All three Fentons just stared at each other, not saying a single word. There are times when one small moment contains an event that will forever change your life, and this was definitely one of those moments for Danny. Danny had no idea what he was going to do now, or what his parents were going to do after finally learning the truth.
At first, Danny thought it would be a relief that he didn't have to keep his secret and he could talk to those who were close to him about almost anything now, but he was angry for some reason. He was angry that his parents had to be there and that they figured out what he had been trying to keep from them for months.
"So, all this time…" Jack started with a completely neutral face, "that whole time we were hunting down that Ghost Boy…it was really you."
Danny slumped his head and looked down at the metal floor, not knowing what to say. This just made him more upset, having to remember that his parents did try to inadvertently kill him time and time again when they tried to capture "Inviso-Bill".
"Yeah," he finally said as he lifted his head up and looked at his two parents. "That ghost you were always trying to hunt down was me." Not knowing what else to say, Danny blurted out, "I'm sorry."
Jack and Maddie looked at each other. Both of them were at a loss for words as well. Once again, the entire basement fell silent as all the air and life in it seemed to fade away. After what seemed like forever, Danny spoke up.
"Are you guys cool with me being part ghost and all? I know it's pretty much your job to hunt ghosts down and exterminate them, but…" He was cut off. Maddie pointed her finger upwards and over her mouth, telling him to stop talking.
"Come on, Danny," she said in a sympathetic way. "Your father and I would never dream of trying to kill you, even if we were supposed to be hunting you down. Why didn't you tell us this earlier? We would have understood."
Danny felt like bursting into tears because he simply did not know what else to do, but something kept him from doing so. He looked up at his mom and said, "I didn't think you would believe me if I told you. I mean, really, would you honestly believe someone if they said your son was half-ghost?"
"No, we wouldn't," Jack answered. "But now we know, and I think we can definitely get used to it."
"All right," Danny said, finally breaking a smile.
"Well, now that we're all up, why don't I make us some hot cocoa?" Maddie suggested as she started heading up the stairs. "Danny, you can tell us all about this then."
Danny just stayed silent, but then nodded his head.
About ten minutes later, all the Fentons (except for Jazz, she was asleep) were sitting in the kitchen, taking tiny sips from the hot cocoa that Maddie just made. Everyone was completely quiet until Jack finally said, "So, when do we tell Jazz?"
"She already knows," Danny glumly said, feeling stupid for some reason.
Maddie and Jack's eyes widened, and they both slammed their cups down on the table and swallowed the drink they had in their mouths hard.
"How long has she known?" Maddie asked as if she were interrogating someone. (and Danny felt exactly like he was in an interrogation segment)
"You know, I really have no clue," Danny said, putting his elbow on the table and cradling the bottom of his head in it. "But I think she's known for a while, but she only told me she knew a few months ago."
"So, we were the only ones who didn't know?" Maddie asked. "What about your friends, Sam and Tucker?"
"They knew, too," Danny said, feeling more upset every time he answered the same question. "So yeah, you guys were pretty much the only ones who didn't know." At no point while saying this did Danny look them right in the eyes.
There was another deathly silence, until Jack started speaking. "Well then, why didn't you tell us? We're your parents! We of all people should be able to understand."
"But your ghost hunters," Danny said, "and newsflash: I'm part ghost! I thought you guys would feel…actually, I didn't know what you'd think, but I knew it would hurt either me or you guys."
"What's it been like with those powers?" Jack asked with some life in his voice, as if he was getting a little excited. "Did you get anything cool?"
"I guess," Danny said, "but I've had to use them to fight off a bunch of other ghosts that have come through that portal down in the basement."
"That portal…" Jack said in a mystical tone, almost like he was decoding some secret message within the words.
"It's got its drawbacks," Danny continued. "Yeah, they're great for protecting me and everyone else, but so many ghosts bother me on a daily basis I wish I didn't have any powers at all. I've just been through so much since I got them; it's really hurting my social and school life."
