Edit: 5/22/18: Next wave of grammar fixes and wording tweaks or some scenes altered to avoid cliches. Took out AN question and answer sections.

Let's get to it already!

zzz- normal separation

ooo- dream or vision separation

Mental thoughts or distant speaking

"Hide not your talents, they for use were made, What's a sundial in the shade?" ~ Benjamin Franklin

zzz

A few days later. Saturday.

The day found Danny and Sam, walking side by side, heading towards the Mall. Tucker and Valerie had been busy with other things, but it hadn't mattered too much since the couple had a specific goal in mind or at least one of them did.

"I don't know about this Sam…" Danny nervously and shoved his hands into his green sweatshirt's single large front pocket, with a tiny scowl on his face.

"What? Your house is going to get overpacked with these things if you keep it up at this rate. They're too beautiful to just get rid of. Plus, what's the harm in a bit of extra cash? It's good for a college fund later," Sam argued back, shifting the paper sack she had hanging over one arm. She had on her black coat again and some black jeans due to the cool weather.

"Beautiful? I don't know about that," Danny mumbled with embarrassment before taking a quick glance at the mysterious bag.

"Danny, they're artisan quality, trust me on this. After seeing all the things my mother's bought, I know. Have you decided on a penname?"

Danny gulped. "Why do I need a pen name again?"

"It's common for people to do that. It's especially helpful since people may wonder how you made them and that could get iffy real fast. If they don't know who you are, they won't be able to pester you. I'll deliver them and people won't have any clue who it could be since my parents do have tons of connections."

"Uh right… How about… TheEidolon? I think that's another name for a ghost. Clockwork mentioned it once."

"Huh, I like it. TheEidolon it is."

The couple found the Art Gallery that was near the back of the Mall. Danny hung behind and wandered off towards the Arcade to busy himself while Sam dealt with everything.

zzz

Sam walked carefully with the sculptures Danny had created in her bag tickling softly. She finally found someone to talk to about selling them to the gallery.

"Oh, so you wanted to sell your sculptures?" A young woman spoke as she led Sam off the gallery floor and towards a back room where the artist in charge, worked.

"Oh, they aren't mine. They were made by a friend and he wants to keep his identity a secret."

"Oh, I see. Well maybe Mr. Fundoo will approve." She pushed up a curtain to the very back, only for a can of brushes to be thrown at them. Sam ducked instinctually from all the ghost fights she'd been in, but the young woman wasn't as lucky and got paint water splashed on her.

"Bah! You two interrupted me at the most inopportune time! I was this close," he pinched his fingers together to emphasis his point, "This close to finding inspiration for my latest work!"

Mr. Fundoo, as he was called, was a lanky man with grey hair under a beret, a green polo, and short khakis. He sighed after pinching the bridge of his nose and motioned Sam over. "Come, come. What is it you wanted, girl?"

Sam bit back a snide remark and evened her tone. "I have some sculptures that my friend made. He wanted to see how much he could get for them. I was thinking a seventy thirty split would be fair, due to their quality."

Mr. Fundoo scoffed. "Seventy thirty she says. How about forty sixty? I'm sure they're lovely…" He drawled in a sarcastic manner.

Sam growled and pulled one of the sculptures out and slammed in on the table, being made of ecto-ice, they weren't brittle like crystal or glass and didn't melt like normal ice.

Mr. Fundoo and the young woman, froze. The particular one that Sam had put on the table was a sculpture of Wulf. His person was done in smooth and perfect detail, down to the tiny toothpick sized claws coming from his paws. He had a large toothy smile on his face that made him look much friendlier than what many would see the ghostly beast as. Sam then, much less aggressively, placed the rest of her cargo on the table. There was one of two Ectopusses, one blue and one green, swirling around each other, their colors dictated not by color but by how clear the ice was which comprised them. One was of Skulker, another of Ember, the Dairy King Ghost, the Box Ghost, Dora, and Youngblood in a Cowboy outfit.

"No, they aren't made out of ice, crystal, glass, or any precious gem. I will not disclose what they are made of, though it is not any kind of dangerous substance. I witnessed my friend work on one of these and it is a decently long process. Now about that seventy thirty deal…"

Mr. Fundoo rubbed his chin thoughtfully, though it was obvious that he liked what he saw. Everyone in Amity or anyone who came to Amity had some kind of interest in ghosts and working with that market was a good business move. Pieces like this, especially of some of the ghosts that came to this town would be great.

"I'm assuming your mystery friend wants to put himself out in the form of a penname?"

"Yes, TheEidolon."

Mr. Fundoo smiled. "I like the creativity of your friend's mind. TheEidolon it is. I accept your offer. Where would you like the money to be sent?"

Sam pulled a card out from her clutch she'd brought with her and slid it across the table. "To the account attached to this debit card. It should be under the name of Sam Manson."

Mr. Fundoo turned and nodded to the young woman who took the card and walked off to settle the financial matters.

Mr. Fundoo grabbed her attention. "So, about pricing-"

Sam nodded. "It is an interesting situation. I'm thinking due to what it's made out of, we can consider it not any more expensive than paper. So, the price would mostly be labor. The Ectopuses are the simplest and they took about two and a half hours to complete. I'd say a hundred dollars for it as a standard price. If people are wanting to get more than one he can practically make identical pieces and even commissions if they want it to look a certain way."

"A hundred hm? at a seventy thirty? I suppose. And the others?"

"Well here's what I think-" Sam began.

zzz

"Wait, I'll get seventy dollars for the Ectopus one?"

"Yep."

"And the Wulf one?"

"Around three hundred fifty is your share."

"Wow. That's amazing."

"There's only one thing."

"What?"

