A/N: Alright, it's finally here, the Master's revelation. Hope it's everything you hoped it would be and more! But first, fun Danny angstiness!

And warning, this chapter is really long. After writing the fun pep talk stuff I noticed it was really long and I had half a mind to stop there and post it after that, but then I remembered that I promised I'd reveal the Master this chapter, so I just kept going. So, that'll explain why it's the longest chapter yet!

And just as a fun little side note, this chapter marks the 200th page in Word, which is definitely a big feat for me, so yay!

Thanks again for all the reviews! You guys are totally amazing!

Chapter Eighteen
Depression

The next morning Jazz woke up and immediately called Tucker and Sam to tell them what had transpired the previous knight, knowing that Danny would need as many people to support him as they could find. Upon hearing the news they rushed over to the Fenton house, all thoughts of attending school completely forgotten, knowing that attending to their best friend was far more important. They had to be there for him, ready to help him when he was finally ready to talk.

Danny had stayed in his room all night and the better portion of the morning, only leaving his room to go to the bathroom. He didn't eat; he didn't think his stomach could handle any food. He tried to spend as much time as he could asleep, since in his sleep he didn't have to feel the pain that wrecked his heart. His eyes were red and sore from shedding so many tears and his pillow was soaked from his silent tears over the family that no longer loved him.

His family remained downstairs, knowing that Danny needed time to be alone. They didn't even go upstairs to tell him he could skip school; they just left him alone to sort out his thoughts.

Meanwhile they discussed how they were going to comfort Danny and convince him to move on with his life when he was finally ready to talk, while they tried to get over their grief as well. They needed to be strong for Danny's sake, to show him that they didn't care that their family had abandoned them and that he shouldn't either. He had enough to deal with in his own life without worrying and feeling guilty about how he had affected theirs as well.

Danny lay unmoving in his bed, curled up around a pillow, staring at the blank wall. But while his body was stationary, his mind was not. It was racing with a myriad of questions, memories, and alternate outcomes. Questions of what happened, of what went wrong. Memories of times he used to spend with his family, memories he'd never get a chance to experience.

He kept trying to tell himself that he didn't need them and that what they thought didn't matter, that he rarely saw them in the first place so it didn't matter as much that they never wanted to see him, but it didn't help. He still felt miserable knowing that now it wouldn't be the distance that kept them apart, but him.

What-if questions raced through his mind, contemplating different scenarios, different outcomes. What if he didn't attack his aunt? What if he'd thought the situation through? Would his aunt have still tried to corrupt his family against him? Would it have ended up the same way, or would he still be sleeping in the living room next to the Fenton Portable Beds containing Jazz and his cousins? What if he could've convinced his family otherwise? Was there anything else he could have said to them that would've let to a different outcome? Would they perhaps still be mad at him but not mad enough to leave them forever? Or was there just no way to convince them at all?

He kept wondering the reasons why. Why did his family desert him? Why didn't they love him enough to trust him, to believe him? Why couldn't they look past their job for him, their own flesh and blood? Why couldn't he convince them? Try as he could, he couldn't find a sensible reason for why they'd leave him.

He knew the reasoning for Grandpa Joe and Grandma Mary, or at least thought he did, but when he tried to analyze it, it just didn't make sense. They couldn't love him anymore because of their job, and he'd long known that their job was more important to them than family, witnessed by Uncle Jerry's harsh treatment for leaving the family business, but he wasn't leaving the business. If anything, he was carrying it on, like they'd always wanted him to, and he was doing more hunting than they'd ever done, and more research too. So why would they desert him based on their job? And if they were really as dedicated to their job and the code as they claimed they wouldn't have even given him a chance in the first place. But the fact that they gave him one showed they weren't as dedicated as they claimed, so how could they have kicked them out of the family based on rules that they themselves didn't always follow?

And Grandpa Harry and Grandma Rose? They had no reason to kick him out based solely on what Sophia said. They never even believed all this ghost stuff and were only proved wrong by their existence. But they still never treated all the ghost research and hunting with much credibility, so why were they now? Why now, out of all the arguments his mother and grandparents had fought, did they decide to believe it? Why now, when the consequence was leaving their children and grandchildren forever?

