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.

zzz- normal separation

ooo- dream or vision separation (could be a past event of some kind)

Mental thoughts or distant speaking

"Collective fear stimulates herd instinct and tends to produce ferocity toward those who are not regarded as members of the herd."

~ Bertrand Russell, Unpopular Essays.

zzz

FentonWorks. 6:55 AM.

Danny grumbled as he stared at his computer screen. "How am I supposed to know if that was a one-time thing or not?" He groaned as his mouse lingered over one choice and then the other. "Technus…"

Danny had been sitting at his computer for about ten minutes or so and after updating his Ghost Files on various things, including what he knew about Tykr'aal and his region in the Zone; he sat indecisive. Had Technus really turned over a new leaf? The halfa sighed and finally moved Technus' file into the Neutral folder. He'd think more about it later.

He grabbed his bag at the door since he was already dressed and prepared for school, then headed down the stairs. Today was his first day back to school after the field-trip gone bad. It was hard to believe that it had been nearly a month since the whole fiasco had started and changed everything. He'd woken up earlier than normal, simply because he couldn't sleep easy with all the apprehension he had for this day. His parents were also still nervous about Vlad and so he and his siblings and even his friends had been told to always carry and small ecto-weapon in case he somehow had the strength to come back.

"Hey sweetie. Good morning."

Danny looked up to see his mother fixing breakfast. His dad was probably in the lab and Dani was probably still sleeping. Jazz had left for college late last night so that she could try to catch up on some of her school work, before having to travel to D.C. with the family for their meeting at the White House.

"Morning, mom." The teenager plopped down in a seat as his mom continued to cook.

"Any ghosts last night?" She asked and though she wore a smile, she couldn't hide from him how bothered she was.

"Nah. I think everyone kind of has the idea that the Human Realm is a bit more off limits for now."

"You think Frostbite and the others had a hand in that?" He saw her finish a neat pile of waffles before starting two more, this time adding a bit of ectoplasm to the batter. Danny smiled a bit. In some ways, it was a good thing he was a ghost in a ghost hunting house hold. Only his mom could feel normal enough adding something green and glowing to her child's breakfast as a vitamin of sorts.

"Maybe. I don't know much about how fast gossip travels there." Danny chuckled a bit and then took a bite of the waffle his mother served him.

"That is an interesting question." Maddie paused. "Also, how much do you actually know about the Ghost Zone and how it works as an 'ecosystem', for lack of a better term?"

Danny shrugged giving her a passive look. "I don't know all that much. I've memorized a few places, but I swear sometimes they change locations. It's hard to know for sure though because there aren't easy landmarks, so you can't tell if places drift or not. As for being an ecosystem? I'm not sure it's anything like one. There are plants in there, but most of them are… not normal plants and most ghosts don't eat them since most of the plants are actually trying to eat ghosts or humans that get too close. Then there are some that just grow there for some reason, like that plant you used for the anti-blossom serum you and dad made. There may be some plants that are ghosts themselves formed from more sentient ghosts' desires, but I'm not sure. There's also Ghost Nip…" Danny's nose wrinkled. "But I've never run into any. Other than the fact that the Human Realm and the Ghost Zone are two parts of a whole, I don't know how it's specifically connected or how it is structured. I've never really had the time to ask anyone." Danny stuffed another bite of waffle into his mouth, feeling happy at how it was making his aura glow a bit even in human form.

He saw his mother smirk. "Like it?"

"You bet!" Danny took another bite and then swallowed. "I'll probably visit the ghost leaders pretty soon."

"We should go with you."

"Next time. First, I have to learn how to get to Tykr'aal's place. Once I'm familiar with it, you guys can come."

"I know you feel the desire to protect us Danny, but you can't do everything alone."

He glanced up to see a pained look in his mother's eyes. She'd been taking everything pretty hard. He realized then that his parents must feel pretty terrible after everything that had happened. They'd indirectly turned him into a halfa, as well as their college friend, tried to kill him for a while, then when he needs back-up the most, they can't protect him from the authority of the government while they prodded him and his sister like they weren't human… They must feel useless as parents. He smiled at her. "Hey, it's okay you know? Everything will be fine."

Maddie sighed and sat beside her son. "No, it's not…" He ran a hand through his hair.

"I know you and dad love me, more than anything. That's something they can't take away, ever."

"They shouldn't take anything away. They shouldn't make you feel like you have to hold onto something as important and basic as that, like there's a chance it could be taken away."

Danny frowned. "I'm not the first person to suffer this way… and I'll won't be the last."

Maddie paused for a moment, stunned by how profound her son was being. She sighed. "Alright. But please let us help you sometimes Danny. I… I want to be able to do that since…"

You weren't able to before now… to make up for all the times I could've used you… for all the time missed… Danny smiled regardless. He could've told them sooner. It had been everyone's fault. "I will. I promise."

He was happy to see his mother was seemingly soothed. "Alright. Eat up before your waffles get too cold. I've got to go wake up Ellie."

Danny smiled back at her and nodded before eating more quickly. He needed the energy after all. After a few moments, he snickered when he heard Danielle's panicked screech.

"HOW IN THE WORLD WILL I GET READY IN TIME!?"

Danny listened to thuds and muffled speech from the floor above, even as his mom came back down into the kitchen.

"She forgot to set her alarm again?" Danny asked.

"Yes. You always ignore yours and she always forgets it to begin with," Maddie expressed while Danny only gave her a sheepish grin in return. Both of them looked at the entrance to the kitchen when two forms walked in. Jack was on the left and Dani was on the right. Both of them looked supremely tired and their hair was a mess. The two Fentons sat across from each other and while Jack made the table jump once from dropping into his chair, Dani simply let her backpack plop onto the ground. "Danielle, are you even going to brush your hair young lady?"

