Edit: 6/5/18: Next wave of grammar fixes and wording tweaks or some scenes altered to avoid cliches. Took out AN question and answer sections.

And here we are. It begins...

zzz- normal separation

ooo- dream or vision separation

Mental thoughts or distant speaking

"Before you can successfully make friends with others, first you have to become your own friend." ~ Stephen Richards

zzz

Ozarks. 5:45 AM.

Have you ever woken up to a situation where you had no clue whether or not you were still dreaming or actually present? Yeah, waking up with a large rat snake crawling over your torso will do that to you.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

People fumbled and tripped over each other, trying to get out of their tents. The chaperones stumbled about and tried to figure out from which student the scream was coming from.

Everyone's eyes landed on the large tent that was a combination of four tents. More specifically, Danny, Tucker, Sam, and Valerie's tent. It looked like every person within was wrestling with the tent itself.

"Tuck! Tuck what is it!?"

"A SNAKE!"

"Well it's a rat snake, so at least it's not venomous."

"I DON'T CARE! YOU KNOW HOW I AM WITH SNAKES, SAM!"

"Just stop squirming and let me get a good view."

"HURRY!"

Within the tent, Valerie was trying to open one of the zippers while Danny was trying to use his new telekinesis to pick the snake up. As soon as Valerie had the zipper open, the snake went sailing through before plopping in front of the rest of the students and teachers.

Danny heard a couple girls outside scream and maybe Dash yelp? He wasn't sure.

"Oops," Danny popped his head out enough to were some could see he'd slept without a shirt. "It won't bite anyone, so let it just slither off."

Sam's head popped in next to his and smiled. "Exactly, it's done nothing wrong."

"KILL IT!" Tucker yelped from within the tent. Sam growled and disappeared back inside.

"What was that?"

"Nothing!"

Danny rolled his eyes and looked back up at Mr. Lancer, who was for some reason giving Danny a critical look over.

"Um, I'm just going to get changed… I get hot easily."

"Is that why you come to school in only a long-sleeved shirt when it's snowing outside, Mr. Fenton?" Lancer asked and rose a brow.

Though to most, the teacher would seem to have been messing with a student, Danny could actually sense the tinge of concern, amusement, and confusion? bubbling in his teacher's emotions.

"Uh, Yes sir. We sleep in the four bubbles and have a middle space that we share in the tent, so uh don't worry about funny business."

"I wasn't. Should I?" Lancer asked.

Danny flushed. "Of course not. I'll go now." Danny disappeared back into the tent, missing the tiny smile come onto Lancer's face.

Eventually, the four friends came out dressed completely and ready, like the rest of the group, to pick up and pack up their tents and supplies. Danny and his friends enjoyed a small breakfast consisting of an orange each, and some bread and swiss cheese, which was one of the cheeses that could last longest without refrigeration. They drank from their water bottles as Tetslaff started telling everyone the plan for today.

They would be traveling further down the trail and then stopping at a large natural lake to set up camp again and get the chance to swim and explore the surrounding area.

The students cheered at the opportunity to swim, while Tucker was excited for the chance to catch fish for lunch or dinner. Sam on the other hand noticed Danny immediately sober up. As they started to walk and Tucker started to blab to Valerie about how many fish he wanted to catch, Sam hung back and walked with Danny.

"Hey what's wrong? And don't you dare try to say nothing. I can tell you're upset about something."

Danny looked over at her with a tiny smile and then frowned. "My scars. It's been a while since I swam last. You know I try to avoid it. After the episode with Kitty playing as Paulina ended, the battles got harder and harder and since then I haven't swum very much because well…"

Sam's face fell and she looked at Danny in sympathy. "You know I don't care, right? You also got those from protecting people. It's like the wounds from a war veteran."

Danny smiled at her half-heartedly, before she gently held his hand.

"You know I love you, Fenton. I loved you before you became a superhero," Sam murmured the last part in case someone might overhear.

Danny blushed slightly just as Sam did after speaking. Danny was smiling with Sam now. A worried look still held onto his face.

"But people will wonder where Danny Fenton got those scars. I definitely haven't swum in front of the other students since the Kitty-Paulina thing. Especially, you know, the more recent scar from that ectopus thing. It's the most noticeable," Danny murmured.

"Well they'd wonder where your growing physique came from as well, Danny-boy," Sam smirked. "So, no matter what, they're going to wonder."

