A/N: Sorry about the late update! I meant to put it up sooner, especially after the evil cliffie at the end and all, but I was camping this weekend with no internet or computer, so that made things a little difficult. But it's up now!

And I just wanted to give you all an enourmous amount of thanks since last chapter put me over the 500 review mark, so thank you thank you thank you soooo much! I really appreciate all your support! Never in my wildest dreams could I imagine this story to be so popular, so thank you so much!

Also, on a side note, for those of you who are Tortured Truth fans, the summary for the sequel is now posted in my profile! But I must warn you, it does give away who the recipient is and gives a clue as to what's in the package...just so you're warned.

Chapter Seventeen
A Family Torn

His eyes were wide with shock, realizing what he'd just done. He'd shot his aunt, his aunt that already hated ghosts and thought he was evil. And now, here was proof. He was wrong, it wasn't Infuriator. She was expressing her true feelings at their true strength.

"You-you attacked me," his aunt stated in shock, holding her chest with one hand as she recovered her balance, looking at Danny.

"N-no, it-it's not what you think!" Danny pleaded. "I—"

"I was right. You are evil."

"No! You don't understand!"

"Oh, I understand. I disagreed with you and you couldn't take it anymore, so you resorted to the only thing you knew: violence."

"That's not true! I thought you were being overshadowed!" He knew it was pointless to argue, but he had to. He had to fix his mistake. He had to find some way to make this all better.

"You don't expect me to fall for that excuse do you?"

"It's not an excuse! A few days ago there was this ghost overshadowing my math teacher, making him act angrier than he normally would be so I thought—"

"You thought I was being overshadowed by the same ghost? You didn't even think that I might possibly be acting on my own will? You couldn't even entertain the thought that someone may not like you, may not believe you to be the good little hero you pretend to be."

"That's not true! It's just…you're my aunt! You're not supposed to act this way! You'd bake me cookies and play Marco Polo with us in the pool, and now you're saying I'm evil?"

"Because clearly you are, otherwise you wouldn't have attacked me."

"It was a mistake! I thought you were being overshadowed!"

"What's going on down here?" Maddie asked as she wandered down the stairs, the rest of the family behind her, led by the angry shouts.

"He attacked me!" Sophia yelled out, pointing at Danny.

"No, that's not true!" Danny yelled, knowing that his bad situation had just become much worse.

"It's true and you know it, you just don't want to admit it in front of everyone else," his aunt spat back.

"Danny…is it true?" Grandma Rose asked, her face filled with fear and hope, hope that her grandson was still the innocent hero she believed. He looked at the rest of the family, the same looks present on their faces.

"Well, yes, but—" but that was as far as Danny could get before his aunt interrupted.

"You see, he admits it! He attacked me because he didn't like what we were talking about!"

"Wait, it's not what you think!" Danny pleaded, seeing the looks of horror on their faces. "That's not the reason why! I thought she was being overshadowed!"

"Oh, of course, the typical excuse."

"It's not an excuse! It's the truth!" Danny yelled back.

"Alright, I think we all just need to calm down," Maddie suggested.

"Calm down? He just attacked me and you're asking me to calm down?"

"I just want to get everything straightened out, and all this yelling and accusing isn't going to amount to anything."

"Or you just don't want to believe that he would just shoot someone. He is a ghost Maddie."

"And he's also our son," she spat back "and I'm sure he has a perfectly good reason. He's never just shot at someone because he wanted to."

"Oh I know the reason. He didn't like what I was saying to him so he shot me."

"That's not true! Look, earlier this week there was this ghost who was overshadowing my math teacher, making him say mean things to me, but I shot the ghost out of him, you can ask him if you don't believe me. So then when I came back home Sophia and I got into an argument and she started saying a lot of the same things, so I assumed she was being overshadowed as well."

"What kind of things did she say?" Jazz asked, hoping to sway the rest of the relatives who were all looking at Danny with horror and fear, obviously believing his aunt's version of the story.

"She started calling me evil and called me a creature saying she wanted to cut ties with me and never see me again, all because I'm half ghost."

"I was merely speaking the truth," she defended. "And look, I was right, he is evil, and he admits to not liking what I was saying which is why he attacked me!"

