*As requested, I made this a two shot for you guys! Hope you enjoy!*

The whole crowd was staring at him, eager to see his reaction. He mouthed silently for a second, unable to form a coherent thought.

"Well, it looks like my work here is done" smirked Ember, shooting away before he could catch her. But he had bigger problems to deal with.

Tucker and Sam were staring up at him, worry etched into their faces. He shot them a panicked glance as he hovered over the pitch. He had no idea what to do!

"Fenton... is... Phantom?" Dash asked nobody in particular, struggling to grasp the concept. The puny punching bag he had been wailing on since third grade was also his hero? That made no sense at all! And yet...

It should have been obvious. They even had the same name! Phantom used the Fenton adults' equipment all the time, and they both looked alike. It would explain why Fenton always skipped classes, just before a ghost would attack, and how Phantom could disappear for days at a time. How could they have missed it?

Meanwhile, Mr Lancer was staring at the ghost boy with new eyes. He was stunned. After a few seconds, the thought suddenly occurred to him that it was surprising Danny Fenton turned up to classes at all, let alone late. As for homework, he had naturally assumed that the boy was too busy playing the latest video game, rather than protecting the town. He regretted being so hard on him. Then, the scientific part of his brain kicked in, and he began to wonder how it was physically possible for a ghost to be human.

Someone else was wondering the exact same thing. She was dressed in a hi-tech crimson suit, having changed into it immediately after Phantom's appearance. She had been about to join the fray when Paulina's words had frozen her in her tracks. Sweet, innocent Danny Fenton? It wasn't possible for her ex boyfriend to be the same person as the arrogant, evil Danny Phantom! There was no way! Unless...

She scowled as she realised the only rational explanation. Phantom was controlling one of her only friends. She didn't know how he was doing it, but she did know she had to stop him. No matter what.

"What did you do to Danny?" she demanded, shooting towards him on her jet glider.

"What?" he spluttered, dodging her board. "I didn't do anything! I... uh... I don't know who you're talking about!"

"Liar!" she snarled, pivoting gracefully in the air to face him once more.

"Really!" he cried, holding up his hands in surrender.

"Yeah right, ghost kid!" she spat, lifting a gun and levelling it at his head. He flinched. "Now" she said calmly "tell me what you did to Danny or I pull the trigger!"

"I didn't do anything!" he insisted.

"Wrong answer" she hissed, and she fired.

He screwed up his eyes, but the shot never hit him. He opened them again to see that he was encased in a glowing green shield, like a bubble. His face lit up with excitement.

"Wow! I didn't know I could do that!" he exclaimed gleefully.

As she watched his reaction to the new power, Valerie slowly lowered the gun, all her anger draining away. He was just so much like her Danny, in that moment, that she began to believe him. Maybe he wasn't all that bad after all...

He looked up and met her eyes, as the shield faded out of existence. She was staring at him, but for once there was no hostility in her eyes. Instead, there was regret, tinged with betrayal. He sighed, and drifted out over the pitch, facing the crowd.

"Fenton?" stuttered Dash.

He smiled wryly.

"In the flesh, so to speak."

"You're... dead?" he asked hesitantly.

"No, I don't think so. I mean, I hope not, 'cause that would suck." he said with a grin, trying to break the tension. Dash just stared. "Look" he sighed. "It would be really helpful for me if you could all keep this quiet. I mean, I know it's unlikely to last long, but..." he glanced around at this, spotting Star texting furiously. She saw him looking at her, and whipped her phone behind her back with an innocent smile. With a sigh, he drifted down to land on the pitch, where he was greeted by his two best friends, who had scrambled out of the stands. Slowly, he closed his eyes, and let the bright white rings wash over him. There was a gasp as the few sceptics left in the crowd were forced to see the truth. As the rings washed over him, Danny Phantom transformed into Danny Fenton. "The truth is, I'm a halfa. Half human, half ghost."

He looked around anxiously at the expressions of his peers. They ranged between fear (Kwan), excitement (Paulina), and downright confusion (Dash).

"But... how?" asked the top quarterback uneasily.

"Very good question, very long story. The short version is that it was a lab accident. A very painful lab accident." He and his friends all flinched at the memory. "I guess you could say I'm half dead" he shrugged. Then he smirked. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a rock star to pummel"

And with that, he summoned the bright rings around himself, and transformed back to Phantom. He took to the skies amid the cheers of his classmates, and smiled to himself.

Maybe this wouldn't be so bad.

*What do you think? I'm not sure if the ending seems a bit rushed, or if Val went a bit OOC there... anyways, review! :D*