Danielle looked over her shoulder, past her wasp nest of black hair and groaned. "Awwww…"

"Here," Maddie walked off and came back with a brush and started to work on her daughter's hair. It was quite entertaining to watch, seeing as it appeared to fight back. "Did you need something, hun?"

Jack blinked and then yawned. "Yeah, just some coffee though. I'm going to fix it in a second."

"What have you been doing?" Danny asked, taking his last sip of orange juice.

"Looking over the calculations and theories behind the um gauntlets and catcher."

"Oh."

"I'll be down there once the kids leave, sweetie."

"Heh, you know how I am with numbers," Jack chuckled a bit and scratched his neck. "I get um all switched around, you know?"

"I would've been royally screwed if I'd somehow inherited that…"

"I still made B minuses though."

Danny deflated and Danielle only laughed at Danny's misery. He gave his little sister a glare. "Just wait until you get into high school."

"My teachers have been thinking I could skip ninth grade if I keep at it. I'd still be a year older than Jace and Ash, but we'd been in the same grade then!"

"They're in a grade higher than you? Why are they in the middle school then?"

"That's only Ash that comes over to the middle school. He had to retake a class and one of his extra-curriculars is also over in our building. Jace is purely a ninth grader."

"Huh, why'd Ash have to retake a class?"

"I keep asking Jace, but Ash gives him a murderous look and he shuts up. I'm thinking Jace somehow had a hand in that or Ash is just embarrassed."

Danny rose a brow but smiled all the same. "Well I'm glad you're having an easier time than I did."

"That's only because you were more overwhelmed. You're doing perfectly fine now, sweetie. Mostly As and Bs all the way." Maddie nodded as she finished pulling Dani's hair into a ponytail. "Okay then, hurry up and eat or you both will be late."

zzz

Amity Park. 7:45 AM.

"Ugh, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised…" Danny grumbled, peeking through the house's blinds using a tiny and unnoticeable amount of intangibility. Several groups of fans and reporters were stationed right outside on the side of road, waiting for the Phantoms to exit FentonWorks.

"Should we tell mom?" Dani asked.

"No. If we wanted to, we could just fly by them invisibly. Don't they know that?" Danny questioned rhetorically before snorting.

"So, we just going to dupe them?" Dani replied.

"Yeah I guess so. The fans are nice but annoying and a little creepy and those reporters are only for local news. We can probably ditch them, no harm, no foul." Danny nodded to Dani as the two transformed and the two siblings went intangible and invisible before sinking into the ground.

They flew through the city's streets before coming up and into the sky above Amity. Eventually they spotted the school and started to fly down towards the ground. They noticed that there weren't many students outside the halls at the moment and dropped their intangibility, invisibility and transformations.

Danny paused and whipped around at the same time Dani did, to see Tucker, Sam, and Valerie launch themselves around the corner and duck.

"Do you think we lost them?" Tucker asked.

"Frankly, I think we lost them back on third street," Sam muttered.

Valerie grumbled. "I wish I still had my suit. I could've flown us all here."

"Sorry, Val."

"Not your fault Foley," Valerie replied and then gave the boy's hand a quick pat.

"I'm just wondering if Danny and Danielle are okay. Hopefully they vanished before they walked out of their door," Sam spoke up.

"Aw come on, Sam. Don't you have more faith in us?"

"Especially me," Dani chirped.

The three friends popped their heads up at the same time, noticing the Fentons standing in front of them.

Danny gave Dani a sidelong glare. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"If you're so smart figure it out yourself, broseph," Dani replied before a look of worry crossed her face. "I've got to go, Danny. I'm worried about Ash and Jace."

Danny smirked, though his brows were furrowed in worry. "Alright. Be careful, Dani. I love you."

Dani reached up and gave Danny a brief hug. "Love you too." She waved at the others and then ran off, backpack bouncing against her back.

Danny watched her go as his friends walked up behind him. Sam touched the back of his hand, making him look at her. "She'll be okay. She's tough." Danny smirked and gripped Sam's hand fully.

"I know." Danny glanced over and saw Tucker and Valerie next to him. Danny stared at Tucker's hand for a moment and jerked when Tucker reached out and gripped his other.

"One time, just one, got it?" Tucker asked while Valerie rolled her eyes.

"I don't think you'll lose any of your masculinity oh tech lord," Valerie spoke, causing Sam to snort and then laugh.

"You're all jerks," Tucker mumbled. Team Phantom then walked towards the door as a connected chain, ready to face whatever awaited them inside Casper's hallowed halls.

"Is it weird that I almost dread this as much as I do meeting the President?" Danny asked as they closed in on the doors.

"Nope." The others answered as one.

zzz

Casper High. 8:00 AM.

Unfortunately, there were still a fair amount of people in the halls, biding their time until eight fifteen would eventually roll around. As soon as the four breached the hallway, all talking stopped along with movement.

Though there were a few that spared glances at the others, most everyone was staring right at Danny. The small group even noticed a few teachers that were in the hallways, turn to look. Before the teens could really start to try and decipher what was going to happen next, a majority of the students burst into cheers and a few smiles could be found on some of the teachers' faces.

The group was promptly bum rushed and their tight grips on each other's hands, were ripped apart. Then the questions started, catered to each member of the team.

"What is he like?"

"Does he sneak into your house with his ghost powers?"

"Dude, did you ever… ya know… peep?"

"You his tech guy or something?"

"How'd you get in on the group, Valerie?"