Uncle Steven he could understand, though not necessarily forgive. He knew he'd side with Sophia simply because she was his wife and it would be far worse for him not to side with her because it might result in a divorce, but what he didn't understand were his actions. Sure he agreed that this needed to stay in the family and promised to reinforce it, but it seemed like the only reason he agreed to it was due to Jazz's speech and had nothing to do with his feelings on the subject. And if he was just agreeing with Sophia to save complications at home, why would he have said such a long speech earlier? Why wouldn't he just sadly nod his head or say he agreed unless he really did, deep down, believe what she said and Danny just didn't want to see it?

And what happened to Arya and Elijah? They looked like they would've started their own fan club for him. He still remembered the look on Arya's face when he saved her from the Ghost Zone, the look of jealousy and awe on Elijah's face when Arya told him Danny used his powers to save her. They were like his little shadows, clinging to him, wanting to know everything about him, yet now they were perfectly fine leaving him forever. Sure he attacked their mother and they had every right to be mad at him, but they didn't even say anything, didn't stand up for him, didn't give any indication that they believed otherwise. But that's probably because they didn't. Their vision of him as a great hero was shattered, as was their hero worship of him. No one ever hero worshipped a super villain after all.

As he thought of all the possible reasons for why they would leave him, there was only one that made sense to him, the only one that would explain all their feelings and justify their leaving: he really was evil. It explained everyone's reasoning. Grandma and Grandpa Fenton finally found the justification in the codes they'd been following for so long and at that point had no choice but to follow it. Grandma Rose and Grandpa Harry had heard many times from his mom that ghosts were evil and now with the attack they finally saw all the proof they needed to believe that theory. Steven believed he was evil deep down, though he honestly wanted to give him a shot, and Arya and Elijah no longer saw him as a hero but as an evil villain masquerading as one.

In the end, they'd all seen what Sophia had seen: his evil side. They'd all seen that he had evil inside him. It was the only explanation for why they'd all turn on him, for why they all wanted to leave him, for why they all probably hated him. It was why his pleas to them seemed to fall on deaf ears. Everything he'd promised, everything he'd guaranteed they had already seen was false because they had seen what Danny had been trying so hard not to see, the darkness inside him.

They had all been able to see it, knew it was there without ever physically seeing the dark side like he did. They knew nothing of Danny's evil future and yet they still saw evil within him. Was he still destined to become evil? He thought that by stopping the explosion that he had stopped it forever, but did he really? Was it something that would happen no matter what he did? Was it because there really was darkness inside him like they all believed and he'd just been too deeply submerged in denial to notice?

But what about Tucker, Sam, and Jazz? They all knew of his evil self and saw what horrible things he was going to do, and yet they still believed him to be good, or was that what Danny wanted to believe? Did they still see the darkness lurking inside him like his relatives did and they just never wanted to say anything? Or were they also filled with denial and were thus blind to the darkness like he was?

And his parents, were they also too far in denial to realize it? Or were they just too swept up in parental love to even contemplate the fact that their son might be evil. Maybe Sophia was right, maybe they were biased against him, unable to see the evil side of him because they refused to see it, because he was their son. Their opinion, just like the opinions of his friends, really meant nothing to him. They were all too far into denial or blinded by their feelings for the Danny they thought they knew to really see the darkness inside him.

But if Sophia was right about that, then what else was she right about? Was it really the evil inside him that was responsible for the attack? He tried to think back to the few moments before he attacked and he realized it was pretty clouded. It all just seemed to happen so fast and the thought of it being a ghost overshadowing her came to him so quickly. What if it really was his evil side planting the idea in his head, convincing him that he needed to save Sophia from the ghost that didn't exist and thus attacking her to satisfy its evil urges?