Danny huffed. "I guess I'll have to figure out something…" A wicked smile came to his face. "Okay, I'll try not to be self-conscious or as overly modest if you don't wear that cloak of yours. I want to swim with you."

Sam furrowed her brows in slight frustration as Danny continued to grin like a little boy who'd found a loophole in his parents' instructions.

Finally, Sam surrendered and let out a sigh. "Fine. Only for you Danny. Only for you."

They leaned in for a quick and tender kiss before catching up to Tucker and Valerie as the entire group continued their trek through the wilderness.

zzz

FentonWorks. 8:30 AM.

"Awww is Ash sleepy?" Dani asked with a wide grin.

Ash, the teen in question, glared up grumpily at Dani as he stood on her doorstep. He opened his mouth to speak before Jace cut him off.

"I tried to tell him to go to sleep last night, but he insisted on playing D.O.O.M late into the early morning."

Ash grumbled. "At least I know how to have fun. You're so anal about being on time."

"Now Ash, that's not very nice," Dani joked.

"Yes, listen to the girl," Jace smiled. He gasped when Ash grinned and reached over to noogie his friend.

"I can't stay mad at you, Jace," Ash spoke. Jace gasped again and tried to speak before his mouth was blocked by Ash's arm again in the struggle.

"Come on you guys. Mom is waiting." Jazz smiled after he'd appeared at the door behind Dani.

Ash smirked and let go of Jace, who went to rearranging his mussed sweats and work-out shirt. The two then followed Dani and Jazz inside the home.

Ash tore his eyes from Jace after watching his friend finish fixing his appearance. "What exactly did your mom tell our parents we were doing here every Wednesday and Friday?"

Jazz smiled. "She told them that she always offers to teach the friends of her children how to defend themselves from ghosts. I mean it's like free karate lessons. Who wouldn't say yes to that?"

"So, nothing about actually fighting said ghosts?" Ash asked.

Jazz narrowed her eyes. "Let's get something straight." A worried look replaced her previous serious one. "Just because you're going to be a part of Team Phantom, doesn't mean you're going to run off to hunt ghosts, got it?"

"Huh?" Ash asked and scratched his head. Jace stayed silent and waited patiently for further explanation.

Jazz frowned. "You're going to learn how to defend yourselves if a ghost attacks you or Dani if you're with her at the time. I nor my parents want you two to run off looking for trouble, understand? Defense only and how to handle some of the Fenton equipment."

Ash sighed. "I guess to hope for much more would've been too much."

Dani raised a brow. "What more do you want? Heck most of the time all me and Danny do is defense. We don't look for fights with ghosts, they come to us and we fight them off."

Jazz smiled. "Exactly, though you guys will focus on learning to get away and maybe hide properly to provide support. You'll also learn about the ghosts, their weaknesses and data."

Ash's face deflated more. "Man, you're making this sound more like an extra class for school."

Jace sighed and patted Ash on the back. "Ashton, survival of any kind involves learning. Understanding how the ghosts work and behave is important. Besides, we may get to hear about Danny and Dani's many adventures."

Ash seemed to perk up at Jace's words and looked at Dani. He smiled. "That actually sounds good. Have any cool tales, Dani?"

Dani flushed slightly before she smiled and tried to speak. That was, before Cujo leapt from behind the couch while in puppy form and slammed into Dani's back. Jazz smiled when both boys took a jump back in surprise, as Dani rolled and started playing with the green dog; it started to lick her face until it took notice of them. In a split second, it was towering over them with blood red eyes and canines almost as big around as the boys' hands. It growled deeply at the intruders.

"Down, Cujo. They're friends," Dani spoke up as she moved in front of the dog. Cujo cocked his head, an action which seemed cute and oddly out of place on such a large and intimidating hound. He then started to pant contently as he shrunk, retaining his puppy form.

Ash deadpanned. "Of course, they have a ghost dog. It only makes since."

"Cute and very fitting. He must get restless in here though," Jace spoke.

"He takes runs in the Ghost Zone when he needs them. He also feeds there. I don't really know what he eats, Danny says the Zone itself can kind of feed a ghost through their being alone so…" Dani spoke and rolled her eyes slowly as she finished.

"Kids?"

Jazz smiled at the three younger kids and turned. "We're coming, mom!"

The four then turned to walk towards the basement and where the adult Fentons were waiting. Dani turned before they left and pointed at the couch. "Lay down, Cujo."