Maddie and Jack looked at each other, this time with sympathy and trying to understand Danny's feelings. But most of all, they were trying to figure out what to do now that the truth was out.
"You see," Danny said, breaking the silence, "I never wanted my powers in the first place. You have no idea how much I would love it for all the ghosts to just disappear and I could finally stop having to fight the same ones over and over again."
Danny's parents looked like they were in deep thought about what needed to be done now, but it suddenly looked like Jack had an idea. He got up, looking like he was about to do something he was going to regret and looked at Danny.
"Son," he started, "I think it's best you head up to bed now. You have school in the morning, you know."
"And you're not grounded," Maddie said with a sad smile on her face without even talking to Jack about it.
"Thanks, you guys," Danny said, actually smiling for the first time since his secret was revealed.
Without saying another word, Danny went upstairs to his room and tried his best to go to sleep, but it was hard. He was trying to process everything that just happened, and how it would dramatically change his ghost hunting life. He knew that after tonight, things were going to be different for him when he was battling ghosts. Maybe this would be a good thing, or maybe it would be more negative.
Danny finally got to sleep, but his parents learning his secret was the first thing he thought of when he woke up the next morning. Even though the thought was still weighing heavily on his mind, he carried on the in morning like he normally would. He got cleaned up and dressed and went down to have breakfast.
Maddie was preparing some food in the kitchen for Danny when he walked down, but she seemed really nervous about being around him. She was letting out nervous laughs every time she talked to him, and it happened to the extent where Danny couldn't take it anymore.
"All right mom, you can stop sounding so freaked now!" Danny said as his mother passed him a plate with eggs and a few strips of bacon in it. "It's okay, really. You and dad were just doing your jobs as ghost hunters, and I can understand you'd be upset about finding out. Heck, I'm upset about you finding out!"
"But the fact that the ghost we were hunting was you all along just makes me feel so awful."
"Well, I did try to tell you guys he wasn't all that bad," Danny said as he started eating. "But please, just don't tell anyone, all right? Especially the Comptons."
"You got it," Maddie said, trying to sound as natural and as pleasant as possible.
"Thanks. You don't have to treat me any different, you know. I just don't want you or dad telling anyone about this, because I could have enemies lurking around and they could take you guys prisoner, or something like that."
Danny continued eating in the awkward surroundings until he put his fork down and pasted a questioning look on his face. "Speaking of which, where is dad?"
"He's down in the lab," Maddie said. "He's been down there all night working on something, and he seemed pretty upset about doing it."
"What's he doing?"
"I don't know," Maddie confessed. "He doesn't want me or you down there right now."
"Does it have something to do with me being part ghost?"
"I'm guessing it does."
Danny had a brick expression, but then looked at a clock in the kitchen. "Well, I gotta go to school. Bye, mom!"
Danny grabbed his backpack and burst from the house as quickly as he could and started heading towards school. He was happy to get away from that awkward scene, but the thought still lingered in his mind about what it was his dad was doing down in the lab. Feeling like he had to talk to someone about last night's events, Danny turned to the only people he trusted: his two best friends, Sam and Tucker.
Shortly after school ended, the trio was walking home, and it didn't take long for Sam and Tucker to realize that something was seriously wrong.
"Hey man, you okay?" Tucker asked after a short silence. "You look like you just got turned down by every girl in the school."
"I don't know if that's as bad as my parents figuring out my secret," Danny said, still looking straight ahead at neither of them.
Sam and Tucker lost their breath for a second, and then looked at each other out of the corner of their eyes. They both were at a loss for words, so Danny continued talking. "I was fighting some snobby sounding ghost, and when I finally finished with him I went back to my human form. Except…well…my parents were kind of watching."
Both of his friends continued to stay silent, until Sam finally spoke up. "Well, what are you going to do now?"