Was he losing the ability to conquer those evil urges? To distinguish between what really was good and evil? When he was attacking her he didn't even consider whether it was evil or not, he just did it because he was so sure it was the solution. But if his evil side really did plant the idea in his head, then wouldn't his conscience have known? Unless his conscience had lost the ability to tell right from wrong. Had his evil side gone as far as to mess with his conscience, the one thing he always told others that was saving him? Would he always have a skewed view of right and wrong and end up doing evil without even thinking it was evil?

Danny buried his head in the pillow, trying to get the thoughts out of his head. He didn't want to think about this, but he couldn't help it. As hard as he tried he just couldn't help admit that there was evil inside of him, and his family members had seen it. As much as he'd tried to convince himself that he was the hero of the town and that he saved people on a daily basis, convince himself that he was good and would never turn evil, the fact still remained that he was evil. Deep down, he was evil, and no amount of good deeds or denial would ever change that. They were right, ghosts are evil, and he is a ghost and as much as he didn't want to admit it, he isn't different from them. He still had ghost inside him, and he still had evil inside him, and nothing would ever change that.

It was a few hours before dinner, and Danny's family was getting fed up with sitting downstairs, doing nothing, while Danny was upstairs wallowing in misery and doubt. Whether he was ready to talk or not, they were going to, and he was going to listen and start coping.

They walked up the stairs, promising they wouldn't leave the room until Danny got their point and showed some signs of cheering up. Jazz took a deep breath and knocked on his door.

"Danny? We've brought you some dinner," she stated, waiting for an answer, but none came. The boy on the other side of the door remained silent, hoping that if he ignored them they'd go away. He didn't want to talk to them, afraid of what they'd have to say.

"Danny, you haven't eaten anything all day. You have to eat something," his mother remarked in a worried tone.

He still remained silent, hoping they'd finally get the hint. They weren't here to give him food, it was just the way they were trying to get him to open the door.

"Danny look, we know you want to be alone and we've respected that, but we need to talk," Sam stated. Danny's ears perked up at her voice and looked towards the door. Sam and Tucker were here? Did Jazz call them and tell them what happened? It made sense she'd do something like that.

"Yeah, bumming yourself up in your room isn't going to solve anything," Tucker stated.

Danny knew Tucker was right, but he didn't care. Holing himself up in solitude wasn't going to solve the problem, but it sure made him feel better.

"Danny, this is getting ridiculous," his mother stated in a more demanding tone. "Sam's right, we've respected your need to be alone long enough, but now I think we really need to talk."

"You can't just keep all this bottled up inside, we need to talk," Jazz added after more silence emerged from the other side of the door.

Would it just be better to talk to them? He knew it wouldn't do any good but at least he could just get it over with. They really seemed to want to talk with him and he knew that they were anything if not stubborn. They wouldn't give up until they talked to him. They obviously thought they had something important to say that could help him and even though he knew nothing would help, he might as well make them happy and let them try.

"Fine," he answered weakly, saying his first word of the day, his voice choppy and broken from lack of use.

They entered the room, seeing Danny lying on his bed, propped up against the headboard with his knees to his chest, hugging a pillow between his chest and knees. His eyes had lost their sparkle and instead he gazed at them with dull eyes reminding them of a cloudy day. His hair was tousled and looked like he'd been tossing and turning around his bed all day.

Jazz, Tucker, and Sam sat on the edge of Danny's bed while Maddie and Jack brought in chairs for themselves.

"Hey Danny," Sam stated. "Jazz told us what happened. How're you feeling?" Danny simply looked down, not answering that one. They should all know how he felt. "I know, stupid question, but I had to ask."

"Look Danny, we've talked about it all morning and there are a number of things we need to say," Jazz began, presiding over the pep talk as usual. "We just want you to know that no matter what we stand completely by what we said last night. We believe you, completely and without question, and there's nothing in the world that can change that."

"Jazz is right. We're here for you, no matter what," his mother chorused.

"And we don't blame you for anything. You did the right thing, despite what they say. Au-, Sophia," Jazz corrected, unable to call her an aunt any longer "was here looking for an excuse to prove you were evil. No matter what you did she still would have pulled the same kind of stunt."