Cujo yipped and ran before sailing onto the couch and curling into a tight ball. Dani beamed until she noticed the pool of green slobber starting to collect on the cushion Cujo was on. "I'll have to clean that later."

With that she turned and ran down into the basement to practice combat with her parents, sister, and two best friends. Yep they were best friends now. As Ash had said, 'You can't not be best friends after being attacked by a psychotic, ghostly robot that used lingo from the 50s.'

"DAD! Ash and Jace aren't ghosts!"

"Sorry, Ellie!"

"I'll get the Fenton-de-foamer."

"Um, Jace you okay?"

"So much… slime…. grime… unclean."

"I think you broke him, Mr. Fenton."

zzz

?.?.?

"How are you today?"

"Not this garbage again."

"It was a reasonable question."

"I'm not talking to you. I don't understand why you bother."

"Isn't conversation better than silence?"

"You're fortunate that you're out there and I'm in here."

"For some reason, I'm not intimidated."

A growl.

"…How are you today?"

"Rot in Oblivion!"

*Sigh* "Anything you want to talk about?"

A snarl of fury was his answer.

"Anything at all? What have you been thinking about, other than the many ways you would like to maim me?"

"…"

Come on… we've been at this for months. I think… no. I know you can take the step… I've counted on it for so long.

"…Why haven't you simply destroyed me? I know you could. Easily in fact. Do you relish my suffering? Does it entertain you during your eternal loneliness?"

*Sigh* "The only question I can't answer completely yet."

"Damn you and your meddling. Damn you and your time staff. And DAMN THIS BLASTED THERMOS!" A roar erupted from within the container as it rattled and tilted wildly, almost spinning from its harsh movements.

Clockwork sighed as he watched the thermos rattle and shake. Long ago Dark Phantom or Dan, for clarity's sake, had learned that his younger self had been saved from his own fate by Clockwork's power and that his younger self was happy and thriving again. Long ago he had he sworn and so far, failed to break free from his prison. Clockwork stared at the marred visage of Dan's face that was imprinted permanently on the metal of the thermos. After what seemed like a long time, even to the Time Master, the thermos stilled again. It probably only seemed long because of how delicate Clockwork knew this whole process was.

A tiny smile came to his face. For the first few weeks Dan had been in his tower after Danny's battle, Dan had raged and fought constantly from within the container for he didn't need to rest since he didn't technically physically tire. So, the only reason Dan stopped now in more recent days was because he got emotionally worn out and knew it wasn't worth it to rage against the container for days on end. If anything, the monster was hoping the thermos would just open one day after a particularly rough struggle from its prisoner. That would never happen though, Clockwork knew it wouldn't. The thermos would hold fast in all but a few timelines, including this one.

After enough silence had passed and Clockwork knew Dan was listening to see if the Time Master had at the very least left the room, he spoke.

"I swore to the Observants that I would be Daniel's guardian…" Clockwork spoke before Dan could interrupt. "But I also told them I'd guard you. I'm your Guardian as well, Dan Phantom."

"Why?"

"Why? Because everyone deserves a second chance."

"What gives you the idea that I want that?" Dan worded carefully and powerfully. "I'm perfectly hap-" He froze in mid-sentence and the silence dragged on for a moment.

"Perfectly… happy?"

"…"

"I know you are smart Dan, very clever, very intelligent. So, you tell me how a supposedly unfeeling, emotionless creature can be happy about anything."

"I abandoned my hu-"

"You erased a representation… a likeness… you didn't get rid of your human half or at least the parts you wanted to get rid of."

Clockwork tensed when he felt the aura of power pulsate through the air, emanating from the thermos. Every ghost had an aura about them and some could even summon atmospheric changes with them, a hall getting darker and gaining an eery glow or a minor and focused storm gathering near the location of the specter. Even Half-ghosts had this power. The tower, especially near the thermos, darkened and Clockwork knew to leave.

As he reached the deepest parts of the tower to do some light reading, Clockwork frowned slightly at the fury filled wail that echoed through the lair. Only someone with very strong empathetic abilities or a being who was semi-omniscient, like Clockwork, could detect the slight waver of deep hidden agony in that roar. It seemed like it was one of his, what Dan would call them, weaker moments.

zzz

Ozarks. 11:50 AM.

"So, wait, Technus upgraded again?" Danny asked. He then smirked. "What did he upgrade to now? A cowlick? I think even that's better than a mullet."

