you'd think it take to get them. I wouldn't worry though, chances are she already knows they're here."


"Come on, Danny! Leave some for me!" Maddie pleaded as her son sucked another of the ghost wolves into his Fenton Thermos.

He smirked as he placed the cap back on top. "Sorry, mom, but getting them together as fast as possible is for the best. These guys can spirit you away remember?"

Maddie gave an understanding nod as she caught up with him. "I know." She then wrapped her arm around his shoulder. "And I'm nothing but proud at how good you are at this." She then smirked back at him. "But you could still leave me one or two. I haven't gotten even one while you have more than ten in that thermos." She pointed out in a tease.

He phased through her hold as another breath of condensation appeared. "Maybe if you picked up the pace….."

Maddie's expression went serious at that. "Oh!? Is that a challenge?" She then took a head start by dashing past her son. "Then game on, Danny!"


Back outside Zak and the others had left to confront the ghosts which surrounded them. Drew led the way while keeping her sword sheathed to seem nonthreatening. "Please, why have you come after us?" She asked in reason while several of the wolves growled on approach.

The leader let out a bark to hush his pack before glaring at the women. "You humans! You have caused much trouble here! You must leave!"

Drew gave a nod and held up her hands in a nonthreatening manner. "We apologize for causing trouble and we would be happy to leave, but we cannot without the humans you took before."

The leader growled at her. "No! They were warned! They must suffer punishment, as will the half breed once my pack has claimed him!"

Drew raised a questioning brow at that. While most of it was easy to understand, one word in particular was foreign to her despite her fluency in Esperanto. "Half breed?"

Several of the other ghosts barked and growled at the mention. "Yes and he has made the greatest of transgressions! He has caused harm to members of the Lyca! This cannot go unpunished!" He then howled which fired up the other wolves as they joined in. Everyone started to cover their ears from the sheer volume.

"Hey mom! What happened!?" Zak yelled over them.

Drew shook her head. "I'm not sure, but someone made them very mad. I'm not sure who they want though since the word is strange to me." Fiskerton backed up from the group as he held his ears but ran smack into Doc as he and Dr. Cheechoo came out.

"What's going on!?" Doc yelled in question.

Paul seemed shaky as he looked around. "This is what they did in the village!"

"Yeah, but why here!?" Doyle asked as he turned to his sister. "Couldn't we give them some dog biscuits or something?"

"Somehow I doubt that would appease them!" Drew yelled back over the loud howl.

"Then who else thinks we should kennel 'em?" Doyle suggested as the other Saturday's took attack stances.

Doc tightened his battle glove. "Now that's a good idea."

Drew stood at the forefront with her sword out in defense. "Be careful though, if they surround you they can spirit you away like the others!"

The wolf leader narrowed his gaze at the humans. "So you choose to fight? Then you shall be punished as well!" He let out a growl causing a couple of his pack to charge in and attack. After several failed attempts to counter them, the Saturdays found themselves surrounded.

"This isn't working out like I'd planned it." Doyle relented.

"Yeah, but everything we try just passes right through them."

"Remember what Maddie said? Ghosts can change their molecular density at will." Doc noted in frustration.

"Is that belief I hear?" Drew teased from beside him.

"If seeing is believing." He grumbled back.

One of the wolves then jumped at them for another attack, but was thwarted by a green beam of energy. The Saturdays watched as the ghost was forcibly sucked into a mini ghost portal along with one of the ghosts beside it. "Finally!" Maddie shouted from the top of the air ship. "That's two for me!"

The leader was outraged as he looked up to the women. "What have you done to my brothers!?"

"Well those two got a one way ticket to the Ghost Zone, but the other ones? Let's just say they went out to lunch." Danny quipped as he phased up through the snowy ground. "Don't worry though, you're invited too!" He then blasted at the wolf with his ghost ray. The wolf jumped back to dodge and held his ground with the others who had regrouped around him.

"Whoa… Is that who I think it is!?" Zak asked in bewilderment.

Doyle nodded his head. "It's either him or I'm seeing things again." Both of them looked confused and excited at the prospect.

"Just who is that?" Doc inquired with an unamused brow.

