Wow! I got a lot of support from Chapter 1, and was really nervous about writing Chapter 2, because I wanted it to be just as awesome as the previous one! This chapter starts off a bit more slowly than the last, but I promise it picks up and gets interesting!

Danny sat in the passenger seat of the Fenton Ghost Assault Vehicle, his arms crossed and his face stuck in a slight scowl as he recalled the events leading up to them leaving this morning. It was nothing he couldn't handle, just slightly aggravating and inconvenient to his sleep.

The Box Ghost had shown up throughout the night, not once, but THREE times trying to doom mankind with his 'cardboard terror'. After throwing him into the Ghost Zone twice, Danny finally snapped and resorted to trapping him into a Fenton Thermos and phasing said thermos into the wall of his closet for extra security.

Guilt washed over the boy as he suddenly realized he had forgotten to put the poor Box Ghost back into the Ghost Zone before he left with his mom. Oh well, we will be back on Monday, he'll be fine until then. His mind went back to thinking about the events of the morning, which had gone on without a hitch after the overall-clad blue ghost had been caught, until his alarm jolted him awake at 7am.

Jolted, however, didn't even begin to cover it. Technus apparently thought it would be fun to animate his alarm clock and have it attack him when he woke up, which it did, the blasted thing BIT him! He got the last laugh though after he backhanded it off the nightstand and then obliterated it with an ectoblast. A slight smile played across his lips and he stifled a laugh at the memory of it, absentmindedly rubbing the back of his hand that had since healed.

He gave a sideways glace at his mom, who was currently singing off-key to some 80's hit that was playing on the radio. She had been acting strange around him for the past two weeks, constantly looking over at him and seeming to want to know if everything was ok. At first the halfa had thought his mother was onto his secret, but quickly dismissed it as typical motherly concern.

In a way he didn't blame her, he had been acting even more withdrawn lately, coming home hours after curfew, and the rare occurrence when he was around his parents, he would often be extremely moody and standoffish with his folks. He frowned, great, I don't know what's worse, them knowing I'm one of the vile things they hunt or them thinking I'm getting into trouble with gangs or drugs.

Danny rested his head against the cool glass of the passenger window, and watched as the scenery began to become more saturated with greenery as the trees increased in density. The view slowly lulled the young halfa to sleep quicker than he could've imagined, but even in sleep he was haunted by the very ghosts he protected his town from and his peaceful sleep was pitched into a raging nightmare.

Maddie looked over to her son, noticing he had drifted off to sleep since the last time she had checked on him. She gave Danny a concerned look as his tossed and cried out quietly from his slumber. She could have sworn she heard something along the lines of "I'll never turn into you", but she could barely make it out since he had mumbled it under his breath.

She sighed, knowing that with each passing moment her baby boy was slipping further away from her. Who was her son afraid of turning into? Was he dreaming about Jack and herself? Did he resent their profession so much that he couldn't stand to turn into a paranormal scientist? Did he really hate them that much?

A stray tear inched down her face as she pulled the GAV into the small parking lot of the ranger station. She reached to the ignition and turned the key to the "off" position. The enormous command-center of a vehicle fell quiet and the only sounds that could be heard were that of Danny's soft snoring in the seat next to her. Maddie didn't wat to wake him, he had finally fallen into a less fitful sleep several minutes before arriving, and his face had taken on a more peaceful look. It reminded her of the young boy that she knew before he went to high school, the one she would take to the park and discuss all things astronomy, he didn't feel like the stranger that he had become to her.

"Danny, sweetie?" She coaxed, "We're here. It's time to wake up." She reached over to nudge him, but when she was about to reach for his shoulder, his hand came up and gripped around her wrist. Maddie gasped at the nearly crushing grasp her son had on her arm, but that wasn't the most shocking. What had her in awe was the fact her son's usual icy blue eyes had a hint of a toxic neon green for a few seconds before he snapped out of his attack on his mother and let go of her arm.

"Oh geez mom, I'm so sorry! I guess you startled me! I didn't hurt you, did I?" Danny asked, concern and guilt lacing his every word.

"N-no, I'm…fine…" she unintentionally hesitated, cradling her wrist with her other hand. In all honesty her wrist stung, red marks already fighting for dominance on her ivory skin.

Danny cringed inside, he knew he hurt his mother, that she was hiding it from him. He also knew that this would make her even more bewildered about him because he was supposed to be puny, weak, Danny Fenton.

She noticed his crestfallen face, "Danny, its ok! I just forgot that you aren't a little kid anymore, you have grown into a strong young man!" she pulled him into a semi-hug, eliciting an immediate response from the youngest Fenton.

"MOOOOMM!" He whined out as he pushed her away from him, an embarrassed blush tinging his face with a rosy hue. Maddie chuckled at his teen antics as he crossed his arms and turned from her.

"Come on Danny, let's get our gear so we can set up camp before it gets dark out." He happily obliged, jumping out of the GAV at a breakneck speed with his backpack slung over one shoulder and a duffle carrying supplies over the other.

Danny glared at his mom, who was just ahead of him on the path. She said that it wouldn't be very far once they left the parking lot at the ranger station. They had been hiking for what felt like several hours, but in fact, had only been a little over an hour and a half.

"Um, mom? Any chance our campsite is near?" He glanced at the sky. Years of studying astronomy for fun had trained him to tell time with the sun's position. He quickly gathered that they only had two more hours of daylight tops, and they still had to get to a clearing and set up camp before it got dark outside.