Valerie couldn't prevent a smile coming to her face at the quip, while Sam smiled and rolled her eyes. Tucker chuckled slightly before he frowned. "Actually, he kinda did a complete make-over."

Danny, Sam, and Valerie looked over their friend's shoulder as they continued behind the rest of the students. Brandon and his friends were behind them and blocked a semi-frustrated Mr. Lancer from getting any closer.

What the four saw in Tucker's PDA was the new Technus 3.0, which Jazz had taken a picture of from the RV during the ghost's attack on Dani and her friends and before Ash and Jace had jumped into the fray. They'd also learned that the two boys were in on the big secret… well if only knowing that Danny and Dani were the Phantoms and caught ghosts, counted as the big secret. Really the world of Team Phantom was more complicated than that… like Dani being a clone and Amity's mayor being a total fruit-loop… and the government trying to destroy sentient beings… yeah…

Danny had freaked out at first and the other three had had to help prevent him from having a panic attack of some kind in the middle of the hike since everyone would wonder what had caused the attack and since when did Danny Fenton have mid-grade anxiety problems. Sam had remedied it fairly quickly by wrapping her arm around his waist and speaking soothingly to him along with Tucker and Valerie about how everything would be okay and that Ash and Jace weren't GiW agents in disguise or undercover.

Back to the picture of Technus, though…

"Is that a brain?" Valerie asked and squinted her eyes.

"Gross, why do robots feel the need to have a brain in a glass jar, somewhere?" Danny muttered.

"I think it's cool," Tucker expressed. "I would like my brain to be implanted into a sentient robot in the distant future, so all the generations to come would learn of Tucker Foley."

Valerie ran a hand down her face while Sam tried to hold back a snort of amusement at the ridiculousness of Tucker's words.

"Again, how come I'm the one with ghost powers and you're the weird kid?" Danny asked and quirked a brow.

"Get serious, guys. Jazz says that he is a bit more potent than before. He isn't as silly… said something about Danny teaching him to not monologue…" Sam trailed off before she, Tucker, and Valerie slowly raised their faces to look at Danny accusingly. Said Halfa was sweating rapidly and twitching.

"How was I supposed to know he'd actually take me serious? Besides, I thought he'd become pretty chill and you know, calm? I didn't think he'd get worse!" He flinched as Sam raised her hand. "Please Sam, don't." His pleas fell on deaf ears before the back of his head felt a powerful sting from Sam slapping him there. "Ouch!"

"Let's try NOT to make our enemies more competent! We don't need that, thank you," Sam expressed before crossing her arms. Tucker put his PDA away as Valerie shifted her pack on her back.

After finishing up their talk about the newest news from Amity, via the update from Jazz, the four friends went back to talking about more mundane things. It was a few minutes later that Tetslaff expressed that they had another fifteen to twenty minutes worth of walking until they reached the Lake. Some groaned in exhaustion, but everyone was excited.

Another twenty minutes later, everyone was tired and Tucker was panting harshly along with most of the kids and Lancer. The only people who hadn't been worn out by the barrage of uphill and downhill hiking for the day had been Tetslaff, Danny, Sam, Valerie, and the jocks. Finally, Tetslaff stopped after veering off the path to another decent sized area for putting their tents and gear.

"Here we are!" She called out and dropped her bags.

Tucker wheezed as Valerie simply pulled his pack off of him. Without the weight, Tucker simply fell.

"It's true. It's a conspiracy. They're trying to kill me. It's because I'm too handsome for this world."

Valerie rolled her eyes as she put down both of their packs. Danny and Sam did the same as everyone else started to spread out much like they had the day before.

"Stop being such a drama queen Tucker. You've walked further than that in the Ghost Zone."

Sam had made sure everyone had passed them before saying that.

"Um I thought we were never going to speak of that episode again."

"I second that," Danny spoke up.

"Oh, come on. It wasn't that bad," Sam replied.

"I don't want to talk about it."

Valerie perked her brow up. "I've got to hear this."

Sam grinned and Danny panicked. "No Sam!"

"Sam!" Tucker yelped and they clamped their hands around her mouth. In a moment she'd flung them both over her shoulders in a heap.

"Owww…"

Sam smirked proudly and dusted off her hands. "It all started with the Fenton Weasel…"

"Sam…" Danny moaned.

"And ended with a rescue mission from Skulker's Lair," Sam finished. "That's all I'll say."

Valerie started to laugh. "For some reason I feel that's all I need to hear. Enjoy your time in the Fenton Weasel, Ghost boy?"

