Author's Notes:
Hey! I know you're all wondering what's going to happen now that Skulker knows how to open the thermos. Well, you're in for a few surprises, so keep reading and reviewing and I'll have more chapters up in a jiffy!
Chapter 4: Secrets?
When Timmy's parents came home from work, he made sure with them if Danny could stay for a few days. He explained the circumstances so they'd understand the reason. They agreed to let Danny stay.
Timmy made a bed for Danny in his room by softly whispering a wish to his fairy godparents who were disguised as a fork and a knife at dinnertime. When it was time for bed, the boys went upstairs to find a sleeping bag and a pillow, a toothbrush, and a comb in a corner of the blue-painted room.
Danny, who assumed his host's parents had put them there, picked up the toothbrush and went to the bathroom to brush his teeth. After he climbed into bed, he thought about his thermos. Skulker must be terribly bored in there, he thought. He tossed and turned, but he couldn't go to sleep. Eventually he got the nerve to call out to Timmy. He needed to talk to someone.
"Hey...Timmy?" he whispered.
"Yeah?" Timmy answered more loudly, showing that he was awake.
"Can't you sleep?" Danny asked.
"No. So many questioning things happened today. You?" he wondered back.
"Same."
"What I really want to know is, how come you're parents didn't know you were here? Did you run away?" questioned Timmy.
"No. It's very complicated, Timmy," Danny said.
"I have all night."
Danny sighed. "Alright. Well, you see, I was trying to catch a ghost." Danny chose his words carefully. "My parents are ghost-hunters, so I had the equipment. That's what that thermos was for. It's to catch ghosts." He sat up in his sleeping bag. Timmy got out of his bed and turned on his desk lamp. He then came over and sat down next to Danny.
"So you came all the way to California, just to catch a ghost?" Timmy said incredulously.
"Yeah, I guess that is pretty stupid. The ghost flew all the way here before I could catch him. And, well, this ghost, he's been bugging me ever since he found out that –," Danny stopped himself. He still didn't want Timmy to know his secret quite yet.
"Found out...found out what?" Timmy asked. He thought about his fairies. What if Danny had them, too? Maybe that's why the ghost wanted to pester Danny. He was probably like Crocker, always pestering him about his fairies. He considered asking Danny if he did have fairies, but first he had to find out what reason caused Danny to have them.
Danny was still silent, pondering.
"Danny, what troubles do you have at your house?" Timmy asked.
"Huh?" This question came so out-of-the-blue at Danny that he almost forgot what he was thinking about.
"Does anything bad always happen to you at home?" he asked again.
"Well..." Danny thought about all the times his parents almost caught him in his ghost form, and about the ghosts that he fought every day. He thought about Dash, the bully, and about how he was never popular, and how he was too popular as his alter ego, but he wasn't going to tell that to Timmy.
"I get picked on at school, all the time, and I'm never popular," he told him, picking out the things that he was able to tell Timmy.
Timmy thought about his answer. He guessed those would be good enough reasons to have godparents.
"Do you...have a secret that you can't tell anyone?" Timmy asked.
Danny started hyperventilating. "How could you know?" he asked, sweat glistening on his face.
Timmy was now positive that Danny had a secret. "Well, you see, I have a secret like yours, too," he told Danny nervously.
Timmy had ghost powers? That was so doubtful. "You...you have super powers?" Danny asked him in wonder.
"What?" Was this Danny's secret? Was he a superhero boy? Timmy was proud of himself that he got Danny's secret out, sort of, for he hadn't exactly confirmed it.
"No. Do you have super powers?" Timmy inquired.
"Uh...no! Did I say that? I didn't say that!" Danny was sweating even more.
"Yes you did," said Timmy.
"No, I didn't!" Danny persisted.
"Then why did you ask me if I had powers?" Timmy pointed out.
"Because...it was just a suggestion!"
"Suuuuure."
"You're only ten! How could you possibly understand the life of a teenager?" Danny said.
"Excuse me, I'm eleven. I'm just really short!" he argued.
"Just forget I mentioned the super powers already!" Danny was fuming. He was so determined to keep his secret that his temper suddenly accidentally changed him into Danny Phantom.
The room was lit with white as the glowing rings formed around his midsection, causing Timmy to gasp in amazement and shock.
Uh-oh.
Cliffy, cliffy! I hope you all enjoyed that last chapter! Sorry it's kinda short, but I just thought this would be the perfect stopping place. Keep reviewing, and chapter 5 will come out at 16 reviews!