Zak's jaw dropped at the question. "Uh that's Danny Phantom! Coolest super hero ever!" Fisk gave an excited nod as he emphasized Zak's words.

"I guess he's not some tourist trap scam." Doyle added in with his arms crossed.

Drew listened to the conversation intently as he watched the young ghost float between them and the wolves. "Okay, but what is he doing here?"

No one had much of an answer for her considering ghosts were still new, but Zak wasn't about to question it. "Who cares!? He's gonna kick ghost wolf butt!" (Yeah!) Fiskerton added in cheer with his fist raised.

"So you have come out on your own? Where are my brothers!? They went in after you!"

Danny raised a whimsical brow. "Yeah them….. like I said, they went out to lunch." He then pulled the thermos from the strap on his back. "Want 'em back?" The leader simply growled at his stupid question. "Good, then how about a trade? You bring back those humans you took, and I let your buddies go…. And leave us alone."

None of the wolves seemed to enjoy the deal as they growled their discontent. "You cannot reason with us, half breed! You have caused trouble and must be punished!"

Danny furrowed his brow. "I haven't done anything to you! I stood down before and was only protecting the others back in the village."

The leader narrowed his eyes. "And attacked the Lyca! You trespassed on their land and attacked them! They were even so kind as to call us back from attacking the humans!"

Danny seemed confused for a moment before thinking back. "You mean the werewolf things? They attacked us first! If I hadn't attacked them, they would have turned that kid into chopped steak!"

He heard the wolf grunt as he stepped forward. "No excuses, half breed! You shall be punished!" All the wolves attacked as if on cue and dog piled Danny on the spot.

Maddie went into over drive as she fired one shot after another sending many of the ghosts back to the zone. By the time the ghosts had cleared, however, Danny was nowhere to be seen much to Maddie's surprise. "Danny?" She questioned aloud though only she could hear. She then noticed the sea serpent from the water was rising back up in all the commotion. It let out a roar at the ghosts as it shot its head down in attack.

"Not that again!" Doyle groaned as the sea serpent thrashed out at the ghosts. While it was currently help them out, this thing could easily become a double edged sword.

"Zak, your powers!" Drew called out, but Zak was already on the case.

"No worries, mom, I got this!" He raised up the claw and it quickly glowed orange along with his eyes. "Come on, big guy, let's calm down." He asked in a strained voice as the serpent's eyes glowed to match. "There we… what!?"

"What's wrong, Zak?" Drew asked as she kneeled down beside him.

"I…. I don't know…. It told me to bud out." He responded in amazement.

"It told you to what?" Doc questioned in disbelief.

Zak nodded. "I'm not kidding, dad, that's exactly what it said to me."

Doyle was watching the beast as it darted left and right at the wolves while Maddie shot a few more. "Is it me, or does that thing look like it's enjoying itself." He questioned as he saw the smirk curl up on the serpent's lips. Just as the beast dropped down to strike again, a small green vortex appeared before its snout. It reared back in confusion before silently holding its gaze on the forming portal. Maddie instantly noticed the anomaly and slid down from the airship on a rope with her bazooka ready to fire.

"Another one!?" Doc yelled in annoyance. He stood in front of his family alongside Doyle as they waited for the ghost that would come out. Needless to say it was surprise all around when the missing Secret Scientists stepped out from the swirling green vortex.


And once again... I leave you hanging. Regardless though, it does make reading more fun. Anyway, so thanks for your understanding about the week skipping thing, but hopefully the wait was indeed worth it.

First thing I want to go over would be the reveal that most of you saw coming. I found it to be the best idea plot wise if Maddie was the first to figure it out. That doesn't mean Zak isn't already super suspicious about him... duh? Maddie's reaction was a bit hard for me since there are so many other interpretation, but I decided to keep it more cannon. She's never really thought twice about accepting him in the 2 times it happened in the show so I followed suit. There will be more on this in the next chapter so if that's what you want, look forward to it.

Then there's the Zak and Fisk problem. Since he'd only just made up with Danny, he didn't really want to start something again. Also, he of all people should be able to tell when someone's trying to keep a secret no?

Thx again for reading my story this far and I hope you'll leave a comment! Questions are also welcome! Until next week, I bid you adue.=^-^=