Sam grimaced at his question as Danny finished his game at the arcade machine. He frowned when the Game Over screen flashed in his face. He turned away and started walking with Sam.

"Mr. Fundoo wants to commission you to make a Danny Phantom figurine for him. He'll pay full price for a Danny Phantom. He wants to display it with the others that are for sale as a draw."

"Wow, that's awkward, but I guess I'll do it."

"I'll deliver it when it's done and periodically funnel the profit into your account."

"It's sounds like we're part of some kind of fonzy scheme."

"Danny, it's Ponzi scheme."

"Oh, oops." Danny smiled sheepishly, making Sam smile back at him.

The couple continued walking and left the front of the mall, when a breath of blue air came from Danny's mouth.

"Whelp, that figurine will have to wait."

As soon as he'd said that and before Sam could reply, a watch he was wearing buzzed. It was a communicator that his mother had created for everyone in Team Phantom. She'd given Jack and Danny theirs for Thanksgiving to make up for the Turkey having attacked the family mid-meal. The day after, Danny had delivered the same devices to Sam, Tucker, and Valerie. He clicked a button and his mother's voice came through.

"Dear, just in case you didn't know, there's a ghost… Johnny 30?"

"No mom, Johnny 13. Dang, not again, Johnny. I'll be there in a flash mom, don't shoot yet."

Danny laughed a bit when he heard his dad whine at being denied the chance to fire. He rolled his eyes at Sam. "Johnny probably made Kitty mad again and is looking for me. He likes making things difficult for me when Kitty's mad."

"At least drop me at home and see you tomorrow? Tucker and Valerie wanted to have a movie night at my house."

"It's a promise."

Danny smirked and jumped into an alleyway before transforming. He picked Sam up bridal style and turned them both invisible before flying off. After placing her at her doorstep, he assured her that Johnny didn't require her, Tuck's, Valerie's, or technically even his parent's help. He then said goodbye and flew off.

He gained a bit of notice when flying over the city now visibly and waved a couple times at the younger children who shouted his name. In no time, he was at the park.

"I don't know who you oldies think you are, but you aren't going to stop me."

Danny came from the trees to see his parents aiming at Johnny, who was on his bike.

"You stay right there until Phantom comes, you understand?" Maddie declared.

"What's with you two being buddy buddy with Phantom all of a sudden?" Johnny grumbled and happened to look over and spot Danny. "Speak of the devil."

"Johnny, did you make Kitty mad again?"

"Shove it!"

"Johnny… What happened this time?"

"I'm not saying!"

"Fine then I'm going to go ask Kitty her side of the story." Danny then started to float away when Johnny bit his lip.

"Wait! Don't go to Kitty, she won't tell the story right."

Danny smirked and turned back around before flying over closer to Johnny as Maddie and Jack started to lower their weapons. Both parents watched quietly and with intrigue as their son interacted with the ghost.

"So, what happened?"

Johnny sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "It was stupid. She asked me if she looked good in the outfit she was trying out and I was busy watching the TV and I said she looked the same no matter what she wore. She got angry and started yelling at me. It snowballed from there and here I am blowing off steam."

"Uh well, definitely not the best thing to say to your girlfriend." Danny chuckled.

"I don't follow."

"Honey-" Both Johnny and Danny looked over to see Maddie approaching. "You never tell a lady that she looks the same no matter what she wears. Especially if she was trying to surprise you and make you happy. She wants to look good for you."

Johnny gulped and scratched his scalp. "Uh, didn't think of it that way."

"Go tell her your sorry and that you were distracted. Tell her she looks beautiful and mean it," Danny instructed.

Johnny nodded and looked away dreamily. "She is beautiful. She's been beautiful since the day we both bit the dust and even before."

"Tell her that!" Danny exclaimed.

Johnny grumbled and punched Danny in the shoulder playfully. "Shut up, jerk. Since when did you become a romance professional, clueless?"

Danny flushed in embarrassment before he smirked. "Get your ghostly butt in gear."

"Fine fine." Johnny kicked the kickstand out from under his bike and acted as though he was going to motor off. He paused and looked back at Danny and Maddie and Jack. "Oh, and congrats on getting your old man and lady to not rip you apart… what was it? Molecule by molecule? I didn't ace Chemistry as you might have guessed."

Danny laughed nervously. "Uh yeah, that's a plus, how'd you-"

"Kid, no body switches sides unless new info is provided. I'm guessing Plasmius goofed up? He's prideful to a fault."

"Yep."

"Righteous, serves that jerk right."

"Later Johnny, try to stay out of trouble."

"Tch, right like that's going to happen." Johnny smirked and then revved his bike and took off back towards Fenton Works and the portal.

"So, is he a good ghost or a bad ghost?" Jack asked and scratched his head.

Danny smiled and turned to face his parents. "Well… he's… a work in progress?"

Maddie smiled. "I see. I understand Danny."

Danny smiled and looked around. Seeing no one, he transformed back into Fenton.

"I'm still trying to memorize all those files you have on ghosts, Danno."

Maddie nodded and frowned slightly as Danny and his father started walking to the Fenton RV to get back home. She'd seen the number of files he had and knew they'd received two less than the total number of folders in his list. She wondered why he hadn't given them those two as well but hoped Danny would eventually be comfortable enough to share without prompting. After all, what greater secret could he be hiding than his and Vlad's other halves?

"Hey Mads! Did you hear that? Danny's sculptures are at the Art Gallery!"

Maddie snapped up from her thoughts and smiled when she registered what her husband had said. She looked at Danny and beamed. "Oh Danny! That's wonderful! I knew my babies were special!"

"Mom!"

"What? It's true!"