Danny scowled. "If you had any idea how uncomfortable it is in there, you people wouldn't think it's funny."

Valerie eyed Tucker who was sweating nervously. "Let me guess, you trapped Danny on accident, Skulker snatched him, and Sam guilted you into running much further than ever before, right?"

Tucker flushed. Danny narrowed his eyes. "And it took you how long to figure out I was Phantom?"

"Ah shut it, Fenton." Valerie teased.

Valerie and Sam perked up when they noticed people in swimsuits walking past them towards the brush on the other side of the clearing.

"Oh yeah, swimming. I need to change," Valerie spoke up and pulled some things from her bag before walking off. Sam grumbled something about not getting to wear her cloak and walked off with her own bundle.

Danny and Tucker glanced at each other before trying to get untangled. Danny froze. "Wait, duh, ghost powers." He made sure no one was there before he phased out from under Tucker and snatched his trunks from within his bag and ran off to find a place to change.

"Hey! Wait up!" Tucker yelped and did the same as his friend.

A few moments later, the four friends were walking towards where the lake was. Valerie was wearing a red bikini, Tucker had on army green trunks, Sam was wearing a black one piece that had the back out, and Danny was wearing black trunks with a white line down the sides.

"Daring. I wonder if anyone will wonder why black and white on you looks familiar?" Sam mused and nudged her boyfriend.

Danny chuckled and shrugged as an answer before his eyes were drawn back to the serpentine-like scars around his chest and arms. Valerie noticed his action at the same time Sam and Tucker did and looked down in shame. He'd gotten those wounds saving her life. Tucker clasped his hand around one of hers to comfort her.

"Danny, what did we talk about earlier?" Sam asked before trailing a couple fingers down his left arm.

He seemed to get slightly distracted by the gesture and even a bit flustered which pleased Sam, mostly because she could distract him from his troubles.

"Right. I remember."

"Good."

Finally, they pushed through the final bushes and shrubs blocking them from the lake. It was amazing and quite large. One side was level with the ground they were on and had a gentle slope that fed into the lake water, while the left side of the body of water had a medium sized bluff to jump from or rest on.

The jocks were already trying to show off by doing dangerous dives, the cheerleaders were sunbathing and talking to the jocks every time they crawled back up to jump, Tetslaff and Lancer were sunbathing on the 'beach' portion which was more like dark brown sand. The Nerds were swimming in the shallow end, Mikey and Melanie were having a moment to talk, and the Neutrals were jumping off the bluffs as well, only not really caring about having their jumps judged.

Tucker cut his eyes over to Danny. "Cannonball contest?"

"Cannonball contest."

The two boys shot off, yelling back at their girlfriends to judge, knowing they of all people would be brutally honest with them.

Danny was the first up the bluff, surprising Kwan who was at the back of the line of the jocks. Tucker wasn't too long after that. The jocks and cheerleaders noticed their new company on the top of the rocks.

"What do you think you're doing up here, dweebs?" Alroy muttered.

Danny cocked a brow. "If you must know, me and Tucker are having a cannonball contest between each other."

"Do Jack-knifes count?" Tucker asked after poking Danny's shoulder.

Danny shifted his weight and thought. "Yeah, that counts. Technique is more important with those. Sounds actually like a better contest."

"Yes!"

The jocks scowled while the cheerleaders were whispering amongst themselves.

"Fenton works out?" Megan whisper shouted to Paulina and the others. Indeed, the cheerleaders had never seen Danny as he was now. Sure, they'd maybe noticed his jaw getting more defined or his increase in height like most boys received, but this was the first time they'd seen him swim without a shirt on. Paulina knew that what she'd felt of his stomach months ago hadn't been her imagination. The girls even noticed that time hadn't been unkind to Foley either, though perhaps genetics had something to do with the slight difference in muscle tone, if only they knew the real reason.

"What's with the giant tattoo, Fentoad? You look like you got scalded or something," Dash teased as Tyson jumped into a back dive at the front of the line.

Tucker wasn't the only one to notice Danny flinch at the jock's words slightly. "None of your business, Dash."

Dash snickered slightly until he glanced over and noticed how the girls were looking over Danny behind his back. He felt a growl in his throat but bit it back when Danny spoke.

"Are you going to jump Dash? I am hungry and would like to eat after I get a little bit of swimming in."

Dash snapped. "Yeah! Of course! Watch and learn, Fentina." Dash turned around before bending his knees and preforming and at least two back flips before hitting the water.