"Well of course he didn't like what you said! Nobody likes being called a creature," Jazz argued. "But that doesn't necessarily mean that's why he attacked you. I mean, I get insults throw at me all the time and I never attack anyone."

"That's because you're not a ghost."

"Oh will you stop it with the ghost stuff!" Danny shouted. "We all get the picture, you don't like ghosts and hence don't like me, but that doesn't mean that being a ghost dictates my actions!"

Danny looked at his family still standing on the steps. He felt like he was on trial with Jazz as his defense attorney, Sophia as the prosecution, and his family as the jury. He was trying to convince them that he wasn't guilty. He knew he'd never be able to convince his aunt, but maybe if he could find a way to convince the rest of them things would turn out okay. But if they found him guilty, if they found him evil, his own family, he'd be lost.

"Oh but you being a ghost does matter. We all know that ghosts are naturally evil, but everyone decided to treat you as an exception because you're family. They didn't want to believe that deep down you aren't an exception, you're just like other ghosts, and this is proof," his aunt stated as she pulled her shirt down, showing the family the burn mark left from the blast. The family gasped, seeing the tangible proof that their beliefs were wrong. He wasn't any different, like they wanted to believe, he was just like the rest of the ghosts, using their powers to get what they want.

Danny looked from his aunt to the rest of the family, seeing that they were believing her. He had to do something. He couldn't lose them too.

"Look, I know that it was a mistake and I'm sorry, but it doesn't mean I'm evil! I thought she was being overshadowed so I did what I thought I had to do to save her!"

"Oh, of course, save me, like you always do. Danny Phantom, always saving the day. But why do you save people Danny?"

"Because it's the right thing to do. Someone's got to stop the ghosts and since I have the abilities, why not use them to help people?"

"Or do you do it to take away the feelings of guilt for all the evil you've done or will do?"

"Don't you dare say that," Jazz reprimanded harshly. "Danny makes so many sacrifices saving this town and he doesn't do it just because of a guilty conscience."

"But how do you know? How does anyone but Danny really know?"

"So then how do you?" Jazz countered quickly.

"Alright, good point, but still, how do you explain all the good stuff mingled with the bad?"

"What bad?" Danny asked. He knew he wasn't a model citizen but still, apart from mistakenly attacking his aunt he couldn't think of any other action that could be construed as evil.

"Well, attacking he mayor, attacking civilians…"

"I've already explained that incident! They were being overshadowed!"

"Hmm, that just seems to continuously pop up, doesn't it?'

"Because it's the truth!"

"Don't you see? He keeps using that excuse to everyone to cover up for him when he can't control his evil impulses!"

"They're not excuses they're the truth! I mean, think about it, name one other time when I've attacked someone for no reason at all or hurt anyone when they were being jerks. This bully Dash at my school shoves me into my locker every day and I never used my powers to get even with him. Sure I put a bunch of embarrassing pictures on the internet and convinced the cops to let him stay a night in jail and think he'd be there for four years, but that's stuff normal kids would do! I've never just attacked anyone just because I could or because they were mean to me."

"Until today you mean. Obviously your evil tendencies are becoming more pronounced. Jack, Maddie, I'd get out of here while it's still safe."

"Don't even," Maddie threatened, a light seeming to turn on inside her head, shaking out of her shocked stupor. "You can make as many crackpot assumptions as you like, but I draw the line at suggesting us to leave our son."

"That's right," Jack agreed. "We've heard you out since you're family and all, but when you start suggesting we leave our son because of your insane theories, well that's the ecto-blast that broke the ghost's back!"

"He is not evil, no matter what you say. We've seen him do some miraculous things, none of them wicked, and we have no intention of leaving him."

"Forgive me, but didn't you two believe he was evil when you first met him because he was a ghost? But then, once you found out he was your son you suddenly changed your mind. I think you're a little biased on the issue."

"Or maybe you're not biased enough? You know Danny, you know he's a good boy, more than a lot of people, so you should know, just like we did, that he's not capable of doing evil."

"When a human becomes a ghost, a lot of things change Maddie, you know that, being a ghost hunter and all. Even if they're your loved ones they're still ghosts and are no longer the same."

"Come on Sophia, none of us ever fully believed that rule. If you saw Elijah or Arya floating down the stairs you'd have a hard time shooting them too."

"But she'd still have to," Grandpa Joe finally spoke up. "Sophia's right, that is part of the code."