The Fenton family headed home and chatted happily about various things as they went.

zzz

Casper High two days later.

"You guys do remember what's coming up soon, right?"

"Yes Tucker, your birthday. The seventh of December." Danny replied in slight irritation since Tucker had reminded them multiple times that morning. Sam was about to add something to Danny's response when Valerie spoke.

"Uh, guys?" Valerie asked and brought Tucker, Sam, and Danny from their talk.

"Oh uh, whoa." Danny gulped.

The four friends stood in the center of the hallway as people were walking everywhere with t-shirts on that were similar. They were black tees with a blue ghostly flame underlining a word, or name more precisely, that said, "TheEidolon." They overheard Paulina talking to Dash.

"My Papa purchased one of every piece he's made so far."

"Ah man, I've only got a Walker cause he looks like an outlaw." Dash grinned. "Do you stare at the Danny Phantom one?"

Paulina growled. "Shut up Dash. Phantom won't be hearing from me any time soon. He'll find out how lonely it can be without me and come crawling, you'll see."

Sam deadpanned and Danny face-palmed.

"Well your budding business is going well," Tucker whistled softly. "I wonder who started selling the tees?"

"Who knows, could be any graphic artist in the area that's a fan." Valerie shrugged.

"Come on, now I have two personas I have to keep under wraps?" Danny groaned.

"Hey Fentonia!"

"Darn it."

Dash marched over and glared at Danny. Danny wasn't as tall as Dash but he no longer had to look up to see eye to eye though.

"What is it, Dash?"

"What piece of TheEidolon's do you own?"

Danny frowned and then shrugged. "My parents let me get a Phantom one since they're thinking he's the only ghost that acts good. They're still suspicious, but they weren't mad about it."

"How the heck did you get a Phantom? TheEidolon only does them through commission."

"Uh, I had a commission done through Mr. Fundoo? Duh. My parents are pretty successful inventors and joined up with Axion, we choose to live in Fenton Works instead of anywhere else. I can afford a gift like that for myself."

Dash growled. "You watch your back, Fenton. I've still got revenge in the works and no nerd's going to get in the way this time."

"I wasn't expecting anything else from you Dash," Danny grunted and folded his arms. Sam grabbed his arm and started to pull him away.

"Go play with a nasty pigskin, Dash." Sam growled out. "Let's get to class, Danny." Danny nodded and the four friends turned to walk off.

As they neared English class, Brandon ran up to Danny from a group of nerds he'd been talking to.

"Hey, Danny!"

Danny smiled and turned to look at him. "What's up, Brandon?"

Paulina and Dash had finished getting their own things from their locker and noticed that Brandon's little group had merged into Danny's and were walking towards English.

"Who does that twerp think he is?" Paulina hissed.

"Thinks he's some big hot shot because he got lucky a couple times," Dash grumbled.

Back with Danny and the others, Brandon had finished explaining that the Danny Phantom game had received a DLC recently that granted Phantom his new fire powers.

"Huh, at least they're on top of it," Tucker replied.

The group walked into class and settled in their seats. Lancer started class not too long after and placed a sculpture of Dora and Aragon facing each other in both human and dragon forms. It was one of the more complicated pieces Danny had done and most likely the school had purchased it as a teaching aid of some kind since Lancer had it on his desk as if he was going to talk about it.

"Students, today we're going to work on our poetry. You may use any kind of poetry type and I want you to write about anything that this piece of TheEidolon's evokes in you. It's a piece that depicts the ghosts Dora and Aragon. All we know about them is that they have the ability to turn into dragons and are often at odds."

Soon, the room was filled with quiet, as pencils scratched out the poems. Eventually everyone stopped writing after they'd finished what they wanted to write. Mr. Lancer skimmed through them all until a certain one caught his eye.

"The darkness is here. The fight of progress rages. The darkness is gone." Mr. Lancer looked up and eyed Sam, "Mrs. Manson, this is your Haiku correct?"

"Uh, yes sir."

"Would you care to explain it more?"

"Oh uh," Sam's eyes flicked over at Danny before she continued. "Dora and Aragon are constantly fighting over whether their kingdom should remain in the dark ages or not. Dora is for change and progress and Aragon is for keeping things in a stand still. That's what the Haiku represents."

"How do you know all of that, goth geek?" Dash blurted from behind.

Sam glared at him over her shoulder. "Truth is, I was the one Aragon stole away for a bride. Phantom took me home."

Paulina frowned but then smirked happily. "That makes sense, only a dragon or an idiot could take you as a bride." She gave a pointed look to Danny who glared back with a dangerous look in his eyes. He turned away abruptly and grabbed Sam's hand to keep her from leaping at the A-lister.

Lancer coughed into his hand. "Regardless, now with this understanding, it's a lovely Haiku Mrs. Manson."

"Thank you, Mr. Lancer."

The class went on normally with Lancer reading a few more from the batch of poems.

zzz

The couple had separated from Tucker and Valerie after school, when the techie and huntress had decided they wanted to go to the Mall together. Danny had asked why even though the two had been blushing and Sam had elbowed the still clueless Danny into silence. She could tell the two were trying to bond more before they took the step of officially becoming boyfriend and girlfriend.

So, the two had stopped by the Art Gallery, which was overrun with people trying to get more sculptures of TheEidolon's. It didn't help that Christmas was on everyone's minds. Sam said she was going to see what Mr. Fundoo might need from Danny and ran into the back door. Danny waited around nearby. Eventually Sam came back through the door and sighed.

"He needs like three Phantoms, two Skulker, a Technus, and an Ember."

"Huh, I'm going to be busy."

"At least all of them are Christmas gifts from parents to their kids."

"Yeah."

"I know Christmas isn't your favorite."

