Ch. 19 – The Love of a Father

Danny transformed into ghost mode and stepped away from his father gingerly, not sure of his own condition. Jack made to stop him, but Danny held out his hand to quiet him. The Phantom Mist looked down at the small, weak, wounded child, and laughed again.

"You are weak, sssick, and cut all over. How on Earth do you plan to defeat me?" it said, laughing and laughing some more.

"In case you didn't realize," Danny said quietly, looking the Mist right in the shadowy eyes it had, its eyes full of hatred and anger, "We're not on Earth. We're in the Ghost Zone."

Obviously, the Phantom Mist had not been expecting this comeback, as its eyes widened in surprised then narrowed again in anger. He saw power seeming to radiate from the boy, which unnerved him. "Fine. Die along with your pitiful friendsss. Attack!" he yelled, and Tomatomachu leapt up at once.

Danny did not have time to prepare himself for the attack. He lifted up his arm to his head, bracing himself for possible death.

At this moment, as if time had slowed down, Jack looked upon his son. He saw the courage of his child, how he bravely looked death and definite destruction in the face. Something stirred within Jack as he stared, a deep feeling of despair and sadness. He saw that his son was in fact a ghost, but a good ghost, ready to help and save the world if need be. At this moment, Jack realized that he was not going to lose his only son. So…he jumped…

Danny kept his hand raised as he waited for the teeth to come upon him, enveloping him instantly into death. But they never came. Started, he looked up to find his dad holding the teeth of Tomatomachu open in some sort of twisted imitation of a lion and the man who holds his head inside its mouth. But this was no lion; this was Tomatomachu, mighty Tomatomachu!

"Dad!" Danny shouted in alarm, "What are you doing?"

"Saving my boy's life, of course! Except…wow…this thing is strong." He said, his voice faltering from the strain. But, he held on. "Listen Danny, if we die (and we most likely will!), I just want you to know that your mother, I, and even Jazz love you dearly. Not even your…erm…difference from normal can change that fact. I—" He faltered, for he couldn't say anymore, as his lungs needed all the air they could get. Tomatomachu, while shocked at first at the weird sensation of his teeth being held apart, was quickly getting over it and snapping violently.

Danny didn't need to hear anymore from his dad. The ghost-boy's eyes were glistening with tears, and he jumped forward and let loose a ball of energy, not green, but red, the power of his happiness and love. The red enveloped everything and everyone… The Phantom Mist could be heard shrieking in pain, and Tomatomachu, his three eyes widened in astonishment, burst into a cloud of fur. Danny grabbed his dad's hand as the base started to crumble and collapse. Jack murmured softly, "That's my boy," before becoming unconscious. Demetris grabbed the shocked Tucker and Sam, and all of them phased away just as the base exploded.

Danny, panting, landed right at the exit of the ghost zone, back to Earth. Sam and Tucker looked at him in amazement.

"Woah, what was that?" Tucker exclaimed, "That was the coolest thing I've ever seen!"

Sam rolled her eyes, but in a way that showed she was thinking the exact same thing.

Demetris looked at her and kissed her hand again. She blushed slightly once more as he spoke, "It was nice working with you, fair maiden. Perhaps we shall meet again someday. Until then, farewell Samantha, Tucker, and Halfa." They waved goodbye and stepped into the portal, where they returned to Earth with a spiral of green.

Jack woke up with a huge headache. He was lying in his bed and had just had the strangest dream! But the details were fading quickly, and he couldn't remember a thing from it. Hmm. Oh well, he thought. He opened his eyes and found Danny standing beside him, with a smile on his face.

"Danny? Why are you here?" he asked, confused.

"Oh, well," Danny said, slightly surprised, "Erm…you collapsed in your lab from tiredness; obviously you have been working way too hard lately! Anyway, Sam and Tuck helped me bring you up to your bed as the desk chair was probably not the most comfortable place to sleep…" Danny looked at his father in apprehension. Did he truly not remember a thing?

"Ah, that makes sense," Jack said nodding, a grin coming to his face. Danny was slightly disappointed, but then he remembered his father's promise to love him no matter what. He knew that if or when he father found out again, things would be different. Unbeknownst to him, a grin was spreading across his face, too. "Well, I'm gonna go back now and catch some more GHOSTS because I'm almost making a breakthrough!" He got up and started towards the door and then looked back in slight surprise. "What did you say happened to your leg again? You need more bandages on that!"

"Oh," Danny said, his grin growing wider, "You see, there was this giant Labrador…"

Author: I'm finished:D I'm soo sorry for not updating this for months and months—I completely lost interest in Danny Phantom! I really just finished it for you guys because I felt so guilty. I think I've become a better writer since then, and it was fun to finish this! Thank you for all your reviews, and I hope you liked it!

PS: I know I wrote Jack more out of character than I meant to. I wanted to show that he was changing because of learning of Danny's powers, but it got a bit out of hand. Ah well. No one's perfect. ;)

Kalico