"Oh please, you aren't actually believing her on the basis of the code? None of us ever believed it in the first place."

"Of course we do, that's why we swear to live by it. But Sophia's right, we were willing to make an exception for Danny, even if the rules stated otherwise because he was only a half ghost, but obviously the ghost half is stronger than the human half."

"Wait Grandpa, you aren't actually agreeing with her, are you?" Jazz asked in shock.

"I'm afraid I am Jazmine. She's got the proof and the code dictates it, and as good hunters we always follow the code."

"I don't believe this," Jazz remarked, her eyes tearing. Danny felt the same way. Now, not only was his aunt against him, but his grandfather as well.

"Grandma Mary?" Jazz asked, hoping to find someone, for Danny's sake, that believed Danny was innocent.

"I agree with your grandfather," she answered quietly, not lifting her eyes off the ground.

"Grandpa Harry?"

"I'm sorry, but I have to go with the scientific proof," he responded sadly, looking anywhere but at another living soul.

"Grandma Rose?"

"I'm sorry," she simply said, her eyes filled with tears.

"Uncle Steven?"

"I wanted to believe, I really did. I still do, but after everything… Sophia said something like this would happen, that someone would get hurt, which is why she wanted to leave this morning, but I didn't want to believe it. I thought it was just another crazy ghost hunting theory, but apparently it's not. I'm sorry."

"Elijah? Arya?" They simply looked at the ground, not lifting their eyes or making any form of movement to indicate a response. "C'mon, he saved your life Arya! He rescued you from the Ghost Zone!" But still, neither of them looked up.

Danny couldn't believe it, the jury was unanimous, and they were all against him. His own family, his grandparents, his cousins, they believed him evil, even though they all knew him, knew he would never even hurt the bunnies in his grandparents' backyard. But none of that mattered to them anymore. According to that stupid code, he wasn't the same Danny they always knew, and unlike his parents, they weren't able to see past it. To them, the Danny Fenton they knew was dead, and now he was some other creature taking his place, pretending to be him.

"Please," Danny begged, his eyes glimmering with tears "you have to believe me, I'm still the same Danny. I still like eating Grandma Rose's cookies and I still want to protect those bunnies in Grandma Mary's backyard. I'm not any different. I'm still Danny. No matter what the code says, I'm still the same."

His family wouldn't look up at him, their eyes never leaving the floor as they listened to Danny's plea.

"Please, we're ghost researchers," his aunt added. "We know what we're talking about. We spend all our time researching ghosts and their behaviors."

"And I'm a ghost, I spend all my time being one, so I think I know more than anyone about a ghosts' personality change, and I'm telling the truth when I say that there isn't one!"

"But there's no clear proof that you're telling the truth. We have years of scientific study to show otherwise, and everyone in this family realizes that."

"Not everyone, "Jack spoke up. "Maddie, Jazz, and I believe Danny, and nothing anyone can say will change that."

"How can you say that?" Grandpa Joe asked. "The code clearly states that—"

"We don't care about some stupid code," Maddie stated. "We don't need any scientific proof to know that Danny's telling the truth. For the past seven months Danny's been a ghost and apart from him running off at random times and having strange injuries we couldn't tell anything was different! Like he said, he acts exactly the same! And if he says he isn't different, then that's good enough for us, and it should be good enough for you too!"

Grandpa Joe looked shocked. "How can you just throw the code out the window when you don't like what it says? All ghost hunters must adhere to the code, no matter what. You swore by it when you became a ghost hunter!"

"Well obviously the code is wrong," Jack replied.

"Then you aren't ghost hunters anymore."

"If being a ghost hunter means that we have to abide by stupid laws that make us hunt our own son, then we don't want to be ghost hunters anymore," Jack stated strongly, staring down his shocked father.

Everyone in the room looked shocked to hear Jack Fenton, the man who had been obsessed with being a ghost hunter since he learned how to say the word, renounce the ghost hunting title.

"You-you don't mean that," Grandpa Joe remarked in shock.

"I do."

"As do I," Maddie affirmed.

"So you can take your stupid codes and throw them out the window, because we won't be abiding by them anymore."

"You know what this means, don't you?" Grandma Mary asked, her voice shaky and full of sadness.

"I do, and frankly, I'm proud to join Jerry on the sane side of the family. Maybe he had the right idea all along."

