Chapter 50

Danny waited by the front door, jaw clenched. This was it. He was finally going to come clean.

It should feel exciting, but the fact was his friends were almost killed - because of him. And at this point, the more they knew, the better.

There was loud 'ding-dong' that broke his thoughts and made his heart skip a beat.

He opened the door. "Hey."

While Sam had a pensive look on her face, still trying to connect the dots, Tucker looked excited.

Inside, Sam was reeling. The more she looked at Danny, the more she realized how he did, in fact, look so much like him. But she wasn't convinced. How could the two be one anyway? Sure, he exhibited similar abilities, but it was just insane.

More than that, if Danny was actually Phantom, that meant she was falling head over heels for him. Danny.

"This is some sort of prank, isn't it?" Sam asked. "Phantom will swoop in any moment now, and we'll all be laughing in a minute."

Danny grimaced. "I know this is a lot, you guys. But I thought it was time—"

"I want proof," Sam said, crossing her arms. "How can you be two people?"

"Have you ever seen Danny and Phantom in the same room?" Tucker asked, smiling at her.

Danny shrugged. "I guess it's easier if I just show you. But we have to go somewhere else. Otherwise, I'll trigger my parents' ghost sensors."

Sam's breath caught in her throat, and Tucker was also taken aback by this. He had never even thought about how being a ghost could complicate living with two ghost hunters.

They went into the alleyway near Danny's house. Danny breathed in and out before turning towards his friends. Sam's eyebrows were furrowed, while Tucker was just smiling.

"Here goes nothing…" Danny said, quietly sighing.

He closed his eyes before outstretching his arms overhead and getting into a battle stance as he felt the cold come to his core.

Sam watched in utter amazement as the ring formed and revealed the all too familiar hazmat suit, followed by Danny's hair becoming white. When he opened his eyes, they were glowing green.

Sam walked towards him with a curious look in her eyes as she touched his face, slightly flinching at the cold. He blushed a little as she locked eyes with him. "It really is you."

Danny smiled slightly before Sam punched his shoulder. "Hey!"

"That's for not telling me sooner," Sam said, crossing her arms.

Tucker added. "And my punch will come when you least expect it." He smirked.

Danny chuckled a little.

"For the record, I already knew," Tucker stated simply.

"What?!" Sam and Danny said in unison.

"For how long?" Danny asked.

"Since you changed and took off from the video game store."

"That explains a lot."

"Intangibility watch," Sam said, realizing something.

"Huh?"

"There was no intangibility watch…was there?"

Danny winced. "Oh yeah…I made that one up for convenience's sake."

"I knew it! I mean, it all makes sense now… After you saved me from that lamp pole, I knew that something was up! But coming to the conclusion that you were a literal ghost was definitely not even a possibility in my mind. Which leads me to my next question. How exactly are you a ghost?"

"Well, technically, I'm a halfa - half human, half ghost. And to answer how: the portal. When I powered it on from inside by accident, it electrocuted me and altered my DNA somehow."

His two friends looked astonished. Then Tucker furrowed his brows.

"What was going on when you disappeared for those days?" Tucker asked. "And stayed at Sam's house?"

"Sam kind of made a wish," Danny said, scratching his head. "I think the exact words were 'I wish Phantom was here all the time.' This ghost genie granted the wish, and I was stuck as Phantom."

"Oops…" Sam said, blushing. "But hey, if I had known you were the same person, I wouldn't have wished that!"

"Wait a minute…that means Jazz knows!" Tucker exclaimed.

"Jazz found out before us?" Sam narrowed her eyes.

Danny breathed in deeply. "It was in my file – well, at the time, you guys thought it was Phantom's file – at Vlad's lab."

"That's why Jazz 'accidentally' deleted it," Sam said, shaking her head.

"Why didn't you just tell us, dude?" Tucker asked, crossing his arms.

Danny shrugged, walking away from them. "I mean…I was going to tell you guys. But when it first started happening, I wasn't sure what was going on. I wanted to be sure. Then it was just too weird. I mean, I had these weird ghost powers. Phasing through things by accident, not realizing my own strength, turning invisible, shooting lasers out of my hands…and then there was Vlad."

Sam and Tucker's eyes widened. "Does he know?" They both asked.

Danny grimaced. "Yes. In fact…" He paused before finishing, knowing they wouldn't take the next part well. "He's Plasmius."

"WAIT WHAT?!" They both shouted.

"I know I should've told you both sooner, but there's so much…For a time, I thought Vlad was even trying to help me," he scoffed. "He started training me, teaching me how to control my intangibility…" Danny trailed off, thinking of how much had changed since then. Then he began ranting. "Meanwhile, he was trying to kill my dad and almost succeeded. And after that, he threatened everyone. And now I'm convinced he will kill anyone to get what he wants. He tried to kill Jazz, and now, he tried to kill you guys. It's all becoming too much to handle…"

"Well, you don't have to handle it alone," Tucker said, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Sam nodded. "We are here for you. Whatever you need."

"Thanks, you guys," Danny said, looking at them with sad, uncertain eyes.

Sam and Danny locked eyes for a split second before looking at the ground.

"I'll leave you two lovebirds alone," Tucker said, walking away before they could argue.

After he left, Danny sighed. "So…"

"So," Sam said quietly.

"I guess this changes what you think of me – I mean, us. I mean, me and, well, me," Danny stumbled over his words.

"You lied to me, Danny," she stated.

"I know. I'm sorry."

"Why'd you do it? I – I shared a lot with you as Phantom. But I didn't think you were you. You were someone I could count on, someone I admired, someone I was falling—"

"I'm still Phantom. I'm just me too."

Sam cocked her head, looking at his green eyes with curiosity. She realized that Danny had this whole other side to him that she never knew about. But merging the two sides together would be difficult. Even now, looking at him, she felt like she was talking to Phantom, not Danny.

"Can you, you know, change back?" She asked, awkwardly.

"Oh," Danny said, taken aback. "Um yeah, sure."

The ring formed and traveled up and down his body. He ruffled his raven black hair.

Sam swallowed hard. "This is going to take some getting used to."

Danny nodded in understanding. "Do you – you know – feel the same way about me?"

"I…don't know what I feel," Sam said, shrugging.

He frowned again but nodded again. "I understand."

Suddenly, Sam took his hand. "I just need time. I obviously have some feelings to sort out."

An explosion shook the ground beneath their feet. It felt bigger than the others.

"You better go," Sam told him.

"Heh, right," he said, before changing back into Phantom and taking off into the sky.

"Whoa," Sam said, as she watched him disappear into the clouds.