They didn't have to, but Team Phantom decided to pay the Ghost Zone a visit. There actually was a reason, the ghosts acted weird. When ghosts act weird - even if it is weird that they don't go to the living world as often as they normally do - something is wrong. Skulker hadn't been hunting Danny, even the Box Ghost hadn't harassed anyone in a while.
Team Phantom feels the need to figure out why. For all they know the ghosts are hiding because Pariah Dark is back!
At least, a visit was the plan they wanted to put in action when school ends. But Mr. Lancer blocked that with a surprise Field Trip. Then hell broke lose when Danny's parents came in. They had been informed, all other parents had been informed. This class goes into the ghost zone. Even worse, Mayor Vlad Masters joins them on the trip.
Whatever is wrong in the ghost zone may pose a risk to his class, Danny realized. "Bad timing."
Valerie disagreed, "Nah. Worst possible timing. Not just bad, Danny."
Sam was also frustrated. She wanted to use this trip – if it had just been Team Phantom - to interrogate Danny. Since he and Jazz returned from their involuntary vacation in Gravity Falls, Oregon, they - especially Danny - had been acting weird. Sam has enough of that. But now that the class is with them, Sam can't do that. She won't risk his secret, maybe the issue at hand relates to that.
So the quartet was sitting hunched together close to the driver's seat of the Specter Speeder Bus, hoping that whatever makes the ghosts act weird stays away from them.
Ghosts were flying around but even the normally incompetent Fenton parents noted the weirdness.
"I've never seen the ghosts being so, so jumpy!" stated Maddie surprised. "If the bus is bothering them?"
"Mom, they have been acting weird for a while." chimed Danny in on reflex. He then added, realizing his error, "I mean, they hadn't paid Amity a visit for a while, which is weird, too?"
"Good point, Dann-o!" agreed his father. "But isn't that good?"
Then Vlad voiced himself. Jumping Danny despite him being aware the other halfa is with them. "Jack, do you remember the Ghost King? The ghosts acted weird back then, too." he said. "For all we know he is back. This won't be good."
'Oh, the fruit loop is worried, too.' thought Danny. He couldn't believe he would say that, but he said, "Vlad is right, dad. This could be a bad thing, for all we know."
"Did you just call the mayor by his name, Fenton?!" asked Dash shocked, trying not to call him an insult in ear shot of their teacher and the Fenton parents.
"Mr. Baxter, I am a family friend of the Fentons and, you could say, Daniel's uncle." said Vlad, to Danny's annoyance, "So he can call me by my name."
That shut Dash up. Then the bus returned into silence. The class watched the zone, the Fenton's focused on driving - Eh, flying? Or floating? - and the teen aged ghost hunters whispered to each other about Vlad's behavior. Tucker joked, "Looks like all ghosts act weird, then."
"Danny, too?" asked Valerie. She isn't that familiar with the group, so that could be an insider joke for all she knows.
"Danny, you sure you don't know a thing about what is going on?"
"For the fifth time, Tuck, no. don't have an idea either." answered Danny, his voice laced with annoyance.
After Danny and Jazz left to Gravity Falls, Valerie contacted them. She figured out Fenton is Phantom. Danny leaves town, Phantom is nowhere to be seen. It wasn't hard for Valerie to put one and one together. Other people realized that there is a connection between the two Danny's.
But the majority got it wrong in a funny way. People assumed, every time Danny runs, he summoned Phantom to help. This misconception - to some extent intentionally - was kept away from the Fentons. Main reason, people pitied Danny Fenton to have them as his parents. "Who knows how they react to a connection between their son and the ghost boy." they said.
This misconception reached Vlad, who just found it amusing. He didn't tell Maddie about it as he worried Danny would dox his secret if he would reveal his secret. Said man was now watching the teens.
Vlad had a feeling Daniel may know what is going on, regardless of how much he denies it. Watching the group, he nearly didn't notice his ghost sense going off, red mist coming from his nostrils. Danny's sense had gone off too, as he too was jumpy now and looking around, to search something.
Then the bus slowed down, landing on a floating isle. More a giant rock than an isle, really. Maddie said they want to take a few tests of the atmosphere and rock. They should take the chance to stretch their legs.
As the class split into their groups and cliques, a ghost approached them. Or Danny, to be specific. "Danny! Good to see you, friend."