"But everyone wouldn't necessarily believe her then," Danny remarked bitterly.

"Danny, we can keep traveling to the world of 'what if?' but it's not going to help make what happened any better or less unbearable. What happened happened and there is no way to change that, so you're just going to have to get over it. You thought she was being overshadowed and had every right to believe that and you acted on that belief in the proper manner, like you did with Mr. Dickens. True she wasn't being overshadowed, but you still did what you should have done.

"And as for the others, you did all you could do, we did all we could do. At that point there was no way we would have been able to convince them otherwise. They had already come thinking it in the first place. Like they said, it was a test, and they were most likely going to find you guilty no matter what."

"But why?" Danny asked, the question he'd been wondering all day bursting out of his mouth. "Why were they already biased against me? Why couldn't they love me no matter what? They're my grandparents! My cousins! My aunt and uncle!"

Danny's outburst shocked them all, unsure of how to best answer the question because they were all unsure of the true answer themselves.

"They weren't thinking clearly," Maddie volunteered.

"They weren't thinking at all," Sam remarked bitterly.

"You don't know do you? You have no clue why. Well I do. I've been thinking about it all morning and there's only one possible explanation: that everything they said was right."

"Don't even think that," Jazz reprimanded. "I never want to hear you think that or say that again. She is not right and she never will be."

"Then why does what she said make so much sense?"

"Because right now you're doubting yourself and when that happens you think anything bad said against you makes sense, but you have to know that it doesn't! There are so many flaws with her logic, so many holes and errors if you'll just stop doubting yourself long enough to see them!"

"But why would I be doubting myself if there was no basis for doubt in the first place?"

"There isn't!" Sam yelled.

"Yes there is; we all know there is, and my future explains it clearly enough."

"That's not your future anymore Danny," Tucker comforted.

"How do you know? How do any of us know?"

"Because before today you've never doubted it. You told me once that before you fought your future self you swore you'd never turn into him, and up until now you've had that same attitude. If there really was a basis for doubt would you have been so sure then? The only reason you're unsure now is because of the lies she planted in your head!"

"Or what if I finally realized the truth?"

"If this really was the truth, than you would've realized it before, like when you were fighting him, or when you were talking to Clockwork afterwards. Trust me Danny, you're just filling yourself with doubt and it removes your ability to think straight. You know you're not evil and you know you're never going to turn evil. You've done so much good for this town, and I highly doubt you do it just to keep the evil side at bay."

"But if it's not that then why did they turn against me?"

"Because that's what they believe," his mother clarified. "They may think that all ghosts are evil and years of traditions passed down to them may say so, but it's not true. It's not because they actually saw the evil inside you, it's because that's what they've been brought up to believe."

"Trust us, we know what we're talking about. We were under the same delusion before too," Jack added.

"But then why could you see through it and not them?"

"Because we've actually seen ghosts and we know you. The only ghost they've ever seen is you and as such they have no experience with ghosts. We've seen plenty and we know what they're capable of, and we know that you will never be able to do anything like them. But they, having no experience, think that attacking someone is considered evil when really the real evil ghosts do so much more than just that."

"Think about it Danny," Sam proposed. "If you really were evil, would you hold back when attacking Valerie? Would you sacrifice yourself to save people on a daily basis? Would you fight ghosts instead of aligning with them? Would you stop plans of world domination instead of creating your own? Everything you do, all your actions show that you're good. They contradict what evil is."

"But there's still an evil side in me."

"Of course there is," Jazz stated. "There's an evil side in everyone. What do you think convinces people to rape or to kill? Ghosts have evil sides, and people have evil sides, but not everyone succumbs to them and neither will you. You've had an evil side long before even becoming a ghost but it's not nearly as strong as your good side."

"Remember that time you wanted to steal that video game when you were little?" Tucker asked. "You wanted that thing so much but didn't have enough money to buy it, so you told us you were going to steal it, but you couldn't do it. You later told us you didn't because it would be wrong to steal, so you didn't. It's the same thing now. Sure you'll be tempted to do evil things and granted those evil things'll be a lot worse than just stealing a video game because you've got nifty powers, but just like before you'll stop yourself because you know they're wrong."

