Chapter 55

Waking with a start, Danny gasped for air before gathering his bearings. He looked around the white, icy room with wide eyes. His parents were there, snuggled up together in coats with their eyes closed, while Sam, Tucker, and Jazz were on the other side of the room, also snoozing.

Sam was the first to blink her eyes open. "He's awake!" She shouted to the others while running to his bedside.

Everyone woke up immediately and crowded around him.

"Wh – what happened?" Danny asked, looking down at his gloved hands. He hid them behind his back. He looked at his mom, face hot. "Um…"

"It's okay, Danny," she told him, putting a reassuring hand on his face.

He breathed a sigh of relief and reached out to hug her. His father joined in the hug and so did Jazz.

"How long was I out?" Danny asked when they all let go.

"A little over a week," Sam said.

"A week?!"

"Yeah…the wound was a lot worse this time," Jazz told him.

"Dude, you almost really died," Tucker added. "You were in and out of transforming between your ghost half and human half constantly for days!"

Danny swallowed hard. "Well, I guess since you all know now, I don't have to hide it," he said, breathing in and out slowly. The ring formed around him and traveled up and down him, revealing himself as Danny Fenton.

His parents shook their heads, still in disbelief, despite seeing him transforming between his two halves while asleep.

"I have so many questions," his mom said.

When Danny gulped, her eyes became troubled.

"What's wrong?"

"Um—" he looked over at Jazz and his friends. "Can we have a minute?" He nodded to his parents.

The three of them nodded and left the tent.

Danny turned back to his parents with unsure eyes. "I guess…well, I never really planned to tell you guys. I thought –" He looked away from his parents. "Well, what are you gonna do? Now that you know?"

"Sweetie, we only want to understand it all," his mother said.

Danny twiddled his thumbs. "So you're gonna run…tests?"

"Tests?!" Jack exclaimed. "Of course not. You're our son!"

"Oh Danny – did you really think we would do that?" Maddie asked.

Danny shrugged his shoulders, unable to make eye contact with them. He hesitated before saying the next part. "You talked about ripping ghosts apart molecule by molecule…"

His parents exchanged ashamed looks and turned back to Danny.

His mother shook her head. "I think now, more than anything, we need to rethink things about ghosts. All ghosts... We love you, Danny. You know that."

"Yes, we love you so much. And we're sorry we made you feel like you couldn't trust us," his dad added.

Danny looked at them with reassured eyes – he felt a little teary before hugging them again.

Maddie got his friends to come back in.

"To think Vladdy was behind all of this from the get-go!" Jack said. "I still can't believe he poisoned me. But what I really can't believe is my own son saved my life," he said, proudly.

Danny blushed then furrowed his brows. "What exactly did you guys do with Vlad?"

"The Far Frozen actually dealt with him!" Jazz said. "Frostbite sent him to the ghost prison on full isolated lockdown. He won't be going anywhere for a very long time."

"Frostbite? He – he's alive?" Danny's ghost sense went off as his gaze flicked to the doorway.

The others were confused as they looked at the doorway but didn't see anyone. A few moments later, Frostbite came in and bowed.

"Frostbite!" Danny exclaimed, jumping out of the bed. A jolt of pain shot up his back, and he grasped his side, wincing. Sam and Tucker helped him to get steady on his feet. He breathed out slowly, regaining his footing, and looking up at Frostbite with relief in his eyes. His friends helped him walk to Frostbite and hug him.

Frostbite chuckled as he backed away. "Not so fast, Great One. You still have some healing to do. But other than that, you have a clean bill of health, according to the infirmary."

"Great One?" Danny chuckled. "Let's be realistic here," he said, as he slowly sat back down in his bed.

"I wouldn't be so sure, young halfa. A ghostly wail? I hadn't seen that one before. Only a very powerful ghost could conjure that up. You've saved Earth, but you've also saved the Ghost Zone. Our worlds are intrinsically connected."

Danny smiled slightly with uncertain eyes.

Frostbite smiled and nodded to everyone. "You are free to go back home once you are ready."

Danny's parents left with Frostbite to discuss recovery as well as the workings of the Far Frozen.

After they were out of the room, Danny looked at his friends and smiled. "I couldn't have done any of this without you guys."

Jazz, Sam, and Tucker hugged him. They all breathed sighs of relief.

"I can't believe Vlad is finally out of our lives," Jazz said, shaking her head.

"Everything's gonna be different now that Danny Phantom saved the world," Sam said.