The boy sighed, that much about keeping a low profile. "Hello, Klemper. Listen, the ghosts act weird, what is going on?"
Maddie interrupted Klemper before he could answer, "How do you know my son, ghost!"
Danny told her, "I... may have borrowed the Specter Speeder and explored the zone. And met some ghosts, befriended a few. And yes, ghosts can be chill. Now, Klemper?"
The ghost explained, having the attention of all, "There are rumors that a demon made their way into the Ghost zone..." Klemper was shuddering, that rumor is bothering him.
"Demons exist?" asked Sam, somewhat exited. She then asked, "Why is that an issue?"
"Demons can destroy us ghosts, end our existence!" he revealed, "They're worse than Pariah Dark!"
That got the class chatting. Something even ghosts are afraid of is rare. This rumor got Vlad sweating, he never heard of demons in his decades as a ghost. Looking to the other halfa, he saw Danny was not appearing to be bothered. 'The boy doesn't understand how bad this is.'
Tucker also noted Danny's lack of a strong reaction. The while Maddie didn't care.
"Demons? Looks like we can widen our field of research. Anyway, Danny. Why did you explore the zone?"
"Do you really think I, a teen, could simply ignore the portal in our basement?" countered Danny.
"Well then. If you know more about ghosts than us, then maybe you know a place here we can go to safely." she said, lightly mocking her son.
"Oh! I know two areas. Dora's domain and the Far Frozen... but the later is very cold." proposed Danny. "But they're closer and they may know answers about that demon."
"Then we go there!" yelled someone from the class.
Danny sighed, "Fine. But don't complain about the temperate to me! You choose the antarctic area, not me!"
When they reached the Far Frozen, they noted – once again – Danny wasn't bothered. This time by the cold. Albeit Team Phantom and Vlad knew why. Klemper didn't accompany them. He does not like the cold, he instead returned to his domain.
They were welcomed by giant yeti. Before they could speak, Danny asked, "Frostbite! I heard rumors about a demon in the zone! do you know anything about this?"
"Ah! Nocturne sensed the signature of Alcor the Dream Bender, a mind demon that popped into existence a few months ago." explained Frostbite. "His powers are similar to that nightmare Bill Cipher, but unlike Cipher, Alcor hadn't done much. Yet. Then again, it is Nocturne, he feels threatened by Alcor as he also rules the dream domain."
"I see..." said Danny. Sam saw he blinked, as if he realized something. "Nocturne probably exaggerated, dreamscape rivalries and such. I won't worry about Alcor, for now."
'What do you know about demons, stupid boy.' thought Vlad. As he saw the Far Frozen relax, he added in his mind, 'The idiots follow the words of the stupid, I see.'
Mr. Lancer then asked if they could go somewhere warmer.
"Let's go to Dora!" decided Danny.
The girls of his class got excited to see that 'Dora' is a princess. As they walked into the castle, the princess greeted them. Like the other ghosts, she was behaving weird as well, Tucker noted. She didn't look excited about their visit.
When Dorathea saw Danny, she said, "Sir Danny! Good that you're here. Seriously, you have great timing!" Dorathea explained, "Walker is looking for you. He knew we are friend, so he had been waiting here for you."
"Walker?!" This psyched him up.
"Yes, child?" answered said ghost, appearing besides the princess. "I am not here to fight, but instead to talk. By now I assume you heard about the demon infiltrator?"
"I was told, a dream demon. According to Nocturne." recalled Danny unbothered. "What about them?"
"I want to offer you a deal. I nullify your sentence, if you find the demon and maybe even beat them. You are human, so Alcor shouldn't be able to end you with a touch."
"Sentence?" asked Maddie worried. "What sentence?"
"Walker is the warden of the ghost zone's biggest prison. He and the other ghost wardens tend to come up with nonexistent laws for power tripping." Walker wanted to interrupt, but Danny said, "I know some laws exist, like that humans aren't allowed in the zone. Well... I broke some of his rules."
"Figured..." said Maddie disappointed.
"Walker, I accept your deal." said Danny.
"Good. I'll inform the other wardens." he said. "Wait, you know what type of demon it is?"
"Yeah, I know what all that noise is up about. Alcor the Dream Bender, a dream and astral hybrid demon. In a way related to Bill Cipher, luckily an enemy of the later." recalled Danny with seemingly no issue, surprising everyone. "I don't think Alcor will be an issue."