"Nah, nah. I'm better about it now, but I need to see what I can do for Tucker's present."

"Oh yeah. I need to be thinking about that too."

A bit of silence fell over the pair as they neared Sam's home.

"Danny?"

"Yeah, Sam?"

"Do you… do you think I'd be a good bride?"

Danny paused and looked over at her with a bit of irritation. "Don't listen to Paulina. What she's saying is stupid."

"I know. I just wanted to hear your opinion on it."

Danny nodded and let a smile come to his face. "I mean, I said it before, didn't I?" You're smart, you're fun, you're cool, and you're… beautiful." Danny's cheeks heated up right after he'd spoke. "So yeah, don't listen to Paulina. She's just-" He stopped speaking when Sam kissed him on the cheek.

"Thanks Danny and for the record, you're not an idiot. You're wiser than you know." Sam hooked her arm through Danny's and smiled up at him. He smiled right back.

Danny dropped Sam off at her home before walking to his own. As soon as he shut the door to his house, his mother's voice called out.

"Is that you, Danny?"

"Yeah mom."

Danny smiled and walked into the den and tossed his bag on the floor and stretched out on the couch. His mother came in from the kitchen.

"Have some more sculptures you need to make for Mr. Fundoo?"

"Yeah. I'm glad there haven't been many ghosts recently. You and dad have been a great help with some of them. Then again a good deal of them became afraid of me and don't like to pop up unless they've really got a good plan or think they have a good plan."

"Well sweetie, I'm just so happy we can finally help you." She walked over and sat beside him. "Can I watch you work on one?"

Danny looked over at his mom and smiled. "Yeah sure." He sat up next to her and held out his hands. A ball of ice formed there once he'd activated his cold core. He then started moving his hands slowly, molding the ice into the shapes he needed. After several minutes, he had a basic shape of himself in Phantom form. His ghost tail was curled around a base and his arms were at his sides as he was smiling up at what would be the sky if there was one. The face wasn't complete and neither was the details of his hazmat suit.

"It's lovely Danny, even without being complete."

"Thanks mom," Danny replied and continued shaping it slower than before since details took more focus.

"Jazz will be coming home for the holidays next week."

"That's good."

"You've been missing her?" Maddie smiled.

Danny smirked. "A little and she'll freak when she finds out you both know everything now."

The family had decided in the beginning to wait for Jazz to come home to tell her. Not only had the other Fenton been too busy with her independent studies that she'd been unable to attend Thanksgiving with the family, but they also didn't want to risk any emails or letters being read legally or illegally by someone else with that kind of info in it.

"How long has she known again?"

"Since the first time Spectra showed up." Maddie noticed a little frown come to her son's face at the mention of the ghost.

"You always seem to get somber when you talk about Spectra."

"She's brutally… uh honest? She likes preying on every person's insecurities."

"Oh." Maddie sat quietly with her son again, who'd put another calm smile on his face as he worked with the sculpture. He'd been able to make weapons of ecto-ice now and was getting better at forming the weapons quicker and quicker. Working on the sculptures had certainly helped. Maddie took a breath and spoke, taking a chance. "Danny?"

"Yeah mom?"

"What is in those two other files you haven't given me and your father?"

Danny froze in the middle of working on his sculpture. He placed the piece on the table and sighed. "I… Let me tell you and dad together okay? They're both really important, so listen to me carefully when I talk then, okay?"

"Of course, sweetie." Maddie nodded sympathetically and got up. "You want a snack?"

"So long as it doesn't bite back."

zzz

"So, I guess the first thing I should tell you about is Danielle. You remember Vlad's idea that he wanted me to renounce dad and become his son instead?"

Jack grumbled something under his breath and Maddie rested a hand on the large man's arm.

"Yes, we do Danny," Maddie replied.

Danny sighed. "Well Vlad… He tried to clone me."

…

"HE DID WHAT!?"

Danny grimaced and nodded. "Yeah. He'd decided that if I wouldn't listen to his fruit-loopiness, then a clone of me would and the clone would replace me. Thing is, there was only one that stayed together."

"What do you mean stayed together, Danno?"

"I mean literarily not melt into ectoplasm. He needed me one last time for mid-morph DNA. He was trying to force me to transform into Phantom and I was fighting it the whole way. Long story short Danielle, a girl clone of me, saw him as her father figure and thought he was trying to save her, but he wasn't. He was using her to make the perfect son. She wasn't mindless like the others though and I didn't want to hurt her. Eventually I convinced her of Vlad's true intentions and she's become her own person. She likes being called Dani with an I. She's stubborn and street smart, but I still worry about her since she's technically only a few years old. She's like fifteen in appearance now though."

"So, we technically have another daughter," Maddie whispered.

Danny nodded. "Yeah, she's the only thing that Vlad ever did right in my opinion."

Jack grunted and stood. "Well we need to find her! Us Fentons stay together!"

Danny stood and waved his hands. "Wait dad, I don't even know where she is and I don't even know if she wants a family or not. She seems keen on doing her own thing… no matter how much I worry about her."

Maddie smiled at her son who'd glanced at the floor after speaking. "You almost act fatherly towards her, Danny."

Danny looked up with slight surprise. "I uh, huh, what?"

Maddie laughed and walked over closer to sit by and hug her son. "How about we ask her what she wants when we see her again? Maybe she was simply worrying about revealing your secret. It was her way of repaying you for helping her so often."

Danny nodded as Jack sat back down.

"And that last file?" Maddie asked. She frowned when she saw her son's face darken considerably.

"Danny-boy? What's wrong?" Jack asked.