Both Fenton grandparents looked shocked and angered at hearing mention of their forgotten son, as well as sad that another son and his wife would be joining the ranks of the unmentioned.

After a few minutes of stunned silence where family members looked everywhere but at each other Grandpa Joe finally found his voice. "When I said you weren't ghost hunters anymore, I didn't mean for you to completely renounce ghost hunting. I just said it to maybe get you to realize what you were saying."

"Well, it did make us realize what we were saying, it made us realize that it was the truth. And nothing else you can say will make us change our mind," Jack explained.

Danny still couldn't believe what he was hearing. His father was willing to give up ghost hunting, his passion, for him. He was willing to renounce ghost hunting, which in turn meant renouncing the family tradition and in turn the family, and he was willing and determined to do it, all for him. But as happy and loved as that thought made him feel, he still couldn't shake the feeling that if it weren't for him his father wouldn't have to in the first place. If it weren't for his stupid mistake, his father wouldn't have to choose between his son and his parents.

"Aright, I think we should all just stop and go our separate ways," Steven suggested. "I think we should all just go to bed and leave first thing in the morning before we tear the family apart further."

"There's no way I'm going to sleep with him loose in the house," Sophia remarked.

Danny looked up at his former aunt, anger seething through his body as he used every ounce of control in his body to resist the urge to blow something up. It was all her fault that everything was happening and now, after everything, after she'd turned the entire extended family against him, she wasn't finished. Now she was treating him like an animal and wanted to go as far as kick him out of his own house as well.

"Well lucky for you, you won't have to, because I don't want to sleep anywhere near a witch like you," Danny insulted back. "If anyone needs me, I'll be at Sam's."

"Me too," Jazz replied as she followed Danny towards the door, unable to stay with the people she used to call family.

"Wait, you don't have to go Danny, you didn't do anything wrong," his mother replied before turning to the rest of the family. "If you don't want to be around him, then you're the ones who have to leave, because if that's the way you're going to act, then we don't want to be around you either."

"Now Maddie, don't you think that's a little extreme?" Grandma Rose asked.

"No, you believing my son to be evil enough to kick him out of his own house and never want to see him again is a little extreme."

"But it's late, we can't possibly drive home now. We at least need to stay the night before we can head out."

"I don't care. We want you out now. You have five minutes to pack before we throw your stuff into the streets," Jack demanded forcefully, indicating that there would be no further arguing.

The relatives walked to their respective rooms, Sophia walking to the study proudly and Grandpa Joe stomping up to his room in anger while the rest of the family walked away sadly, not happy at what they had to do, but knowing that it was for the best.

While they left Jack, Maddie, and Jazz enveloped Danny in a hug, not saying anything for they knew there was nothing they could say to ease the pain, but they just held him in warm comfort, showing him that they still loved and believed him, no matter what.

The invisible Skulker, who had been watching far enough away to avoid triggering Danny's ghost sense with the aid of binoculars gifted with the ability to see through walls, smiled as the scene unfolded. Another brilliant plan had been executed with great ease and only minimal involvement. How his master was able to design such masterful plans was beyond his comprehension, and as much as he hated working for him, it was plans like these that made him feel glad that he was on his master's side instead of on the other.

Deciding that he'd seen enough he flew back to report to his master, flying fast enough to the portal to avoid triggering Danny's ghost sense. The one thing that could screw up the plan was for Danny's ghost sense to go off, since that would possibly be proof enough to the rest of the family that there indeed was a ghost present that could've overshadowed their unknowledgeable pawn.

Once in the safety of the Ghost Zone he made his way easily to the palace, traveling the now well known path to meet his master.

"So, have you seen the brilliance of the plan yourself?" the chilly, deep voice asked as Skulker kneeled down.

"Yes Master. When you asked me to overshadow the Ghost Child's grandfather and suggest to the rest of the family that they visit him I never believed it would go as far as this."

"Yes, remarkable, isn't it? Now his own family is turning against him, believing him to be an inhuman monster. And the beautiful thing is that Danny did it all by himself, and he knows it. Let's see his 'wall of support' try to comfort him and help him out of this one."

"I must admit it was a very well conceived plan, using Infuriator to not only make the Ghost Child doubt himself, but to also make him attack his aunt."