"See Danny, just like the rest of us you're fighting a constant battle and you're winning because, to be horribly cliché, good always triumphs over evil, even in the mini-battles inside your heart," Jazz remarked.

"But what if I'm not winning? What if I can't tell good from bad anymore and unknowingly succumb to it? Before I attacked her, I didn't even think that what I was doing would be wrong, but it was."

"Of course you didn't, and were we in your position we wouldn't either. She was exhibiting all the characteristics of being overshadowed. I would've done it too," Jazz admitted.

"Not me," Sam remarked while the family glared at her. "I would've attacked her just out of what she was saying."

"I should have waited, made sure. Goad her enough to make her eyes flash or something."

"Danny, I'm not going to tell you that it wasn't a mistake, because it was, but it was a mistake that wasn't your fault. Based on what she was saying and the way she was acting it was entirely probable that she was being overshadowed by that one ghost and all of us would've made the same mistake. You can't blame yourself for it," Maddie comforted.

"It wasn't your evil side convincing you to attack her, it was your powers of deduction. You fit the clues together and came up with a reasonable theory. It was wrong, but just because it was wrong doesn't mean it was evil. That's just what your doubt wants you to think."

"And it wasn't even that big of a deal anyways!" Sam pointed out. "I mean, I totally beat the crap out of Dash the other day, does that make me evil? Shooting an ecto-blast at her did about as much damage as punching her. And it doesn't even hurt that much either, and we all know that. We've all been hit by an ecto-blast at some point or another. She's just playing it up, trying to make you miserable because she uses ghosts as her scapegoats."

"She wants everyone to think it's a big thing, including you, when in reality it's not, and were they around ghosts more often they would have seen that," Maddie added.

Danny stared at them, a ray of sunlight finally penetrating through the darkness that enveloped his mind. They were right, all he had done was shoot an ecto-blast at her. He'd done much worse stuff to other people and people had done much worse stuff to him too. Dash shoved him into a locker everyday and while he was definitely considered a jerk, he wasn't evil. Sure they had a right to call him a bully, but they had no real right to call him evil based on something as small as that.

Maybe they were just being prejudiced? Suddenly all his theories on his relatives seeing the evil inside him seemed to fall apart. They couldn't have seen the evil inside him from only one little act of violence. A punch from Dash didn't allow him to see inside his inner heart and seek out the darkness there, and they shouldn't have been able to see anything from his attack either.

While he by no means believed he didn't have an evil side, because he knew more than anyone that he had one, it wasn't overpowering him, causing him to do evil acts. It was as dormant as it had always been, just waiting for his human half to be released from it so it could take over.

"See Danny? It's all in your head. You're just making a big deal about this because you think it is a big deal, but really it isn't. Sure you hurt her, but in the end everything happened because she blew it out of proportions."

"But they're still gone, and they'll never talk to me again. Sounds like a big deal to me."

The support team was silent for a few moments before Jazz finally found the right words of comfort. "I know it's hard and I know it's not going to be easy, but you just need to forget about them and deal with it. They're not going to change their minds and they're not going to come crawling back for forgiveness. You just have to learn to accept and deal with that. They're gone and not a part of our lives anymore and there's nothing we can do about it."

"Remember when Val's mom died?" Tucker asked. "She was so depressed she forgot to be mean to us and even talked to us for a little bit. And then Paulina came over and asked what she was doing and then she remembered that we were losers and shouldn't be talking to us, but the point was that she talked to us in the first place and—"

"Tucker, what's the point of this?" Sam asked impatiently.

"Oh, right. Well, it took her awhile, but she started getting back to her old self and finally found a way to enjoy herself again. You've got to do the same thing. Sure they didn't die, but they're as good as dead to you as far as they're concerned, so you just have to be like Valerie and move on. Sure it's going to be rough, like it was for her, but you have to get back to being yourself again. And I'm sure the pain'll never go away, just ask Valerie, but you can at least try to mask it and eventually things'll get better."