"Is there some kind of secret or is it because you're the Red Huntress?"

"Weren't you two dating or something?"

"That's like almost Batman and Catwoman shit right there."

"Is Tucker the next best thing?"

"Dude are you dead?"

"Do you suck out the life force of other things?"

"Did you use your powers to prank Baxter before?"

Danny was frozen in shock and was about to try and turn intangible to get himself and his friends out of there, before a friendly and familiar voice rose above the rest.

"The Great Gatsby, people! This is a place of learning, not a red-carpet reveal!"

Lancer, Clockwork bless the man, came trotting forward and waving people away from the four bewildered teens. "As your Vice Principle, I do hold the right to hand out heavy punishment!"

At that, most everyone scurried away, save a few that stayed to watch a couple moments more. Lancer, once he was satisfied, looked back at the group to see they were in slight shock and their clothes were wrinkled. The teacher swore Sam's eye was twitching.

"Are you all alright?"

Danny was the first to snap out of it and nodded. "Yeah, thanks Mister Lancer."

"They made my hair frizzy. Do you know how hard it is to balance between waves and frizz?" Valerie questioned, able to feel the stray hairs that had come out of her wavy locks.

"I swear one of the sophomores tried to steal Stella. Good thing she zapped him," Tucker stated, patting his pocket.

"Too much human contact…" Sam muttered with a deadpan expression.

Lancer nodded. "Well, let's head to class since you all have first period with me." He then glanced at Danny. "I want to talk to you all after school if you don't mind."

The four glanced at each other and then nodded at their teacher.

"Good," Lancer turned to start leading them, only to stop and look over his shoulder. "If you need to go after a ghost, simply raise your hand Mister Fenton."

Danny gave a small smile. "Thanks Mister Lancer."

"It's a pleasure Mister Fenton."

zzz

Physics Class. 9:40 AM.

Danny's gaze shifted around the classroom as he walked in. So far, the day had been about as awkward as he had expected. In English class, some people had said hi to him that would never have bothered before, the A-listers had stayed eerily silent, and Danny had felt eyes lingering on him the entire time, making it fairly difficult to listen to Lancer's lecture. The initial rush of people had ebbed, but now Danny had to deal with the stares, hero worship, and hecklers. The good news was he hadn't run into anyone really unkind yet.

The students who were in the room immediately looked at him when he entered. Danny glanced at Dr. Marlowe, his AP Physics teacher, only to get a shock. The man was staring at him and he could feel the irritation and something similar to disgust directed at him. Danny nervously averted his eyes and took his seat.

After several more minutes the bell rang and Marlowe got ready to speak. "Morning, class. We're going to start with me returning your quizzes from before the break…" The teacher looked briefly at Danny as if the extended closure of the school had been entirely his fault. Danny merely frowned. "Then we're going to get into our small section on quantum theory." Once he was done, the man turned and gathered the quizzes from his desk and started to pass them around.

When he got to Danny's desk, he seemed to take a little sick pleasure in putting the young man's quiz down in front of him, showing off a D minus. "If you're wanting to get into the Space program Mister Fenton, then I suggest you try a bit harder. Then again, there might not be a point." Danny had to stop himself from dropping his mouth in slight shock. What had he ever done to Dr. Marlowe? He tried to think back and figure out if he had destroyed his car or crashed into his apartment on accident but couldn't come up with anything. He heard some people shift in their seat awkwardly and Danny couldn't bring himself to look back and see who was pitying him and who was unbothered by his treatment.

The class continued and Danny felt a flush of shame and anger fill him when Marlowe told the class they would be discussing Schrödinger's cat. By the time class was over, Danny had a sneaking suspicion that it would take more than Lancer's offer of tutorship to improve his grade in Physics.

zzz

Lunch. 12:10 PM.

"Are you serious?" Sam asked. Danny could tell how hard Sam was trying to reel in her righteous fury, though really Valerie wasn't much better and Tucker had a quiet scowl on his face.

"I don't even remember if I did anything that would give him a reason to be upset with me." Danny trailed off, scratching at the back of his head. It had started to rain, so the group turned to head towards the cafeteria instead of the doors to the outdoor eating area.

"You probably did nothing at all. He's just being racist," Sam replied with a frown.

"Or speciesist. I wonder which one you fall under?" Tucker asked suddenly, making Valerie roll her eyes.

Danny shrugged. "I think I'm more like a human with powers… for the most part. Someone like Clockwork would be a different species, seeing as he wasn't human… but then again, he is dead. Does it count as a species if it's dead?" Danny then hummed and then returned to the major topic at hand. "Even if I didn't do anything directly to Dr. Marlowe, there's got to be a better reason for why he did that."

Sam's angry expression dropped and a sadder frown came to her face. She had technically had something similar happen to her with her Math teacher earlier, though it hadn't hurt her feelings because she had been on bad terms with the woman before this whole fiasco. She'd essentially told the teacher to f—k off without saying it directly, through passive aggressive means. Danny wasn't like her though and tended to internalize any criticism. He was sensitive and often over thought things. These types of things would probably happen to anyone that associated with Danny or Danielle for a while if not forever, but that wouldn't scare them off. "No, really there doesn't have to be a reason, Danny. Sometimes people are just bad."

Danny looked at her and frowned. "I don't know…"

Before the conversation could go any farther, they walked into the cafeteria and saw that everyone turned to stare at them. Danny leveled his own eyes at each person, trying to not show as much nervousness. He spotted Danielle, Ash, and Jace sitting at their typical table and oddly there seemed to be an area around the three as if they had the plague. Danny went on alert when he noticed Dani picking at her bag lunch slowly, frowning, and Ash and Jace giving her worried looks.