"I don't know about that," Danny chuckled, brushing it off.

"Actually…" Tucker said, pulling out his PDA. He showed a news clip to Danny.

"Footage shows where the battle ensued," a newscaster said, as footage played on the right side of the screen of Danny fighting Vlad, "in none other than Amity Park, where there had been a series of strange explosions caused by the evil ghost known as Plasmius AKA Vlad Masters, the town's resident billionaire and newly appointed mayor.

"Town hero, Phantom, battled this ferocious ghost for hours. When all hope seemed lost, he used some sort of sonic wave from his mouth. People are calling it the "Ghostly Wail." And with that, he went from public enemy number one to a world-renowned superhero."

Danny was astonished as Tucker scrolled through international videos as well as videos countrywide.

"I've been waiting forever to show you that!" Tucker exclaimed.

"Face it, Danny. You're famous now," Jazz told him.

Sam and Danny locked eyes for a moment. When Jazz noticed, she nodded for Tucker to leave the tent with her.

After they left, Sam and Danny blushed as Danny slowly got to his feet so he could be face-to-face with her.

"I –" They both started.

"You go first," Danny said.

"You really had us worried…no one was sure that you'd make it," she said, looking down.

"But I did," he told her.

"But you almost didn't. I guess what I'm trying to say is, the thought of losing you terrifies me. And the fact that it almost happened made me realize that I don't want to waste any more time."

Before he knew it, she kissed him. After a minute, they backed away and smiled at each other.

"So what did you wanna say?" Sam asked.

"Well, how do I follow that?" He joked. He looked down for a moment then into her eyes. "Sam…after all this time, I've realized that it's always been you. We've always had this deep connection, which is why you could tell something was off about me the moment I became Phantom. You've always had my back, and you've always shown me that fighting for what you believe in is the most important thing a person can do.

"I don't want to just be friends anymore or continue to navigate whatever this is. I guess what I'm trying to say is…will you be my girlfriend?"

Sam beamed ear to ear before nodding. "Yes."

They hugged. Jazz and Tucker peered in and jumped out of view when Danny's eyes opened. Danny had known they were there the whole time listening and chuckled. They had been placing bets on how long it would take for them to kiss. Jazz had won.

"Man, $20? That's all the cash I have."

"Pay up, Tucker," Jazz said, holding out her hand.

"Okay, you can come back in, you guys," Danny said. Sam turned toward them and laughed.

"How did you –"

"Super hearing. Remember?" Danny said.

"Ready to go out there? There's a lot of people waiting," Jazz said.

He nodded before transforming back into Phantom.

Sam helped him out of the tent, though at this point he was feeling a bit steadier on his feet. He told her he could walk on his own. He walked ahead of his friends and gulped when he saw thousands of yetis cheering for him.

He smiled uncertainly and waved to them all.

"I present to you, Danny Phantom. Savior of the Ghost Zone," Frostbite announced.

That's when he bowed, and all other yetis began to follow suit.

"Thank you, but there's no need to –" Danny started.

The rest of the crowd did as well, and his friends and family did too.

He looked around sheepishly before everyone stood up straight again.

"I – I don't know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything, Great One."

Danny shook his head. "I want to," he said, before addressing the crowd. "A little over a week ago, Frostbite and a group of his men helped me put an end to the chaos that Vlad Plasmius created. Some of those brave warriors lost their lives saving my world and this one. Their sacrifice will not be forgotten." Applause ensued. Danny nodded and breathed in and out slowly when the clapping eventually died down. "I also want to thank my friends, Sam and Tucker. And my family – my mom, my dad, and my sister, Jazz. Without them and your warriors, this world wouldn't exist today."

More applause.

"I will work every day to make sure the warriors' sacrifices meant something – and make sure our worlds are protected from men that would do the same as Vlad did."

The crowd roared with cheers as Danny nodded to Frostbite that he was finished speaking.

Frostbite nodded to the crowd and waved to them, as he led Danny and his family and friends to the Specter Speeder.

"We are indebted to you," Frostbite said, bowing again.

This is going to take some getting used to, Danny thought.

"You saved me, remember?"

"And you saved us all. I'll remember that too," Frostbite told him. Then he looked at everyone as they got into the vehicle. "Godspeed."

They nodded and zipped off into the Ghost Zone.

And as they drifted off into the abysmal green skies, Danny breathed a deep a sigh of relief. A dark chapter in his life had finally come to an end, and the good chapter had only just begun.