"I'm… I'm not sure I'm ready to talk about that one. He's… I just don't know how to explain it. Above all, compared to you finding out about me being half-ghost… this is…"

Maddie hugged her son from the side. "Don't worry Danny. We get it now, we understand. Give us a chance Danny."

Danny looked into both of his parents' eyes who were smiling at him calmly. He took a deep breath and started his explanation.

"We decided to call him Dark Phantom and sometimes Dan for short. That's why I asked dad to stop using that nickname on me… Do you remember Clockwork?"

An hour or so later brought Danny close to the end of his story. "So, Clockwork stopped time and kept Dan from cheating for me. I got to make the choice to NOT cheat and everything was okay again." Danny lied solemnly. In truth, he hadn't told anyone the real story yet, not even Sam and Tucker. He'd told them and Jazz a different story. He'd explained to Jazz who Dan was and a general story of how he'd came to be, namely that he'd cheated and then lost his friends and family and somehow become evil. Afterwards, he'd explained to Sam and Tucker that he hadn't been the one to come back to the present and he could remember the look of shock on their faces when they'd realized they'd acted buddy buddy with the monstrous version of their friend in disguise. Finally, he'd said Clockwork had intervened and pulled Danny from the future after he'd learned his Wail and stopped Dan from cheating for him. He never told them the gruesome details behind Dan's birth that he'd learned from Future Vlad nor how his human half had been murdered and he never ever told them that they had in all reality… died in a time or reality that occurred after Dan had cheated for him, that he'd been unable to stop Dan's actions in the end. No… Danny wasn't sure he'd ever tell anyone the full story… he wasn't sure he could. Too much shame, fear, misery, and guilt bubbled up inside of him from the idea. Perhaps it was the thought that not telling made what had happened less real. It was this highly edited story that he'd supplied to Sam, Tucker, and Jazz that he was now finishing telling to his parents. He didn't even bother to describe to them what he looked like either...

"I will never NEVER become like him. I promise!" Danny spoke up loudly, looking at his parents' faces in slight worry and desperation. It'd been not too long ago since they'd learned of his half-ghost status; he was concerned that any fears that he wasn't in control of himself would resurface in their minds. He could wake up with a Fenton Bazooka pointed at him. He flinched when Jack leaned forward and hugged Danny tightly. Having one of his few moments of seriousness, Jack spoke.

"We all our demons, Danno. Who could have the gall to blame you for having them too?"

Danny's tensed body relaxed and he hugged his father back tightly as well. "Thanks dad, thanks so much."

After father and son separated from their hug, Danny noticed his mother was looking away.

"What's wrong mom?"

Maddie looked back over at her family and frowned. "I guess… I just feel bad for Dan. I know he's the bad guy, but at the same time he was…"

Danny glanced at the floor. "He has no remorse mom. At least he showed none for anyone while I was around. The world was barren, only Amity stood. It only stood because he saw it as his play thing."

After a moment of silence, the Jack looked up and saw the lingering distress in his son's eyes.

"Hey Danny-boy, how about we go down into the lab and do a check up on some things? I have a couple of inventions I need to fine tune and we would like to see you work with your powers again."

Danny glanced up and a calmer smile graced his face. "Yeah, okay."

zzz

The three walked down into the lab as Jack ran over to a table.

"So, uh, should I be on guard?" Danny asked glancing at the odd machine in his father's hands.

"Jack, I don't know if that invention is safe to test on Danny."

Jack looked up and then back down at the machine. "Huh, yeah I didn't think of that. How about I re-test the Ghost Gabber?" Jack smiled and went to put the machine back on the table when he fumbled it and it dropped to the ground. "Ther-oh oops!"

-Clang- ... -Click-

Danny suddenly whimpered and gripped his head and then cried out slightly. "Ah! Rrrr, what... is that!?"

Jack grabbed it up from the floor and tried to find an off switch in a panic.

"It's sort of like a dog whistle for ghosts, but more powerful... You can hear it?" Maddie asked.

Danny whimpered again slightly before painfully nodding his head. Finally, Jack found the switch and turned it off. Danny sighed in relief.

"Sorry, son. I guess it works though, huh?" Jack grinned sheepishly.

Danny nodded and picked at his ears.

"You alright, sweetie?" Maddie asked and hugged Danny from the side.

Danny flushed in slight embarrassment. "I'm fine, mom."

"I'm fine mom, fear me."

Danny deadpanned and glanced at his father.

"It's working!"

"Dad, ghosts don't even talk like that. Many ghosts speak English or other world languages, there are a few that speak Latin and Esperanto though. You could try to make a translator for those. The gabber sounds more like a Box Ghost translator." Danny couldn't help but snicker at the end at the thought.

"Latin?" Maddie asked.

"I think every ghost knows Latin. I suppose it's the language of the dead. I can speak it too, but I only found that out recently."

"Really?" Maddie asked and then tapped her mouth in thought. "So, ghosts know Latin and their native language, depending on where they're from."

"Yeah pretty much, as far as I know." Danny nodded.

Maddie smiled and relaxed. "We really were off in some of our theories."

"Some, not all. There are some ghosts that are more emotion than person. Every ghost has humanity though, it just manifests in different ways."

Maddie seemed intrigued by her son's knowledge. "So, can ghosts, full ghosts, feel pain?"

"Ghosts feel pain not from chemicals in body or a biotic nervous system but from their core. The core gives out electric impulses that help keep a ghost together, if something damages the core or knocks it for a loop, then those impulses are disrupted some and cause a feeling of emptiness which is somewhat equal to human pain. Half of it is simply the fear it causes. Most ghosts fear disappearing, especially those with lots of unfinished business to do. That's what Frostbite told me." Danny scratched his cheek and looked away as he talked. Maddie and Jack were staring at him in slight wonder.