He strode forward and made it to Dani's side before taking a seat. "Dani, are you okay? What's wrong?"

Dani perked up at the newcomers and furrowed her brows in a mixture of irritation and defensiveness. "Don't you see it?"

"See what?" Valerie asked taking her own seat with the others.

"Everyone's been avoiding me! Nobody would talk to me or sit near me and they tried to make sure I didn't brush past them or anything!" Dani complained.

"What are we, chopped liver?" Jace asked and Ash gave the boy an irritated look. Normally the boy would've found Jace's joke funny, but the dark-haired freshman had noticed that Ash had been giving people the evil eye all day whenever they obviously tried to avoid Dani.

Dani sighed. "Sorry, Ash and Jace have been great."

Ash smiled a bit at the praise.

"They're acting like you're contagious or something," Ash mentioned.

"Pfft, last time I checked you can't catch clone status from being touched," Dani grumbled and stabbed a piece of fruit in her Tupperware cup.

Danny frowned. Apparently the public and even school mates were going to be treating the two Phantoms a bit differently. In that sense, Danny had the advantage of having been a human before a halfa. It was easier to humanize him, but Dani…

"Well they can shove their opinions up their-" Sam started only for Tucker to interrupt.

"How about your teachers? Dr. Marlowe treated Danny like a sideshow, maybe because you guys defy physics and all that."

"Gee, thanks Tuck."

Dani shrugged. "They've mostly been normal. Maybe a little forced normal, but normal." She looked back down at her food. "Do you think they're just afraid?"

Danny's face softened. "Probably, sis."

"Uh, guys?"

Everyone looked up at Valerie only to notice that large groups of people had tried to get closer to either listen in or just get close to probably bombard them with questions again. Then the question that would cause a whole other problem for Team Phantoms came. A nerdy looking freshman reached out with a napkin.

"Can I have your autograph?" The poor kid probably meant it innocently enough and Danny was pretty sure he'd saved the kid from getting run over by a car once, when someone had run a red light at a crosswalk, but the lunchroom suddenly erupted into a roaring noise of people clamoring for autographs and asking questions. Even Ash and Jace were crowded and some of the freshman girls were interested in how much hero work they contributed to the team.

Dani finally got the attention she'd been lacking in the form of some of the older students, who were more familiar with Danny Fenton and thus were more comfortable with being near someone he knew closely even if she was a clone.

"Back away you leeches!" Jace wailed, noticing his shirt was getting wrinkled by the closer quarters.

"Did you dye your hair to the same color as the Phantoms'?"

Ash grit his teeth in complete frustration. "Damn it. I just knew somebody would ask that DUMB question."

"So, is that a yes?"

"NO!"

"Maybe I should become a vegetarian."

"Yeah."

Sam growled lowly so that only those closest to her would hear. "It's not a fad it's a lifestyle. Of course, they would pretend to be interested now."

"Sorry ladies. Crowding is not allowed. Tucker Foley has been taken off the market!"

Valerie groaned, took a page out of Danny's book, and face-planted against the table. "I'm dating this guy?"

Danny groaned and used a brief bit of intangibility every time someone tried to touch him. "Can we not do this? Is that an option? I mean I'm flattered but, uh…" Danny muttered. He was a bit uncomfortable seeing as he was so use to being ignored. Though currently he was saying things and people weren't listening now… Danny sighed and brought up two fingers to his mouth before whistling. Everyone shut up immediately. "I'm willing to sign autographs if you will leave us alone for the rest of lunch." Danny looked over at Danielle and she nodded. "Dani's up for it too." Everyone started to tense up for the jump at being first and Danny threw up his hands. "Single file line on both sides of the table one for me and one for Dani or this isn't happening."

Eventually, with a lot of bustling and some chatter, the lines formed and started to receive autographs from the two heroes.

"What about if I want one from the Red Huntress?"

Valerie's head popped up at that and she rose a brow before a self-satisfied smile formed on her lips. "Sure."

Lines started to form for practically all of the Team Phantom members. Though Ash and Jace were somewhat hesitant to be so whole-heartedly grouped into that sort of hero worship, they eventually caved when some of the students pleaded with them.

"What's the P stand for?" Ash looked up when the question was asked as he finished signing a newspaper article of him, Jace, the Fentons, and Danielle fighting Technus. He didn't know that article had even existed.

Jace smirked but didn't stop as he finished his own signature for someone else.

"I never asked you what your middle name was…" Danielle hummed.

Ash grumbled something under his breath. "I'd rather not say."

Danielle pouted. "I'll figure it out."

"No way."

"She was right…" Danny paused, locking eyes with the girl that he'd just handed the autograph and message to.

"What?"

A sophomore aged looking girl with blonde hair and kind looking green eyes smiled. "Just that you dot your Is in the middle of your cursive writing."

Danny looked at Sam and spoke, "Sam likes to eat cupcakes in steps, toppings, icing, cake." After the words left his mouth, the two blushed faintly and smiled. The crowds eventually dwindled and the group was left to their own devices again.

"Well, good thing that's over." Valerie sighed and slumped.

"Great news, that's probably only the beginning!" Sam expressed with proper sarcasm.

"I don't mind it so much. It's nice to be appreciated by other people, especially people that don't hit me," Tucker responded giving a pointed look to his girlfriend and Sam. "Or overshadow me." He then looked at Danny.

Sam and Valerie opened their mouths before Danny interrupted them with a hand. "That's great Tuck. Just don't let it go to your head."

Tucker smirked and then became a bit somber. He gave the two girls a quick look before looking back at Danny. "Thanks, bro. I know." Then his grin came back full force. "After all we all know that I'm worth listening to." Cue groans.