"Wow Tucker, I'm impressed. That was actually pretty deep," Sam complimented.

"I know. I do have my moments," he remarked proudly, sitting up straighter.

"Yeah, once you stop rambling and finally make your point," Sam chided. Danny felt a slight smile grace his lips. This was why he cherished his friends so much. No matter what, they had a way to make him smile, even if it was only a little one.

Tucker looked ready to retort, but Jazz cut him off. "As weird as it sounds, Tucker actually has a really good point. To us, they're dead, and we just need to get over them and get on with our lives."

Jazz's inclusion of the word 'us' brought Danny out of his momentary cheeriness and reminded him of yet another reason for why he'd locked himself up in his room all day. Not only had he severed himself from the family, but he'd severed the rest of his family from them as well. If he felt bad about being distanced by his grandparents, Jazz would feel the same way, maybe even worse because it wasn't even her fault.

"But what about you guys? The only reason you're separated from them is because of me!"

The comforters sighed as one, knowing this was coming and knowing this wasn't going to be fun. Now not only did they have to battle his doubt, but his guilt as well.

"Danny, we chose this," his mother stated. "We realized that it was going to be you or them, and we chose you."

"But they're your parents, your brothers and sisters! You shouldn't have been forced to choose in the first place!"

"I know, but that was beyond our power. That was in their playing court, and based on what they'd said and their actions, they forced us to choose, and so we did."

"And never once have we thought we made the wrong choice," his father added.

"Besides, after seeing that side of them tonight, I didn't want to be a part of that family anyways. I don't want to be related to people who would just kick you out of your family as easily as discarding a gum wrapper, not caring for the consequences. Trust me, this was the right decision, and it's for the better in the end."

"But Mom, Dad, what about you? No ghost hunting?"

"Oh sweetheart, we aren't really giving up ghost hunting," his mother comforted. "We're just not going to abide by their stupid laws anymore."

"After last night we finally realized how bogus they were," his father clarified.

"So we're solo hunters now, not affiliated with the Fenton ghost hunting way, and like Jazz said, it's for the better. No, we're free to find the real truth behind the ghosts, and not just the theories passed down through the generations by ghost hunters who'd never even seen a ghost."

"Who knows, maybe we'll just start a whole new generation of hunters!" Jack shouted cheerfully.

"You're just trying to say that to cheer me up," Danny replied with a slight smile.

"So? Is it working?"

"A little."

"Look Danny, none of us blame you for anything," Jazz remarked as she scooted closer to him, placing her hand on his knee. "We're all perfectly fine never seeing them again, and that's the truth. And I know you probably don't believe half the things we've said tonight and have a load of depressing thoughts to counter most of them, but you have to trust us that what we're saying is right. You're filled with doubt and guilt and you can't trust your own thoughts; they'll only tell you what they want you to hear and not necessarily the truth. We're telling you the truth, and you just have to remember that. It's not the truth we want you to believe, it's not some truth that we don't fully believe ourselves, it's the actual truth. Your mind is in a world of grey right now, mixing the right and wrong together to create a jumbled mess of grey. Come back to the white, the real truth of the situation. Don't let it be darkened down with the black," she finished with a kiss to his forehead.

"We're going to let you get some rest and think over what we've said, and do think it over. We'll come back later to see how you're doing," his mother stated. Danny nodded his head while she stood up, smiling. "And Danny, please eat something."

"I'll try," he added while she smiled wider, kissing him on the forehead and joining Jazz near the door.

"I'm really proud of you Danny," his father gushed as he wrapped him into a giant hug. "You're handling this so well and I'm so proud of you, and don't forget that."

"We'll be back in a few hours to pull a traditional 'keep Danny's mind off the bad things with video games'," Tucker promised after Jack finally let go. Danny nodded and Tucker patted him on the back fondly.

"And don't expect us to go easy on you either," Sam remarked as she too stood up.

"Don't worry, I won't."

