Maddie watched Phantom as he flew around fighting the other ghosts who were invading Amity Park as if he weren't an intruder himself. He'd never fired at a human once, even when he was clipped by blasts shot by her and Jack.
They were fighting an onslaught of ghosts in the road in front of Casper High. All the ghosts had felt the need to escape the ghost zone. But escape from what?
She caught Phantom yelling at a blonde, shaggy haired ghost on a motorcycle, a questioning tone in his voice.
Why didn't Phantom know what was going on?
The ghosts began ganging up on Phantom once again, forming a circle around him and pushing him from one ghost to the next like they were in high school. First he was blasted by a guitar, and then suffocated with a gooey, green gag shot from a ghost's weapon.
What must it be like to be excluded from both worlds? To be accepted by neither ghosts or humans?
Phantom broke out of the circle and flew to the ground, dropping to his feet after a moment or two. Sam and Tucker ran out to him with a first aid kit, expertly tending to any wounds while he batted their hands away.
If Sam and Tucker were there, then where was…
"Jack?" Maddie yelled. "Where's Danny?"
"I dunno, Mads. Isn't he with Sam and Tucker?"
"No! Sam and Tucker are right over there and I don't see Danny with them."
Dread filled her stomach.
Soon enough, she saw Phantom shoot back into the sky, joining the group of ghosts once again. He still didn't seem to be getting any answers.
Maddie could feel time counting down, somehow. She could feel something horribly, horribly bad was going to happen soon.
All of a sudden, Maddie had to cover her ears. Phantom was using his ghostly wail on the spirits around him. They dropped from the sky and Phantom was left in the air glaring at them.
The next thing she knew, Phantom was screaming. But it wasn't his ghostly wail, it was a scream filled with so much pain and hurt that it curdled her insides. When she looked back up, Phantom was holding his side where ectoplasm was seeping out of a wound. Maddie didn't understand.
Ghosts shouldn't get wounds like that.
Then, time seemed to slow down. Phantom looked down at his torso, and then back up at the crowd of people around him, before his eyes fell closed.
A ring of light appeared around his waist, traveling up and down the length of his body. What was left behind was like a blow to Maddie's heart and a scream tore through her throat.
In Phantom's place was Danny. Her baby boy.
After a moment or two more of floating, Danny suddenly dropped from the sky. Maddie heard the crack in the pavement when he hit the road and it made bile rise up in her throat.
"Danny!"
Maddie could hear Jack yelling their son's name, but her head was spinning. Sam, Tucker, and Jazz could now be heard yelling alongside Jack, and feet pounded away from her.
The world began to roll, and soon she fell to the ground.
Her son… Was Phantom.
Danny Phantom.