Danny glanced over at Sam when he noticed her attention had been captured by something. "Hey what's up?"

Sam looked at him before settling back into eating her salad. "I think the A-listers and the rest of the students from the Ozark trip are having trouble figuring out how to approach us. They did see a bit more of your ghostly side than most of the people watching the news know about."

Danny looked up and over his shoulder to see Sam was right. All three groups of people were at their own tables not making any move to even look their way. "Maybe they just need time or something…"

"Or they're doing the same thing my classmates were doing," Dani offered with a shrug.

The friends continued to eat and finished their lunch before starting to clean up in time for their last class. Valerie frowned and looked out of one of the windows with a distant look on her face. "Technus said I can't use my Huntress suit anymore. He had to remove all the nanobots in my body to save my life. I always thought that I would be happy to be able to let go of ghost hunting after I had destroyed Danny Phantom-"

Danny flinched and Valerie smiled. "Sorry Ghost boy." She paused briefly before speaking again, "But now I'm missing it."

Danielle touched Valerie's arm. "Sorry Valerie. I'm sure we could make you a new suit or something."

"Maybe it's for the best that Technus had to completely delete the armor. It would've contained the most damaging evidence that you had helped Vlad even if you hadn't known it at the time. I heard there's a lot of people being sacked in upper management at Axon. Your dad's still okay, right?" Tucker asked. "He seemed to be in an okay mood when I talked to him last. I mean at least he didn't bite my head off."

Valerie perked up. "Actually no. He's wonderful. With all this stuff going on with Danny and Danielle I almost forgot to tell you guys. Daddy's getting the position of CEO when Axon undergoes its revision and disassociation from VladCo."

"Oh my God, that's great news, Val!" Danny grinned.

"Tell your dad I said congrats," Sam commented as the group headed for the double doors.

"Thanks, Manson. Will do."

"Babe, that's great!" Tucker exclaimed and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. The Techno geek continued to smile as a small plan started to form in his mind.

"Me and the guys have to go. See ya later, Danny!" Danielle expressed as she, Ash, and Jace started to walk down the opposite hall.

"Later, Dani." The four older teens responded.

Danny let out a sigh as they walked passed countless lockers.

"What's wrong?" Sam questioned.

"I just remembered-"

"What?" The other three parroted each other.

"Gym class is next."

At that moment, Danny was pretty sure he wasn't the only one of them that felt a little dead inside.

"This is going to be a freaking circus."

zzz

Gym Class. 1:15 PM.

The four friends had waited until everyone had left the locker rooms before even trying to get changed. Even that had been a chore, but eventually Sam had managed to scare them all off with a glare before the boys and girls had gone their separate ways. Now everyone was in the gym and Tetslaff was staring at them all with a critical eye. When she finally spoke, Danny wanted nothing more than to bury his head like an ostrich.

"Well I'm pretty sure we don't have any equipment that could simulate whatever ungodly amount of weight you could hold, Fenton."

Danny paled a bit in embarrassment before swallowing and trying to speak. "I can control how much ghost energy I use in my muscles…" Before he hardly got finished with his sentence, Tetslaff was shaking her head.

"No. I want all my students to have their physical limits challenged every day. I don't like slackers." She eyed Team Phantom. "I would prefer that you four use this period to exercise off campus in whatever way you normally would. I'll be talking with Mr. Kappel and Eldridge as well when I get the chance and I'm sure Coach Kyles would agree to let Mrs. Fenton do the same. I want you to have some sort of video evidence though that you did in fact exercise. Mrs. Manson and Mrs. Gray, I'm certain you can keep those two focused?"

A semi-evil grin snaked its way onto both of their faces before they simultaneously looked at each other and spoke. "Oh, we can."

Tucker leaned closer to Danny. "I'm getting the feeling that I should probably consider writing my will. They'll kill me."

"Yeah and Sam will finish the job with me," Danny swallowed.

"But for now, one last game of dodgeball as a gym class." Tetslaff watched as everyone immediately turned to stare at Danny who balked.

"What!? I never cheated before! Why would I do it now WHEN YOU KNOW ABOUT IT!?" Danny expressed somewhat comically.

"That also means no super-human speed, agility, reflexes, or flexibility," Sam muttered in his ear.

"Right, though I definitely can't control my equilibrium. It's built in," Danny remarked softly in return.

"Baxter you're Team One's captain! Nancy you're Team Two's!" The coach called out before snagging the bag of balls.

Danny turned and locked eyes with Dash. The quarterback froze for a moment before seemingly seeing right through his old punching bag. Then he turned and somewhat quietly for him spoke Kwan's name. Danny was surprised. He had expected whoever was first to jump at the chance to have him on their team, not that he was being boastful or anything, but it just made sense. Maybe he'd try to find Dash and the others later and ask what was wrong.

"Danny."

Danny perked up and looked over to see Nancy motioning to him, she wasn't anyone he really knew from all the kids in the halls. Even though he had expected to be picked, he still couldn't help but think bitterly about how people now wanted him on their team. He and Tucker used to be the last picked all the time.

"I would like to see the ghost hunters use some of what they've been holding back, just don't overdo it, understand?" Tetslaff shouted out loud after the teams had been picked. She blew the whistle and thus began the slaughter.

zzz

Boy's Locker Room. 2:45 PM.

"I feel bad. I should go and at least apologize. He's got to have a broken nose. Do you mind if I head out, Danny? The girls will wait for you."