"Good, because that just takes the fun out of it." She patted Danny on the back too, but before she turned around she seemed to make up her mind and gave Danny a hug. "You'll be fine, I know it," she whispered in his ear before pulling away and hurrying out of the room quickly, the others following after her, leaving Danny alone to his less depressing thoughts.

A few hours later Danny was mindlessly playing video games with his friends, trying to put all thoughts of the conversation from his mind, though it didn't always work.

After they'd left Danny started thinking about what his family had said, realizing that they were right, like always, though it took some time for this realization to take place. Like Jazz had predicted, he had filled his head with doubt and denial after they left, but their words of comfort had helped him out and while he was still sad and prone to have bouts of depression and silence, he tried to keep the doubts out of his head and focus on the things that really mattered.

He wasn't becoming more evil and he wasn't entirely responsible for the attack. It was a simple mistake that his aunt had blown out of proportion. He had hardly even hurt her in the first place. He wasn't evil, any more than a bully at school was. And as for his family, he'd just have to get over it. Sure, this was the hardest part to accept and there were no really encouraging words to comfort him, but he just knew that he needed to, just like he needed to accept everything else.

But still, it was hard for him to accept that he was never going to see his extended family again. He could still remember all the fun times they'd share during their summer trips. Games of Marco Polo in the pool, trips to the zoo, playing tag with Elijah and Arya in the hot summer air and then going inside for lemonade and cookies, cuddling next to his grandparents during storms…

"Danny, are you all right?" Sam asked, her voice concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just, getting lost in my thoughts again."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why?"

Sam simply pointed to the game station, which was floating off the ground.

"Now, I don't think it's a ghost doing that, since your ghost sense would have gone off, so what I really want to know is what's causing the game station to levitate?"

"Um…" Danny remarked. He had a slight suspicion as to who was behind it, and it seemed like Tucker and Sam had the same feeling.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Tucker asked.

"New power," Sam and Danny responded.

"New power," he repeated.

"But why?" Danny asked, sticking his hand under the still levitating game consul.

"Easy. Just like before, you're depressed, so the energy's giving you a new power: levitation."

"Oh, I think it's more than levitation," Sam remarked.

"What makes you say that?" Tucker asked.

"Because if you remember the game station was on the other side of the television."

"So? Isn't that levitation?" Tucker asked.

"No, that would be considered telekinesis."

"Same story, different chapter, who cares. Same general principle. So Danny, can you make the tv move?"

"Tucker, this is not a good time to—"

"I dunno, maybe. I don't even know how put this down yet, if I'm even the one doing it."

"We all know you are. C'mon, just try," Tucker goaded.

Danny stared at the television and, like with the explosive power, concentrated hard on it, willingly filling his head for the first time today with sad thoughts. Immediately the television started to rise off the ground, quickly dropping once Danny lost concentration due to sheer shock.

"Wow, that's pretty cool," Tucker replied, before he started floating off the ground too. "Okay, but that's not cool! Danny, put me down!"

Danny smiled, his first real smile that day. He finally knew how to occupy his mind, and it wasn't video games.

Jack and Maddie were in the process of taking all the pictures of their extended family and hiding them in a box destined for the attic when they head a knock on the door. Jack and Maddie looked at each other, unsure of who could possibly be at the door. They walked towards the door and opened it to reveal an auburn haired man with glasses holding a recorder in his hand. Instantly Jack and Maddie reached behind the door and pulled out their hidden ecto-guns, pointing them at the visitor.

"Oh no, no more reporters. Danny's done enough interviews and had enough press about him, so you can just leave him alone or so help me I will shoot this thing." She'd had enough with reporters and press. They were the cause of all the pain Danny was going through right now and she was going to do everything within her power to prevent another reporter from getting near her son again, even if it meant going to prison for her actions.

"Mrs. Fenton, I'm not here to do an interview. Danny asked me to drop this off and…"

"I don't think Danny goes around talking to reporters. Come up with a better story or just leave."

"It's not a story. He stopped by my office yesterday and…"

"Why would Danny go to a reporter's office?" Jack asked suspiciously. "He'd never do something like that."