"And well anything else you can think of?"

Danny smirked and let out a sigh of relief. "I learned from Clockwork several months ago that ghosts can't have children and don't have the desire to uh... 'make children'. They adopt many ghosts that died as children as they're own. Just because they can't have actually blood-related children doesn't mean they don't care for them like they could. Ghosts are already possessive and trying to build a 'family' so to speak is just something that makes their time in the Zone better, until they find peace or are sent to Judgement."

"How interesting. I suppose humans enjoy having others around to sympathize with during times of suffering, be it as simple as a bad grade on a test or something more dire." Maddie nodded.

"You're so smart, Danno! You and your pals have really learned a lot. Me and Maddie thought we were the ghost experts."

Danny smiled and looked up at his parents. "Takes one to know one."

"How did the conversation of ghosts having children come up between you and Clockwork?" Maddie asked with slight suspicion.

Danny blushed and waved his hands. "Not for me! I still have um... everything intact."

"Of course! You're a Fenton!"

Danny facepalmed at his dad's remark. He looked over at his mom and smiled. "I was just wondering about someone named Box Lunch."

"She's not in your files."

Danny smiled but then frowned at the thought. "Not yet, but one day she might be."

Maddie seemed to understand he sadness. "She was from the future, right?"

"Yeah and she's adopted by the Box Ghost and the Lunch Lady in the future."

"She'll have to die first."

"Yeah..."

"Hmm... Well let's check out some of your powers. It's been long enough for another check for everything." Maddie smiled and walked over to pull some papers out from a folder on the wall.

Jack looked over at his son who seemed like he was ready to transform and start his practice session. "Hey Danny-boy?"

"Yeah Dad?"

"Is there anything that ghosts really don't like?"

Danny thought for a second, before he looked up at his mother who was motioning to them that everything was ready. Danny nodded and transformed into Phantom. He glanced at his dad as he floated a few inches off the ground. "Never ask a ghost how they died or what their obsession is and don't ask them what they're real name was. They make up their new names for a reason."

Jack nodded as Danny flew forward and started flying through the rings and obstacles in his way.

zzz

A few days later. Seventh of December. School.

"Guess what today is!" Tucker grinned broadly as Danny, Sam, and Valerie walked beside him.

"Meatless Monday?" Sam asked with a sly smirk on her face. Valerie laughed into her hand when Tucker glared at Sam.

"No. Definitely No." Tucker looked over at Danny with pleading eyes while Sam looked at her boyfriend as if pleading with him to continue the charade.

"Uh," He looked At Tucker again and couldn't disappoint his buddy with the face he was making. "Your birthday?"

"Yeeeessss~" Tucker replied.

Sam rolled her eyes at her friend, Valerie laughed a bit and Danny chuckled and shook his head.

"Remember, we're meeting at-" Tucker spoke up.

"The Nasty Burger." His three friends replied.

"At-"

"Six o' clock. We know!"

Tucker grumbled. "Geez just making sure."

It was early in the morning and so they had about twenty minutes until class actually started for the day. They paused when they noticed a bunch of kids gathered around Dash's locker, watching something.

With only a glance at Tucker, the techno-geek nodded and started typing away at his PDA, until the same video popped up on the devices' screen. The four friends squished together to see the screen. Tucker blushed slightly when Valerie's cheek touched his.

It was Lance Thunder on a news report.

And in other news, a new fad has gripped Amity Park and its citizens, yet another mystery for the town to solve. An artist by the name of TheEidolon started producing sculptures of Amity's various ghostly visitors good and bad. No one is sure what the pieces are actually made of, but more importantly no one knows who TheEidolon actually is. Is the artist a he? a she? what age? No one knows for sure but everyone knows that if you haven't purchased at least one of his pieces then you've been living under a rock! We will report any new info we can gather on this mysterious artist and of course anything new about our ghostly teen hero, Danny Phantom! This is Lancer Thunder, have a great day, Amity!

Tucker turned off the video and three friends glanced at a stuttering Danny.

"They're just little sculptures," Danny muttered and almost finished with a squeak. Sam rolled her eyes and grabbed his hand.

"Danny, you can form sculptures with your mind, hence the cyrokinesis, they aren't just sculptures. Technically you created them from vapor in the air! It's a wonderful skill and it's good to see people appreciate it even if they aren't fully aware."

"Why do people have to make such a big deal out of it though?" Danny grumbled as the four walked on.

"Because people do that when they think things are cool?" Tucker asked with a raised eyebrow.

Danny shrugged. "Eh, whatever."

"How many of the others do you have to complete for Mr. Fundoo?" Sam asked.

"I just need to do the Ember one and I'll be done."

The four friends split up for their first period class that day.

zzz

Danny and Sam were again at the Art Gallery after school. Danny had had the time to finish up the Ember piece and so the two were delivering the new pieces to Mr. Fundoo before time to get to Tucker's party came around. Danny was loitering around out back while Sam was inside the back of the Gallery, talking to Fundoo. Danny glanced up when he heard someone coming and locked eyes with Lance Thunder and his crew sneaking around to the back.

"And what are you doing here young man?" Lance Thunder asked and took a couple steps forward.

Danny flicked his gaze back and forth before technically telling the truth.

"Uh, waiting for a friend?"

"Is it TheEidolon? Delivering his newest batch of work?!"

"No, no, of course not! My friend just… really likes art?" Danny lied lamely. Lance Thunder's eyes drooped.

"Uh huh."

Danny started sweating nervously.

"Then you shouldn't mind if we just wait here with you."

"Uh… of course not."