Danny looked over at the door of the stall, knowing that a changed Tucker was standing on the other side. During the game of dodgeball, Tucker had thrown a dodgeball a bit too hard and had nailed some guy they didn't even know in the face. He'd headed to the nurse soon after once the dizziness had stopped. Sam and Valerie had done a pretty good job of holding back, while Danny felt he'd probably over compensated quite a bit, even letting himself get hit once by a ball he could've probably dodged with a jump that wouldn't have necessarily been overkill.

"Yeah, no problem, dude. See ya at Lancer's office."

"Alright. I swear you're rubbing off on me. I used to want to get back at people, but now it's just not worth it and this guy wasn't even someone I know!"

"Naw, Tuck. That's just your human compassion showing."

"Ha ha."

Danny smiled as he heard his friend walk away. After another second of switching out of his gym shorts to his jeans, Danny gathered his things and walked out of the door, only to run into a wall of a person.

"Oof!" Danny took a step back and looked up. "Geez, sorry about that. Uh…"

He was surrounded. Practically two thirds of the football team and maybe a few of the larger fellows from the basketball team were all staring at him. He couldn't see Dash, Kwan, Alroy, or Tyson anywhere.

Danny went to open his mouth again, when the boy he'd run into grabbed him and shoved him against the sinks. The half-ghost whirled around to see that they were all still boring their eyes into him. "What the hell?!"

"What are you going to do about it, Fenton?" The unnamed jock asked.

Danny blinked. "Excuse me?"

Another jock pulled out a towel and whipped it right next to Danny's face, though the teen didn't flinch at all. "You going to fight back with your spooky powers?"

Danny's felt his eyebrows rise against his will. "Are you trying to provoke me or something?"

The first jock furrowed his brows, reared back and punched Danny straight in the face. Danny recoiled slightly and put a hand over the afflicted area. He pulled his hand away and a tiny bit of blood welled in his mouth and tried to escape through the corner of his lips. "Congratulations tough guy, you made a living thing bleed. You must feel really special." A flicker of self-satisfaction lit up inside Danny. This was one of the first times he got to use blatant sarcasm as Fenton.

"Whatever, Freak. Come on. Use some of your power." The boy sneered.

Danny couldn't help but look at them dumbfounded. He just couldn't understand what they were trying to gain. He knew sometimes people would be jerks, but he just couldn't… understand. Was it just because he wasn't completely human anymore?

"Hello, earth to Ghost boy!"

"He must be brain dead."

"Tch, no wonder he used to get F's all the time."

Danny tensed at the jeers and finally had enough. He bowed up, not allowing himself to bend his back in Fenton's general submissive posture. Phantom was here now, or at least the half of Fenton that had always had to hide behind Phantom's persona. "Back off and leave me alone. Go home and do your homework. I'll be busy keeping ghosts from ruining your precious day!" Danny spat somewhat bitterly as he tried to shove past the main aggressor. He mentally groaned when the boy laid a large hand on his shoulder. He started to swing punches again and Danny kept dodging them somewhat easily. The other jocks were cheering their buddy on.

"Must suck not being able to fight back, huh?"

Danny's eyes widened a bit when he realized partially what this was about. They were just a bunch of opportunists. They knew he was on thin ice with the government and people in general. "You know what? I'm going to take a wild guess and imagine you becoming one of those people I put on my crazy Fruitloops list." Danny dodged another swing, noticing that the kid was getting worn out. He started ticking off his own fingers as he continued to maneuver around the punches, keep away from the other jocks, and not use his powers. "You're opportunistic, you don't play fair, you apparently enjoy other people's suffering-" He paused. "That's already looking bad and I'm only one third of the way down the requirements list… Do you happen to own a cat?"

"RAAAH!" The boy almost screamed out and missed Danny only to punch the wall. He clutched his hand. He hissed bitterly. "Phantom… busted up my hand."

Danny narrowed his eyes in confusion and irritation. "I didn't-" He froze mid-sentence as he realized what the boy meant. He locked eyes with his attacker. "Why are you doing this? What did I ever do to you? I'd give my life before I let you get hurt…" he heard a couple of the probably more peer pressured individuals that were probably simply afraid to be singled out, murmur to each other or themselves.

"Because you need to be locked away."

"Why? I won't hurt you. You generally don't lock up someone until after they've committed a crime."

"Because you're just too dangerous."

So that was it then. It was fear that drove some of these people. Somehow the idea that people out there feared him, hurt worse than any insult he could hear from bigots. He instinctually went intangible when a random person threw another punch at him, only… it wasn't a punch. Danny looked up only slightly into Dash Baxter's eyes as his long-time bully's hand hovered in the middle of his intangible shoulder. "Dash?" The boy didn't answer as he retracted his hand and gave everyone there a hard glare.

"Get out."

"If you want to take a swing at him Baxter you just have to ask."

Danny finally noticed Kwan was next to Dash and was giving the others a glare, he didn't know the more soft-hearted jock was capable of. It was almost scary. There was silence before Dash spoke in a dangerous tone.

"I swear to God if you don't leave the locker room in five seconds, who's ever left will be kicked off whatever team you're on." Danny remembered that Dash was actually the captain for both the football and basketball teams. There seemed to be a few, especially the main antagonist, that wanted to say something, but eventually they all filed out. A few gave the three looks as they left.

Danny, Dash, and Kwan were alone. Then Danny heard Dash say something that he never thought he'd hear and it wasn't just what he said, but how he said it…

"You okay, Fenton?"

It was so sincere and not even seemingly coated in hero worship or fear either. Danny felt weird and somewhat confused when his core thrummed slightly. He pushed the thoughts away though for the moment.

"Fine now. Uh, thanks?" Danny stated, though it did come out more as a question.