Danny smirked to himself. He could do as many flips as he wanted because of his ghost powers, but it wasn't like he was going to show that. Finally, Danny's turn was next and he got to the edge before looking about and eyeing Sam and Valerie sitting in the shallow water. He smiled and waved at them to get their attention. The jocks happened to turn around and noticed the two lovely ladies, who'd obviously filled out since freshman year though Valerie had had a head start on Sam before. Dash became frustrated that a loser like Fenton could end up with a girl like Sam, even if she was still a goth freak. His irritation only doubled when Tucker popped up next to Danny and waved to Valerie, who waved back. Fenton, Foley, Fenton, Foley… both of them. They were supposed to be losers. Dash turned and shouted at Fenton in slight desperation.

"You going to jump or what? You scared, Fenton?!"

By this time, almost everyone was paying attention to the social clash that was occurring. Danny rolled his eyes which only made Dash madder. Danny took a couple steps back before running and slinging his legs in an upwards arc to position himself almost upside-down in the air. Pulling in one leg and angling the second just so, he hit the water and caused a spout of water to shoot straight up along his leg.

A few people cheered and Danny grinned as he looked up at Tucker. "Think you can best that, Tuck?"

Tucker smirked. "Tch, easy." The techno-geek backed up a few steps before running and leaping into the air to perform the same stunt.

"Eep!" Danny yelped and dove underwater to swim away from Tucker's expected impact site. Soon he struck and the water channeled up Tucker's leg and into the air, reaching just a little bit higher into the air. He resurfaced and grinned at Danny.

"Ha!"

Danny chuckled. "You may have won the battle but the war is far from over!" He swam up and put his hands on his friend's shoulders before dunking him. After a moment, Tucker got away and turned around underwater to yank Danny under by his foot.

Sam and Valerie looked at each other and shook their heads before swimming out to their boyfriends. In one quick move, both girls had dunked Danny and Tucker. After a moment, they came up sputtering.

"Okay, okay! We were just having fun," Danny whined slightly and then shook his hair, getting water in Sam's face.

"Yeah, no harm," Tucker replied with an exaggerated grin right before he splashed Valerie. He, Sam, and Danny blinked and stared at Valerie as she let the water drip off her face.

"Oh, that was a bad move," she spoke before showering Tucker with a wave of water. Danny immediately turned and tried to splash Sam only to get a wave in his face too. He dove through the second however and came up to grab Sam by the waist and hoist her in the air.

"Danny," she hissed. "Are you using your flight to get enough leverage to hold me out of the water?"

"Yeah, why? It's not like anyone can see through this water. Besides, I'll just say a found a rock to stand on."

"We're in the middle of a lake."

"Minor detail. I'm trying to relax." Danny smiled and lowered her down a bit, making their noses almost touch. They were then caught in a wave of water and started hacking.

"Playtime now, sucking face later," Tucker stated as he dove to avoid some water Valerie sent his way.

"He's taking this way too far," Sam mumbled.

Danny laughed as he watched Valerie dive under with murder on her face, trying to catch the elusive techno-geek.

"At least they're happy," Danny replied simply and caused Sam to smile at the thought.

Eventually the four teens came out of the water and retrieved the Fenton Ghost Fisher for Tucker to use. After a bit of waiting and cheering, Tucker was able to pull in enough fish for them to eat for a late lunch. Many of the other students and teachers came back in as well, especially when the sun started to drop slightly in the sky. Changed and dried off, the three friends waited eagerly for their meal of fish with rice. Sam on the other hand disappeared into the woods to come back with a couple new varieties of mushrooms for her rice. They had some tea with their meal as well and watched everyone else eating their own meals and talking near their own fires. They noticed once that Paulina and Dash were giving them all two different but odd looks, though they were distracted from this observation when they noticed Lancer had gotten sunburned, badly. Though they pitied him for how uncomfortable he must be, they couldn't help the few laughs they got from how funny he looked. It was even harder to not laugh when Tetslaff slapped the man in the back and caused him to yell out.

By the time the sun was really starting to go down, the four friends were enjoying more of a snack dinner, with dried meat, fruit in Sam's case, and left-over rice. Danny, after working on his sculpture a bit more, he had pulled out a small book from his bag which looked like it'd seen better days. Danny rose an arm and pointed to a place in the starry sky, drawing his friends' attentions.