"I don't know," Danny said, pretending to be scratching the back of his neck. "They both seemed pretty sorry that I turned out to be the ghost they were hunting down all this time, and my dad's doing something down in the lab now, but I got no idea what that is."
The rest of the walk home was silent. (other than a few "See you tomorrow"s.) Danny walked into his house, and for some reason, it felt much different. He felt as if he was going to see their parents and they would be completely different people towards him.
To his surprise, the house seemed empty. Danny thought no one was home until he heard something coming from the basement. He gently put his backpack down on the floor and walked over to the staircase leading down. He began walking down the stairs and saw his dad looking like some mad scientist trying to set up a complex procedure for an experiment.
"Uh…dad?" Danny nervously asked.
Danny's father turned around, but he looked completely different. He was still wearing the pajamas he was wearing when he first found out about Danny's secret, but there were now wrinkled and had sweat all over them. Under his eyes were dark circles, and even though he was still the same obese person, Danny thought he looked much lankier.
"Are you okay?" Danny asked with a lot of concern.
"Son, I'm giving up," Jack said in almost proud tone.
"Giving up? What do you mean?"
"I'm giving up ghost hunting," Jack clarified. "After finding out the thing I was hunting for the most was my own son, I decided to give up."
"But you love to hunt for ghosts!" Danny yelled. "You're not really giving up?"
"Yes, I am," Jack said with shame in his voice. "I've been trying to get rid of the ghost portal most of all. That way, no more ghosts can come and annoy you."
"But dad, where will I put the loose ones that I do catch? Where will those go if the portal's closed? I can't just leave them in the thermos forever, you know."
"Look, Danny!" Jack yelled in a sharp and aggressive tone, "I'm quitting ghost hunting and everything related to it, and nothing you say is going to stop me! I'm going to finish up the invention I've almost completed now, and then no more inventions or hunting."
"But I could really use those inventions!" Danny insisted, starting to feel upset that his secret getting out was causing his dad to give up the thing he loved the most.
"Danny, I think you've been the one keeping those ghosts on the run, not my inventions. I think you'll do fine without them."
"Uh…if you say so," Danny weakly said. Maybe it will be good, he thought to himself. Dad giving up ghost hunting, me not having to hide my secret anymore…maybe we can all just live happily ever after then. Yeah, we can just be a regular family now! This could be the greatest thing that's ever happened.
Jack turned away and went back over to the portal, trying to figure out what dials he should switch and what wires needed to be cut. Danny just watched grimly as he saw his dad destroy everything that was once so important to him. Finally, the guilt set in and Danny couldn't take it anymore.
"Dad, stop it!" Danny yelled, his blue eyes filling with rage. "This is ridiculous! Don't give up ghost hunting just because you figured out my secret. Now quit destroying the lab already!"
"Danny, I already told you!" Jack yelled angrily, turning away. Apparently, not getting any sleep for over the past thirty-six hours made him very edgy. "I'm giving up ghost hunting, and that's that!"
But while he was talking to Danny and had his attention diverted, Jack accidentally hit a certain wire on the portal with his elbow. Instantly, a thick stream of hot electricity burst from the wire and instantly connected itself to Danny.
Danny stood frozen in his position as the hot electricity pulsed right through him and sent shock waves throughout his entire body. He could open his eyes for one moment and saw that the electricity that connected to him was now angled at a position that the electricity was flowing from him into the open ghost portal. Basically, there was a straight line of electricity flowing between Danny and into the Ghost Zone, but where the electricity was hitting in the Ghost Zone was unknown.
After a few seconds, Danny suddenly felt like something had become a part of him; he felt like something almost human had just entered his body while the electricity was flowing from him into the ghost portal.
Finally, Jack was able to stop the flow of electricity and shut the power off. The flow of electricity suddenly shut off and Danny looked like he just had twenty balloons rubbed all over him. Finally, he just collapsed from the heat of the electricity that had just passed through him and connected to somewhere in the Ghost Zone. Now, he was lying on the ground, unconscious.