Dash opened his mouth, looking as if he was really wanting to say something, but snapped it shut again. He turned and marched right out of the room, with Kwan on his tail. The Asian boy waved slightly and spoke, "Take care of yourself, Danny."

And then Danny was alone. He knew he needed to leave the locker rooms and find Sam and Valerie so they could meet with Tucker at Lancer's office, but he couldn't help but stand for a moment, reflecting on what had just occurred.

His core had thrummed. He didn't talk about it much, though his friends and family were aware of the phenomenon, because it sounded kind of embarrassing…

His core only thrummed near his loved ones, namely family and his dear friends, ghost and human alike.

Why had it thrummed briefly when Dash and Kwan were near?

zzz

Study Hall. 1:15 PM.

Ash was a patient boy for the most part. Sure, he could get bored and lose focus and even sometimes annoyed more easily than he should, but for the most part, he was very patient. So why in God's green earth did he end up being best friends with and have a crus- He nearly spat out the water in his mouth at where his train of thought had gone. Before he could resume his internal conversation, a piece of rolled up paper bounced against his cheek. There was a growing pile of tiny spheres of paper on his desk now.

"Tell me."

"No."

Ash brooded, at having to deny Dani again. The girl just wouldn't drop it. Ever since that stupid kid had asked what the P in his name stood for, she'd dogged him about it.

At present, the three friends were in the back of the room and most everyone was avoiding them still. There were a few, most likely younger siblings of upperclassmen that knew Danny, that had tried to sit closer, but some fear Ash couldn't personally comprehend made them still keep their distance. I mean, who wouldn't want to know Danielle? She was hilarious, liked video games and could actually whip his butt at them, liked similar foods, wasn't overly superficial, smart, brave, loyal, kind- The boy's face started heating up against his will. The hell was he doing?

"Don't think too hard about what your fantasying over or something embarrassing will happen," Jace hissed.

Ash looked at his guy friend blankly for a second before his mind caught up. He stood hurriedly in complete shock. "WHAT!?"

"Mr. Kappel. Please try to keep from disturbing the other students. Some of them do have homework to do." The woman narrowed her eyes. "And I imagine you could be doing something productive too."

Ash chuckled nervously and flushed this time in embarrassment. "Sorry Ma'am, won't happen again." He then sat down.

"Really nice. I try so hard and you still managed to play yourself." Jace joshed.

"Shut up, Jace." Ash merely pouted, not truly blaming his friend, except for taking pleasure from his discomfort.

Ash growled in irritation when another piece of paper bounced near his eye.

"Tell me~" Dani whispered in a sing-song voice.

"No!" Ash whisper yelled.

Dani sighed in annoyance and slumped against her desk. "Why not? It's got to be better than Barnhill, anyways. I hope with all this stuff happening after the trial, we can find the time to go get that changed. Maybe David handled it…"

Ash was going to argue and say no it wasn't before he finally felt a little remorse. Names, parents, a sense of home… Suddenly Ash had a moment of realization at just how much people tend to take for granted. It didn't matter if Dani was born in a glass tube or in a hospital, that part probably was one of the last things about being a clone that bothered her. Not to mention other people were technically born that way, they just weren't a near genetic copy of someone else. He could share his name with her. Jace knew it and they were all friends. Everyone else was not including her, now he was doing almost the same thing really.

"It's… Paki."

He watched from the corner of his eye as Dani stared at him. He started to feel hot under her gaze.

"Paki?"

"Look I know it's stupid, that's why I prefer it stay a P in my name really."

"I don't think it's stupid. Does it stand for something? It doesn't really match the rest of your name."

Ash glanced over at her and exhaled through his nose. "My parents took a trip to South Africa before I was born. They did some charity work and experienced the culture. It was a few years' worth of their lives. Paki means witness in the Xhosa language."

"Witness, huh?" Dani asked and then cradled her face in one hand, while furrowing her brows to ponder. "I think that suits you."

The bell rang shortly after that and the three friends left class before anyone else. As they walked down the hall, Ash looked over and saw that some of Dani's hair had slipped out of her ponytail. Her hair was pretty. And suddenly Ash realized he'd frozen in the action of pushing back her hair behind her ear and thinking about her hair being pretty. It had been like his body had suddenly been overshadowed by a ghost. He tried to work his mouth as Dani stared at him with a mixture of confusion, that broke his heart, and something more like a subtle flustered look, that warmed him.

Jace watched from behind the two with a raised eyebrow. He glanced behind him and saw the rest of the students from Study Hall were catching up. To spare his friends the embarrassment of explaining or being caught, he placed a hand on each of their backs and started to propel them forward. It paid being the tallest of their trio, even if really couldn't claim to be strongest for obvious reasons.

Eventually he didn't have to push them anymore and Dani had chosen to walk ahead of them for a little bit, most likely thinking about Ash's actions. Jace knew he shouldn't, but he couldn't help but look at his friend.

"Don't-"

"Just make sure-"

"Jace!" Ash hissed.

"-you invite me to the wedding. I also suggest someplace in the Rocky's for the honeymoon. It's not quite as cliché as a beach resort." Jace noticed Dani go rigid slightly as she walked. Oops, forgot about enhanced hearing. Ash was red from his neck to his hairline.

"I hate you."

There was a pause.

"I still get to be the best man though, right?"

Ash simply groaned and pulled the hood of the black sweatshirt he was wearing over his face.

zzz

Lancer's Office. 3:00 PM.