Danny realized they would definitely pester Sam as soon as she came out. For some reason the thought made him angry and gave him a feeling of possessiveness that he wasn't used to. He closed his eyes and leaned back, acting as if he was resting, but he was really trying to mentally connect to Sam. He focused hard on her form, face, voice and spoke.

Sam? You there?

Danny! God, you scared me. Are you using your telepathy?

Uh I hope?

Why? Something wrong?

Lance Thunder and his crew came to the back to try and ambush TheEidolon.

The irony.

Yeah yeah I know. Anyways, I told them I'm waiting for a friend so they've got me pinned down.

What should we do.

Find another exit and then call my cell. I'll say my friend was actually somewhere else. It was a miscommunication or something.

Alright, no problem.

See ya in a minute, Sam.

Danny opened his eyes and started whistling to pass the time, glancing at Lance and his crew every now and then. Finally, his cell started to ring. He picked it up, faked a short conversation with Sam and then waved to a befuddled Lance and hurried out of the alleyway behind the Mall. Danny jogged down the street until he spotted Sam in the distance.

"A close one?"

"You don't even know."

"I wonder what people would think if they ever figured out both your secrets."

"I don't wonder," Danny mumbled.

"Here I thought I was supposed to be the downer of the group?"

Danny looked at her after they'd linked hands and sighed. "Sorry Sam, it's just the anxiety that comes with two identities is twice the trouble."

"That's elementary school math, Danny."

"Ha ha aren't you funny."

"Just trying to make you smile. Good work on using your telepathy by the way."

Danny smiled right after and side hugged her. "You always make me smile."

"You are such a dork."

"I'm your dork though."

The two wandered down the road until they could see the Nasty Burger in the distance. They walked inside and saw Tucker, Valerie, Brandon, Mikey, Lester, and Norman already at a couple tables. The two walked over and sat down by their friend. So, they started ordering their food and talking, and at some point, during the party, the nerds in the group started to theorize about TheEidolon.

"I find it intriguing that the artist chose that name. It could have something to do with what things he makes into sculptures, but it could also be more of a literal reason behind it." Mikey expressed.

"I've tried looking at the structure of one of his pieces through my microscope, but oddly enough it seems to have the same structure as ice. How would it not melt though?" Norman hummed.

"Maybe it could be some kind of spell," Lester spoke and waved his fingers to emphasize his point.

"Now now, let's try to stay in the world of science rather than dungeons and dragons fantasies," Norman grumbled.

"But dragons exist! That Dora and Aragon ghost can turn into them!" Brandon yelped.

Tucker rose a finger. "Actually, they just turn into dragons. That doesn't mean dragons have ever actually existed."

Valerie shook her head and rolled her eyes but had a content smile on her face. Everyone continued talking for quite some time before gifts were given to Tucker. Danny expressed that his gift couldn't be given here and that he'd give his gift later. Sam gave Tucker a PDA that hadn't hit the market yet, Valerie got him a new beret so that when his old one wore out he'd have a spare, the others all gave him video games and data chips for his system at home and his new PDA. As it started to get dark, everyone said goodbye to each other except for Danny, Sam, Tucker, and Valerie. They started walking towards Tucker's home as he buried his face in his new PDA, clicking the buttons the whole way. Normally it would've annoyed his friends for him to be so zoomed in, but it was his birthday. Once the four friends got to the door, Danny spoke up. He coughed on his hand.

"Uh, Tuck?"

-click click click click-

"Tuck?"

-click click click-

Danny rolled his eyes and let his eyelids droop as he placed a hand on Tucker's new PDA and made it turn invisible. Tucker blinked and looked up at Danny.

"Heeey-" Tucker whined.

"Tuck, you do want my present for you, right?"

Tucker chuckled and then grinned. "Oh yeah, gimee gimee!" He held out his hands now that his PDA was visible and held them as if waiting for Danny to drop something into his hands. Danny chuckled and put an arm around Tucker, noogieing him. He pulled something from his pocket with his other hand and put it into Tucker's.

"What is this?" Tucker asked and looked at the odd cartridge.

Danny grinned. "I went and visited Technus. You might wanna scan it with one of your old PDAs before using it. In case he didn't listen and put a virus in it or something, but it's supposed to be a DLC, a custom one.

There was silence before- "No way."

Danny grinned even wider and Sam and Valerie glanced at each other in confusion.

"You didn't."

"I did."

"Dude! I was joking!" Tucker yelled in excitement.

Valerie poked Tucker in the shoulder. "What did he do?"

Tucker grinned. "He put me into the Danny Phantom brawl game! I'm an unlockable character with this DLC!"

Danny smiled. "Technically so is Sam and Valerie. I even was able to fit Jazz, Dani and Mom and Dad."

"Sweet!" Sam exclaimed.

"Whoa you mean I'm in a video game?" Valerie asked.

Danny cocked a brow at Tucker. "Wanna test it out?"

Tucker whooped and ran inside before his friends jogged in afterwards, saying hi to his parents and disappearing into his room.

zzz

Soon the four of them were in Tucker's room. Tucker hurried over to his console to get the game plugged up and ready, while the other three plopped down on the couch that was resting in front of Tucker's TV.

Sam and Valerie rested normally while Danny ended up sitting upside down on the couch.

"Hey Tuck, don't forget to check that cartridge for viruses first. I tried asking nicely first but ended up having to threaten Technus with melting his lair and all his technology inside. He might have put something in there to spite me," Danny spoke up before stretching his muscles now that he was comfortable.

"Oh right, I would hate Technus forever if he did that," Tucker grumbled and moved over to his desk to test the cartridge with one of his older PDAs.

"Hey Sam, can you pass me those chips?" Danny asked.

"They're aren't salt and vinegar, Danny," Tucker huffed as he worked.