"Yes, it is. I was merely playing off his own fears, as I've told you before. He has an inherent fear in not being accepted, he has ever since he became part ghost. And now his own family doesn't accept him and will sever ties with him and soon news of the attack will spread through the city, his aunt will see to that, and he'll be accepted by no one. Then he will surely fall, hard and fast, into despair, and my goal shall be complete."

"But Master, I must ask, how did you know his aunt would act this way?"

The brilliant mastermind cackled. "Why, you don't believe you are my only informant, do you? The amount of information I have collected on Danny Fenton would amaze you. He is in my hands and is playing unknowingly along with my plan, though there really is no other choice."

The family assembled quietly in the living room five minutes later, taking Jack's threat very seriously. Without a goodbye and without even making eye contact they turned around and headed out the door, into the night.

Danny watched them leave, not believing this would be the last time he'd see his family. No matter what they did he still loved them, still enjoyed the times they spent together, still enjoyed their company, but he knew they no longer reciprocated those feelings. They wanted him out of their life, all because of one stupid mistake. And now, he'd never see them again.

Before they loaded themselves in the car Jazz ran out the door, causing them to halt.

"Wait, you have to promise me that you won't tell anyone what happened here."

"What are you talking about?" Sophia asked.

"You can't tell anyone what happened," Jazz repeated firmly, standing her ground.

"Oh, and why not? You still want to keep up this lie to the public? They have a right to know they have an evil monster in their midst."

"How can you possibly be so cruel? He's your nephew! Your grandson! Your cousin! You can leave and cut off all contact with us if you want, I'm fine with that, but at least take the familial relations into account and keep this within the family! You've done enough already without ruining his life outside the family as well."

"But they have a right to know."

"No, they don't. They've been fine for the past seven months and they'll continue to be fine now. You've already caused him enough suffering and tore this family apart, please, don't tear apart the rest of his life. Let him have some people on this earth who still believe in him. Let him still have his friends, let him be able to go to school, let him try to act like a regular kid. If you take all that away from him, then you might as well kill him, and then we'll have to see who the real evil one is: the poor boy who made an innocent mistake that ruined and in the end took his life, or the vengeful aunt who ruined the life of and eventually killed her own nephew."

For the first time that night Sophia was silent, not knowing how to respond to such an accusation.

"Please, if anything, do it in honor of the Danny before the accident," Jazz pleaded, taking advantage of Sophia's weakening demeanor. "Do it in honor of the Danny you spent fifteen years helping raise and care for. Do it to show that you at least loved him, even though you may not anymore."

"Don't worry, we won't say anything, I'll make sure of it," Steven assured as he stepped in front of his wife. "You're right, we've already done enough, and there's no reason to do more. We promise, this won't leave our lips and will stay in the family."

"But—" Sophia started to argue but was silenced by her husband's hand.

"No buts," he stated firmly. "Jazz is right, and you know it."

Sophia looked down and climbed into the RV, succumbing to the request. Steven nodded his head in farewell and climbed into the RV as well, followed by the grandparents who couldn't even bear to turn around and look at the family they were leaving behind forever. Finally Elijah climbed into the RV followed by Arya, who spared a look back at the door, looking Danny in the eyes, her eyes red and puffy from crying. She mouthed a "thank you" and an "I'm sorry" before climbing into the RV.

The engine started and they headed down the street as Maddie and Jack hugged their son tighter as tears poured from Danny's eyes, unable to hold them in any longer. He watched as the RV carrying the family members that refused to love him drove out of sight before he turned intangible and ran through his family's grip and up to his room where he threw himself on the bed and cried himself to sleep.

A/N: There, not a mean cliffie. See, it is possible!

Anywho, I just wanted to say that I hope the reactions of the family were believeable and not over the edge. I have very good reasons for why all of them turned against Danny but since this is a Danny-centered story I didn't want to go into them because Danny doesn't even understand or know the real reasons, therefore they wouldn't necessarily be included in the narration. But if any of you are curious, I'm totally willing to explain them to you, including Jack and Maddie's decision to give up ghost hunting (which'll be looked into more in depth in the next chapter). So if you have any questions or don't believe a reasoning to be strong enough, please let me know and I'll either explain it or change it if it's a real flaw.

Thanks so much!

The Master's identity is revealed in the next chapter! Hooray!