"Not too much further sweetie, just a bit more, I want to have a nice clearing near the stream, it shouldn't be too far now." Even with her extensive martial arts training and athletic ability that came with being a world renowned ghost hunter, she was beginning to tire and was impatiently yearning to sit and eat something. She turned her neck to check on her son, who insisted on walking at least five steps behind her. Her own breathing was slowly becoming more labored as the terrain began to incline as they reached the hill they would be staying on, but a quick look at her son had her again questioning him as he climbed the incline with little strain and steady breathing. The same son who she knew was currently close to failing gym class, wasn't even breaking a sweat, in fact, boredom seemed to hint across his face as he pulled himself across the landing that they would call their camp for the next two days.

The mother-son team worked for the next half hour setting up tents and had made a small circle of dirt and rocks to build a fire in once the sun had set. Maddie had several nagging questions on the back of her mind for her son, she figured now was a good time as any to ask a few of the less pressing ones.

"Hey mom?" "Hey Danny?" They asked at the exact same time.

"Oh sorry mom, go ahead"

"No sweetie, you go first" Maybe he was going to open up to her a bit she hoped.

"Um, ok. Do you want me to go get some firewood real quick? Before it starts getting dark?" Maddie emotionally deflated like a balloon, but perked back up at the opportunity to get some parental bonding in with her son while collecting the scrap wood for tonight's fire.

"Sure sweetie! Let me finish up real quick and then we can go get—"

"I was kinda hoping to go by myself, I promise I won't wonder off too far and I'll be back as soon as possible" He was starting to feel smothered by his mother's presence, and she picked up on it.

"That's fine, but please be careful and hurry back ok?" He nodded wordlessly and headed off in the direction of the nearby creek his form quickly shrouded by trees, leaving her on her own.

That should do it for today he thought as he gathered a few more small, arm length branches into the bundle nestled into the crook of his arm. Now to get back to camp and see what mo—a blue wisp of air curled out of his mouth, sending a chill throughout his body. Not here…not NOW! Danny dropped the kindling and quickly transformed. His body, no longer bound by gravity, floated up into the air as neon green eyes scanned the area. He heard the charging of an ecto-gun and turned just as the blast knocked him to the ground.

"Hello whelp" Skulker slyly grinned at his prey.

"Oh great, what? Did Ember break up with you again? You get called a lousy hunter? Or are you just bored and want my pelt hanging on your wall? He retorted as he pushed himself off the earth.

"None of your business, although I do bring a message from my superior." Superior? Vlad. Danny though bitterly. Great, what was the fruit loop up to this time?

"And what would that be? Did he get another cat? Ooh! Maybe he finally signed up for therapy!" Danny smirked at the hunting ghost, downplaying his fears of what was to come. If Vlad and Skulker were behind something it was bad, and things never turned out well for the younger halfa.

"He said that you should have joined him while you had the chance, now you are going to suffer the way he did. Alone. Then maybe you will reconsider and join him."

"Fat chance on that one"

"We'll see about that ghost-child" Another ecto-gun popped up from the ghost's suit and launched several exploding blasts at the unsuspecting boy. Danny did his best to dodge them, but a stray ecto-charged ball slammed into him once again, the explosion pushing him back onto the ground. This isn't good, all this noise is bound to alert mom…how am I going to explain Phantom's presence in the middle of nowhere. She is going to become even MORE suspicious.

Skulker picked the wounded halfa up by the collar of his HAZMAT suit and pulled out a device that eerily resembled the Plasmius Maximus. As if right on que, his mother jumped from the trees, ecto weapon in hand, and barged right towards the two spooks.

"Where is my son you vile pieces of ectoplasm?!"

"Oh don't worry ghost huntress, you'll see him again soon enough" Skulker replied while chuckling. He turned the device on and brought it closer to Phantom. Suddenly, he jabbed it up and through Phantoms core, causing Danny to scream out bloody murder, his voice dangerously close to hitting the range of his Ghostly Wail. This isn't happening! He yelled in his mind I'll revert and she'll know everything that I've tried so hard to cover! But as quick as it began, the shock of the device stopped and the mechanical ghost withdrew it from the boy's core. He anxiously waited for the sound of his mother's gasp at his transformation but soon realized he was still Phantom, yet he felt…off…like—

"Enjoy your trip now that your powers have been disabled. Oh and good luck trying to change back to your other form whelp. This new Plasmius Maximus 3.0 lasts longer and leaves you stuck as a ghost with all the abilities as a puny human." He whispered to the young teen as he let go of the front of the spandex suit, throwing Danny unceremoniously to the ground. He gave another sly, evil smirk to the poor boy and flew off before Maddie could get a shot off.

Danny's head was spinning with all the events that had just taken place, still not fully comprehending what had happened. I'm stuck as a human, but in my ghost form? For how long? Oh man, mom! How am I going to explain what happened to her 'son' and why I'm even here! She'll blame me for all of this. Oh man this is so bad! I'm so screwed! He was too caught up in his mental ramblings to not realize the charging whir of an ecto-gun that was pointed directly at his body.

*Laughs evilly* I love putting poor Danny into pressing situations! Hope you all enjoyed! As always please leave me some feedback. Next chapter will have some interesting observations from your favorite ghost hunting, paranormal scientist mother! Oh, and Danny's life is about to go from bad to worse :) I have a lot of tests coming up the next two weeks, but I'll try to get Chapter 3 up as soon as possible.