"That one's Cancer the Crab. That cluster, that cluster and those stars there. In Greek mythology, Cancer is a crab that pinched Hercules and a goddess that disliked Hercules placed it in the stars."

Sam glanced down at the book in Danny's hand and motioned to a name she noticed. "I've never heard of Pyxis before. Where's it?"

By this time, Brandon and his friends had wondered over to sit near Danny's group. TJ and his pals stopped talking so they could listen and satisfy their curiosity while still keeping their distance.

"Pyxis… there. It's a good one to use when lost. The constellation represents the magnetic compass used by navigators and seamen. Nicolas Louis de Lacaille was the one to create it." Danny replied after pointing it out.

Lancer was a bit a way looking through his things when he heard Danny talking about the stars. He wasn't too surprised by now that Daniel had other talents he'd been hiding or at least unable to show if he really was TheEidolon as well as a ghost hunter. One thing Lancer couldn't figure out yet was how Daniel knew when a ghost was going to attack, even before other detectors. Regardless, the teacher listened contently and carefully to what Daniel had to say.

"What about this one here, dude? Volans? Sounds like a video game character." Tucker leaned over Danny's shoulder to point at the place in the book.

Danny looked up at the stars and glanced around before smiling and pointing. "Right there. It represents a flying fish; its name is a shortened form of its original name, Piscis Volans. That one has a couple of double stars and a couple known galaxies in it."

"What's a double star?" Lester asked.

"It's where two stars are optically overlapping each other. They're at two separate distances though." Mikey nodded.

"Or they're binary stars, which means they orbit around each other closely." Danny added. Danny all of a sudden was shoved off the log he was sitting on and Dash was where he'd been, standing and looking up at the sky. Lancer immediately rose from his spot to walk over.

"Tch, how do you know where the constellations are, Fentonio? There aren't any lines connecting them."

Sam and Tucker went to help Danny up and Brandon answered, if a bit innocently.

"Uh, constellations are man-made Dash. The lines are in books, not real life. You have to practice and memorize the places and time of year to know when and where a constellation is visible."

Dash grumbled and leaned down to grab the book Danny had dropped.

"Wait, don't take that!" Danny shouted.

Dash grinned. "And why shouldn't I, Fentina?"

"My dad gave that to me when I was like five!" Danny growled.

Dash smirked and tossed the book over his shoulder and into the surrounding bushes. "Then go get it if it's so important. Ha ha!"

Danny glared at Dash once before a worried look came to his face and he hurried towards the brush. Sam, Tucker, and Valerie got up and went over too and even Brandon and his friends followed suit. Danny did notice though that Lancer was stalking over to Dash and the others.

"Dude, you're just skimming the bottom now, man."

Dash whipped around and saw Brad looking at him with lazy eyes.

"What was that?" Dash growled.

"Man, we're going to be graduating at the end of the year. Can't you just drop this whole thing you've had with Fenton. We aren't kids anymore."

"Ah shove it! It isn't your problem." Dash snapped back and his jock friends nodded in support.

Brad shrugged. "Whatever, man."

"Indeed Mr. Baxter, I believe that's quite enough. Your months away from graduating and football season is over. I have no qualms at all with dishing out severe punishment for your antics." Lancer suddenly appeared in between the A-listers and the Neutrals.

"But, Mr. Lancer-"

"No buts, Baxter. You may never see Daniel again, you may never see any of your fellow students again. I know some of the things you've done may be hard for some of the students to forgive you for, but this is your chance to at the very least come to admire or learn something about them since you've never tried to before. Like did you know Lester wants to work for large computer companies one day? Or that TJ wants to be a DJ? Or even that Mr. Fenton has run the simulation for flying a space craft hundreds of times? I may be strict, but I know my students-" At least almost everything. He thought sadly. "And perhaps if you took the time to get to know them better, we could all have a much more pleasant experience on this trip. There aren't really any second chances after this Dash. How do you want to be remembered?" Lancer looked at the other jocks and cheerleaders. "How do all of you want to be remembered?"

Lancer was still standing and staring at an open-mouthed Dash when Danny, his friends, and the Nerds returned from the woods with Danny's book of constellations.

"Mr. Lancer, something wrong?" Danny asked.

Lancer paused and looked over at Danny. "Of course not, Mr. Fenton. I was simply reminding Mr. Baxter of some important things. Carry on." He gave the others a calm smile before yawning and walking off towards his tent, mumbling about where his aloe-vera was.

Dash glanced over at Danny, who's gaze narrowed at him.