Then it clicked in Maddie's head. Her grip tightened on the gun and her eyes narrowed. "He did go to visit a reporter yesterday, the one that blew his secret."

Andrew looked to the ground in shame. "Yes, it was me, but I'm trying to fix it. That's why—"

"Do you know how much you ruined his life? Do you know what you've done to him? And now you dare to show your face here? Well, how about we repay the favor? Jack, put him in the Fenton Stockades."

Jack's eyes lit up as he grabbed the misunderstood reporter and started dragging him to the basement.

"No, please! I didn't mean for all this to happen! I'm just trying to set everything right! Danny—"

"Will now be able to at least have some closure knowing that the man who ruined his life will be suffering. Maybe now you'll think twice before revealing someone's secret life."

They continued their journey to the basement, dragging him into the kitchen as Jazz started walking down the stairs, seeing two pairs of feet disappearing into the kitchen.

"Mom, Dad, what are you doing?" Jazz yelled as she ran into the kitchen, recognizing the man in their vengeful grasp.

"This is the reporter that blew Danny's secret," Maddie explained.

"So we're going to put him in the Fenton Stockades!" Jack shouted joyfully.

"Mom, Dad, stop! You have no idea what you're doing! He's trying to help Danny!" she yelled as she ran towards the trio, trying to loosen her father's grip on the reporter.

"What are you talking about?"

"He has a recording of the ghost that gave him the tip-off!"

"Oh," Maddie remarked as Jack released his hold on the reporter. "Well, why didn't you say so?"

"I tried," Andrew stated as he rubbed his arm while Jazz helped him stand up, her face filled with apology.

"Oh, sorry."

"Don't worry about it; I probably deserved that. Where's Danny?"

"He's upstairs in his room. Come on, I'll show you up," Jazz offered. "And just a warning, he's not in a very good mood right now. Something really bad happened last night, so it's probably best for this to be nice and short."

Andrew nodded his head, understanding completely. They walked into the room, Jazz rolling her eyes at the various floating objects while Andrew looked on in amazement. Upon seeing the reporter Danny's concentration was shot and the objects were either dropped or thrown across the room, Danny wincing as he heard a few crashes.

"Mr. Massey? What are you doing here?"

"Andrew remember?"

"Oh, right, sorry."

"But in response to your question, I have the recording for you," he replied as he held the recorder out for Danny.

Danny grabbed it, looking at it in awe. After all the trouble and pain he'd been through, this little device would help solve it all, help him finally get some closure, make him feel a little better.

"Thank you so much. You don't know how much this means to me."

"No, thank you, for your forgiveness. You were right in my office about what you said, and this is my way to repay you. I hope you find what you want on it."

"Thank you, I will."

"Good luck Danny Fenton," Andrew waved as he stepped out the door.

"Bye," Danny replied as he watched his retreating figure walk down the stairs.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Sam asked impatiently. "Push play!"

Danny sat on his bed, his two friends sitting next to him as he held the recorder out. He took a deep breath and pushed play.

"Mr. Massey, I have a proposition for you. If you want to be credited with the greatest news story of all time, then head to the top floor of the abandoned building on House Street with your camera this coming Friday around three and make sure you plant a speaker below the manhole just outside the building. If you do this, you will receive a story that will make you famous beyond your comprehension, and all you have to do in return is destroy this recording after you hear it. Don't disappoint."

The recording stopped there, but Danny had stopped listening a long time ago, the instructions washing over him as his mind stayed focused on the voice. Danny recognized that voice. It was the voice that haunted his dreams ever since he met him, that sent shivers up his spine and filled his heart with dread.

It was his evil self.

A/N: Wow, I can't believe it. I revealed it. After eighteen chapters of keeping it a secret I finally revealed it. I hope it wasn't too glaringly obvious! I hope no one's depressed! God, that would be worse than obvious...

Anyways, I also hope you liked all the pep talky angstiness in the beginning! It took a long time to write and plan it out, so here's hoping it turned out well!