"Oh really? What makes you think that?" asked Walker, slightly surprised.
"Simple. Goin' demon." With that, Danny started his transformation. But instead of white rings followed by the appearance of Phantom, blue rings came, followed by one of the many forms of Alcor. Alcor - as Danny's demon name is - his hair is black and white, mixed and not tidy. His eyes are heterochromatic, blue and green. His clothes are quite the shocker. A black vest, white dress shirt, black dress shoes and pants, all with green and blue decorations and accents. Stars and triangles.
Walker and Dora stepped back a few, shocked to see that the demon had been in their midst all along. He then said, "See? No issue. I won't harm the zone... in fact I will keep other demons out."
"I... can work with that." he answered. "Huh, a guardian demon? The other wardens will flip at that. Well then, I leave... and your sentence had been nullified."
When he left, Danny turned back and said, "We should go back home as well. Dora, will you tell the others Alcor's no issue?"
"Of course, Sir Danny!" she agreed.
They had been floating back to the portal for five minutes and the speeder was filled with awkward silence. Everyone was trying to comprehend that Danny is a demon. Then Dash dared to break the silence.
"Fenton! You're a demon! Why aren't you hunting ghosts! you could team up with Phantom!"
"And the Red Huntress!" added his friend Kwan.
"Dash, I only got my demonic powers at the end of the summer!" revealed Danny. "I wasn't sure how to handle them and... Phantom is doing well enough." He wanted to add he won't end ones existence, which is essentially killing, for all Danny cares, even though ghosts are already dead.
"Oh..." was all Dash answered. The bully fought the urge to ask how he got his powers. 'If he summons Phantom... but he got them after he summoned Phantom for years... or he lied about getting them just months ago?'
Lancer just took this as proof that Fenton summons Phantom.
As they closed in on the portal, they saw ghosts flying in and out. Albeit they fled as they saw the Speeder. "Demon Child!" yelled one.
"Cool nickname... but shit, they're afraid of me now." commended Danny nonchalantly. "I fault Nocturne for this."
Sam whispered to him, "I can't believe you're fine with this secret being out, but the other is a no-go." She then punched him lightly. "This is for not telling me."
As they passed though the portal, his father asked the question everyone wanted to ask, "Daniel, how did you even become a demon?"
"My summer in Gravity Falls was less boring than I made you believe. Stuff happened. Painful stuff. I won't tell you."
Wes Weston then asked, "So... are you summoning Phantom?"
"I do not... you know what, I don't feel like arguing with you, Wes." decided Danny.
"Can you at least tell us why you call yourself Alcor as a demon?" chimed Vlad in.
"Demons have two names. A true name – the one they can be summoned with - and a cover name. Albeit not all demons have two names, Bill Cipher only had one before he got destroyed." explained Danny. "And I didn't choose my demon name, Bill named me."
"Why did that Bill guy name you?" asked Star. "Didn't you say you're enemies?"
"Yes, but he was also the demon who turned me, so he picked the name." explained Danny further. "Demons, to be frank, are insane and Bill was no exception. I am still shocked he decided to turn me." Danny knows why. Bill wanted to recruit the halfa 'the freak of nature' into his group of freaks. Well, third human, third ghost and third demon after Bill was done.
"Wait, does that mean you can be summoned?" asked Tucker when the realization hit.
"Theoretically. But that requires a bit more. First of all, you need my demon sigil. So far, only three people, including me, know it. Secondly, a few candles and a picture of a person you hate - this ritual is from Bill - a chant I won't tell you and my demon name." counted Danny. "Oh, and Alcor isn't my full demon name."
"I assume your full demon name is Alcor Cipher?" guessed Valerie. "You have s much from Bill."
"Yes... Ah, I need to contact the demon council to change that. His surname makes me uncomfortable." complained Danny.
"Demon council?"
"No Sam, I won't introduce you to them." he rejected. "I may introduce you to Queen Hezebah, though.
"Does Jazz know your sigil?" asked his mother.
"No! I do not trust her with my sigil." he said. Danny loves his sister, but if she would know it, she would use it to make him do house work and study. Or to take her to the mind scape. "She knows how to summon other demons, though."
As they returned home, Jazz was in the process of summoning Ted Strange, to Danny's annoyance. If she can't ask him to go with the mindscape with her, she may look elsewhere for help.
"How's the insanity, sapling?"
"Leave or I break your soul, Ted."