"Salt and vinegar, who eats those?" Valerie asked and Danny deadpanned.

"I think they're tasty, but I don't care what flavor they are," Danny replied haughtily.

"Cheddar?" Sam asked.

"Cheddar's good," Danny grinned and started eating them upside down.

"Seems this cartridge has no viruses or abnormal things on it. I guess Technus didn't want to test you." Tucker smirked and walked back over to add the DLC to his console.

"Or maybe he was thanking you for your villain monologue lessons," Sam joked.

"Villain monologue lessons?" Valerie asked and cocked her brow.

"Technus just has a bad habit of telling me everything he's going to do before he does it. It's sort of sad. I feel sorry for him," Danny replied with slight irritation.

"Your heart is obscenely ginormous Danny," Sam shook her head and rolled her eyes.

"Except when he's being a jerk," Tucker quipped.

"Except when he's being a jerk." Sam grinned after mimicking Tucker.

"Hey!" Danny yelped and flipped over to sit upright.

"You know it's true. Besides I don't want a perfect boyfriend. I want you."

Danny smirked. "Ah how sweet. What did you do with the real Sam?"

"Cute," she replied with teasing sarcasm.

"Tada!" Tucker grinned and dashed over to the couch to sit. He almost sat on Valerie's lap on accident and blushed before scooting further down. The trio wasn't quite used to having four people on Tucker's couch yet. He passed everyone a controller and the game started up.

"So, a versus game since the main storyline is only one player?" Danny asked.

"Yep oh and dude, you need to get to Vlad. The final cutscene makes you look badass and Vlad gets it good," Tucker replied.

"You couldn't beat your own game before Tucker?" Sam asked and then chuckled.

Danny pouted as everyone started to choose their characters. "I can't get past stupid Vortex."

Valerie gasped. "Wow there I am."

"So predictably we're all going to play as ourselves?" Sam grinned.

"Yep!" Danny responded happily.

"Wow, Technus actually did a good job on this. He even bothered to make us balanced! I was worried Danny's character would over power us, but we've got all kinds of Fenton gear," Tucker mused aloud.

A few minutes later found the four in the midst of a four-way brawl. Sam had one elbow cocked at an angle due to the intensity of the fight, Valerie had her tongue suck out the side of her mouth since she wasn't as learned as the others, though she'd picked it up pretty quick, Tucker was the most stable with him staring intently and pushing buttons rapidly, and Danny looked much like Tucker only with his concentration on the game, he'd started to float a bit off the couch and his eyes were glowing green.

"Oh, damn it," Valerie cursed after she'd lost her last life. She watched intently as Sam, Tucker, and Danny continued battling it out. She jumped in shock when Sam's character got KO'd.

"Wow. I guess that's what I get for waiting a while to get this game," Sam laughed and watched happily with Valerie as the two boys were still caught in their intense struggle. Sam noticed Danny was floating. "Uh Danny?"

"MMhm?" Danny asked absentmindedly.

"You're floating."

"And?"

"What if Tucker's parents come to check on us?"

"Oh oops, yeah." Danny's rear came back in contact with the couch and the two boys continued clicking buttons. Tucker started to lean forward more and more. Danny started making slightly panicked noises before-

VICTOR! Tucker, player one wins!

"Aw man!" Danny grunted.

"Yeah!" Tucker shouted in victory. "Spector Deflector for the win!"

"Now I hate those things in real life AND the virtual world," Danny rolled his eyes teasingly before he cringed. "I just wish they hadn't decided to make my death animation have me turn into a pile of ectoplasm. Not a nice visual."

"It seems I'm the DOOM master, Danny's the New Age Tomes master and Tucker's the Danny Phantom and the Ghost Gauntlet master," Sam spoke.

"That's slightly embarrassing. I'm not the master of my own game," Danny grinned sheepishly.

"And video games are fun, but I'm no pro," Valerie added.

"You're just a noob," Tucker replied, not even paying attention.

Valerie paused and gave Tucker a slightly irritated look.

"And Tucker still doesn't have a built-in filter." Sam smirked

Valerie's face changed from irritated to playful before she elbowed Tucker hard enough to make him flop onto the floor and loose his beret.

"Ouch."

"We could always see who's the best at the real thing." Valerie grinned wickedly and Tucker gulped.

"Heh heh, no need."

zzz

Eventually the friends turned off the system after another couple of good brawls. Sam and Danny ended up on Tucker's bed. Danny was on his stomach and Sam was leaning against his side. Tucker and Valerie rested in a couple of bean bags chairs. The four spent the rest of their time talking about random things and some ghost things.

Tucker's mother then came up to Tucker's room and told the teens it was almost midnight, which was all their curfews since they were older. The parents, minus Sam's, would probably be lenient since it was Tucker's birthday though. The four walked down to the front door of Tucker's house and Danny and Sam said goodnight before Danny flew Sam home so she wouldn't get berated by her parents, leaving Valerie and Tucker the only ones left.

"I'll see ya tomorrow, Val."

"Yeah." She took a step closer and kissed his cheek. "That's my bonus birthday gift. I think... I think we can call it official." She then turned and walked away, giving him one more wave over her shoulder. Tucker went inside his house and shut the door quietly. He sunk to the floor and sat.

"Best birthday, ever."

So now we introduce TheEidolon. What do you think? I always loved the idea that Danny had some sort of artistic talent of some kind. I mean the guy can shape ice with his mind. It is good practice for making larger constructs too.

And Tucker and Valerie become an official couple!

Enjoy!

~NoSignal

Edit: 5/22/18: Next wave of grammar fixes and wording tweaks or some scenes altered to avoid cliches. Took out AN question and answer sections.