"I was hoping things wouldn't get that sketchy but I guess it's somewhat expected unfortunately," Tucker sighed. The four friends had started their walk to Ishiyama and Lancer's collective offices to discuss their situation. Dani and her friends should be there soon as well. Danny had just told them about his experience in the locker room. His friends had been pissed, Tucker had felt bad for leaving him alone, and all four of them had been confused by Dash and Kwan's behavior. While before the reveal but after the truce, they had seemed helpful and friendly, there was a tense awkwardness that held between the Ozark trip kids and Team Phantom. Ultimately, the four friends had turned to silently walking.

"I'm going to tell Lancer and Ishiyama. They might not be able to do much, but they should at least be aware," Sam expressed, trying to be calmer and keep a level head. As much as she wanted to hunt those boys down and do something more verbal and out-spoken, she understood subtly and tact too. This was one of those times that required tact and self-control.

"Yeah." Danny nodded, still thinking about the thrum from his core. It was probably best to wait to mention Dr. Marlowe, seeing as that was a more delicate subject.

Valerie stayed silent, scowling slightly. Eventually the group knocked before walking into the office space. Lancer and Ishiyama were sitting, talking a bit with Dani, Ash and Jace.

"Hello, Daniel, Sam, Tucker, Valerie," Ishiyama smiled and stepped forward some before motioning to some chairs. "Come, let's talk."

So, the group sat and talked. They came to a decision that simply raising their hands would suffice in the case of a ghost attack, though they preferred if only Danny and maybe Danielle left during school hours, unless there was reasonable evidence to suggest the two ghosts needed back up from the human members of the team. They had already contacted their parents and had talked in depth with them a couple days before, so that was set in place as well. Sam's parents still weren't entirely pleased with the idea of her hunting ghosts, Tucker's and Valerie's were worried, and Ash's and Jace's had asked that they be careful and continue their hunting and self-defense lessons with the Fentons. Ash's and Jace's parents had also planned to go and meet the Fentons for the first time. Danny took the time to tell them about the incident in the locker room and the two faculty members thanked him for talking about it and asking he tell them of any other incidents and names involved if he could.

The last thing they talked about was tutoring opportunities for skipped classes and lost study time. Though the last issue wasn't as much of a problem now, seeing as Danny's grades had risen within the last year and a half to mostly Bs a couple high Cs and even a couple As. Lancer pointed out that it could technically improve though and was willing to practically open his schedule entirely for the group, not that he would tell his students that he didn't have much of anything better to do. Maybe now the teacher could find something to be a part of, tutoring heroes.

Lancer watched as the students before him talked happily with Ishiyama about the arrangements, thanking both of the faculty members for the help. It was like a weight had been lifted from their shoulders, especially the original trio's. Danny, Sam, and Tucker had always seemed so heavy and tired, but now they seemed truly happy. Lancer couldn't remember the last time he personally felt so fulfilled, especially after- He paused in thought, trying not to linger on those depressing memories.

"Mr. Lancer?"

Lancer popped his head up to lock eyes with Danny himself. "Oh, yes, what was that Daniel?"

Danny smiled a bit. "I just wanted to thank you again."

Lancer smiled happily. "You're quite welcome, Mr. Fenton."

After a little more talking, the teens left the office. Ishiyama asked Lancer to photocopy the new mandates to pass out to the teens' teachers and school Nurse so that they knew about the new allowances for their special students and then Lancer was left to his own devices. He decided to organize his binder and get ready to head home. He could copy the mandate with his own copier at home.

He turned with briefcase in hand, ready for a night of grading papers and some light reading, only to open the door and find a startled Dash Baxter and Kwan Han. Lancer leaned out a bit and saw Alroy MacEntire and Tyson Rayne.

"Can I help you boys?"

Dash let out a breath. "We've been talking…" Lancer saw the boy was having trouble and so he stayed silent when he paused. "We want to somehow make up for all the bad stuff we did to people. We're going to try and say sorry later as well, but we wanted…"

Lancer nodded. "I see. I hope you aren't trying to find some other outlet to make yourselves feel better about your actions. I want to know you fully intend to apologize to those kids."

Dash's mouth opened and then closed before he nodded. He then looked back at Lancer's face. "I can also tell you who tried to corner Danny in the locker room."

Lancer let out a breath and nodded. "Come in, all of you. Most likely they will be given warnings this time, but I would still like to know who to be concerned about."

After the last young man entered the office, the door clicked shut.

Paulina, Star, Megan, and Dinah watched from a nearby hallway. "They're really serious about this, huh?" Dinah asked softly.

"Yeah, they are. Kwan talked to me about it a lot the other day," Star expressed.

"I heard Lesley started hanging out with Melanie the other day and that they're going to the mall with one of the band girls. I think her name's Sarah," Megan added.

Dinah looked at Paulina. "What should we do, Pauly? There are technically still a few people trying to hold onto the A-listers idea. Some of the jocks that Dash used to know a little less than his close buddies and even Brittany. I heard she was planning to take your place as the Queen of Casper High…"

Paulina was silent for a little while. Then she finally spoke, "I don't know." She then walked away. The other three girls watched as their friend moved further away.

"Is she okay, Star?" Megan asked.

Star shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe she's not used to feeling guilt…"

Dinah let out a breath and brushed some hair behind her ear and away from her eye. "I'm starting to think none of us really are." She then looked at Star directly. "Call us later."

Star nodded and gave a small smile. "Yeah, I will. Bye girls." After the two dark-haired friends had walked off, Star turned to look in the direction that Paulina had left in. "I guess this is the kind of moment that determines what true friendship is." Star took a deep breath and then jogged off to find her sad friend.

I hope it was worth the wait. I'm trying to take a lot of differing approaches to how people are reacting to the truth, so I hope everyone likes my plan as it's revealed.