Dash opened his mouth to say something before Valerie cut him off.

"No, you don't get to speak."

"Uh, Val," Tucker started but was halted by a glare. She locked eyes with Danny briefly before she sent him a wordless message of

Danny?

Yeah, Val?

If you can't defend yourself because of your secret, then I will.

Val-

He tried to reconnect, but she'd already marched forward.

"I've had enough. You know I used to believe that being an A-lister was all that was important. That that was the big picture, but I was wrong. You guys aren't friends to each other, you never were. Danny, Sam, Tucker, and even Brandon, Lester, Norman, Mikey, and Melanie know how to be true friends. A true friend cares about you, watches after you even when you don't want help, doesn't care if you can't go to a party, do a single push-up, buy a certain outfit or anything like that! You all need to really think about what you value and rethink it again…" Valerie paused when she locked eyes with Star. "True friends are also not conditional, they're unconditional." Star's face fell slightly and she looked at her hands in shame. Kwan noticed this and a deep frown etched its way onto his face. Lesley and Tyson looked unsure of themselves. Alroy, Dinah, and Megan looked semi-angry or flustered. Dash looked a bit overwhelmed and Paulina looked murderous.

"Righteous, Valerie…" TJ spoke up and gave a double thumbs up. The rest of the Neutrals nodded at her in agreement.

"Isn't she incredible?" Lester sighed before he got the evil-eye from Tucker.

Dash seemed to have reached his limit and turned sharply to march back to his tent. Most of the A-listers followed after him.

"Wow, got to say I don't think I've could've done a better job," Sam spoke up as the Neutrals wandered off to sleep as well.

"Did you really mean all that, Valerie?" Brandon asked.

Valerie turned and smiled at Brandon and the others. "Yeah, I did."

After a bit more talking with the Nerds, Danny and his four friends were the only ones left.

"I'm glad you joined us, Valerie."

Valerie looked over at Danny, who was on the other side of Sam. "Thanks Danny." She glanced at the ground in thought. "The truth is, you didn't ruin my life. You all made it so much richer."

Sam adopted a strange looked on her face as if the idea that she could've meant so much to someone other than Danny and Tucker was foreign. Tucker grinned like a fool and Danny was smiling contently.

Sam smiled eventually. "Normally I don't do this because of my goth indifference, but I think… This could be an exception." She pulled Danny and Valerie into a group hug before Tucker scrambled on Valerie's other side to get in front and join them in the four-way embrace.

They broke apart and then sat silently together, looking at the stars. Sam noticed Danny rubbing a place over his heart. "You okay?"

Danny flinched and looked at his three friends. "Oh…" He glanced down at his chest and frowned a bit in confusion. "I'm not sure… but for some reason… I think my core is growing more. That would explain why I was eating so much before we got to the Ozarks. I suppose my body is just coming into new power, since I do eat human food rather than purely emotion and ectoplasm."

"Hmm… I suppose. Clockwork did say that your core is powerful… Maybe your body is simply trying to keep up." Sam shrugged.

"Makes since," Tucker added.

"Hey Danny, you think you could increase the heat in our tent again. That was heaven," Valerie sighed.

Danny rolled his eyes. "Is that all I am to you people? An air conditioner or heater?"

All four friends laughed lightly on their way to their tents, never noticing the human that had overheard their brief conversation.

zzz

Ozarks. 6:30 AM.

Everyone was walking again, they'd packed, eaten briefly and started again on the trail that Tetslaff lead them on. During this part of the trek, the group had come to a part on the trail that lead up the side of a bluff. Most everyone was being very quiet, which was especially odd from the A-listers. The Nerds and Neutrals chatted softly about random things and Danny's group noticed Lancer watching them every now and then. Other than that, though, the day was beginning the same as the others.

That was until Danny's body felt a familiar tingle, then his ghost sense fled his mouth and finally something large exploded nearby, causing everyone to scream and lose their footing on the crumbling pathway. People started to fall, including his friends, and Danny was about to jump and blow his secret for their safety, since he knew he could prevent large groups of people from falling due to the Pirate Radio incident, until something grabbed him from behind and jabbed a weapon into his side, causing him to let out a tortured scream when electricity danced across his body. The being then pitched him forward and he fell, just like the other humans with him.

Well there we go, things are about to get weird for the group... or well everyone but Team Phantom.

Thank you all for your kind words and reviews!

Until Next Time,

~NoSignal