"Wow!" Dash gasped at the big hole in the wall that Danny was showing him. "That's supposed to be the ghost portal?"
Danny nodded. "Yup! My parents finished it last night."
Dash scratched his chin. "Why isn't it on then? Did they turn it off?"
Danny pouted. "It didn't work. They plugged it in and it just sparked and turned off. I was really looking forward to seeing a ghost."
"Aren't ghosts supposed to be scary?" Dash asked. He took a couple steps towards the portal.
"That's what my parents say." Danny followed behind Dash. "But have you ever watched Casper? He's a ghost and he's not scary. Maybe not all ghosts are like my parents say they are."
Dash stepped into the portal and turned to boast his chest at Danny. "Maybe one day when I'm a ghost I'll be just like Casper!" He closed his eyes. "Super nice and helpful and friendly. I could also fly!"
Danny laughed. "But then you'd never grow up. Don't you want to be a cool adult?"
"Who said I had to become a ghost now?" Danny stepped into the portal next to Dash. "I can live until I'm old and wrinkly and then become a ghost."
"Hopefully we'll both live till we're old and wrinkly. I don't think I'd want to grow old by myself without my best friend."
"You won't have to." Dash placed his hand on the wall to lean against and a button moved under his hand.
The portal lit up with a bright green light. Danny gasped and looked around them.
"Dash? What did you do?"
Dash's eyes were wide as he looked around the portal. "I don't know, I just-"
A blinding light erupted from the center of the back wall. It enveloped them before Dash could finish his sentence, and then they were screaming. It felt like it went on for forever and soon they were falling out of the portal onto the floor of the lab.
Danny coughed through a sob as he pushed himself up from the floor. "Dash?"
He pried his eyes open and saw Dash backing away from him. He looked kind of weird. His hair looked darker, like maybe it was burnt?
"Who are you?"
Danny frowned and fresh tears sprung to his eyes. "It's me, Dash. Danny."
"You're not Danny. Danny's not a ghost."
"What? I'm not a-"
Another bright light flashed and Danny instinctively closed his eyes in fear that it was another explosion from the portal. He heard Dash gasp and opened his eyes again. Dash was throwing himself into Danny.
"You're back to normal!"
Another flash lit up the lab and Danny watched this time and saw a ring pass over Dash's body. His hair was back to his normal blond instead of the darker color it had been a moment before.
"Dash… Did we die?" Danny whispered.
The bell rang and Danny groaned, lifting his head off his desk. He saw Mr. Lancer was passing out the homework as each student left the classroom. He didn't remember what their new project was supposed to be. He slept through most of class again today.
He stood up right as somebody was walking by him. They body checked him and he fell forward onto his desk.
"Watch where you're going, Fentonowski."
Danny glared at Dash as they made eye contact and stood back up, shouldering his backpack. Lancer gave him a look as he took the homework but Danny avoided his gaze.
He was ready to go home. He was supposed to meet up with Sam and Tucker so they could go to the Nasty Burger today. And then the weekend. He was ready to relax.
He had just turned the corner and saw Sam and Tucker when he gasped and a burst of cold air came out of his mouth. He groaned. Not this.
He darted into the nearest janitor's closet and transformed. He hoped he could get this over with quickly. Danny didn't have any more patience for him today.
Danny flew through the ceiling into the open air and saw the Box Ghost. He let out an even deeper groan. "Boxy!"
"Beware!" He waggled his fingers above his head. "I've come to steal my corrugated friends from your school's recycling facilities!"
"Okay, well-"
Another ghost came up from below and punched the Box Ghost through the air.
"How many times do I have to tell you to get out of here?" The second ghost yelled. "I'm tired of getting interrupted at school just to take care of you."
"Aw, is Casper upset at being inconvenienced by someone else?" Danny pouted mockingly.
"Go away, Phantwink. I'll handle him."
Danny rolled his eyes. "He just wants the boxes out of the recycling. Just let him go get them."
Casper flew up to Danny and poked a finger into his chest. "The ghosts shouldn't even be here. He needs to go back to the ghost zone."
"Yeah, and who's fault is it that the ghosts are here?"
Casper growled and shoved Danny back through the air. Danny flipped over backwards and dodged a blast that Casper shot at him.
"Who's fault is it that we looked at his parents' unstable invention unsupervised as kids?" He threw another blast and it knocked Danny in the chest.
Danny pulled up his own ectoblast and shot it at Casper. "It's not my fault you turned the machine on! I didn't kill us!"
Casper recoiled back and his ectoblast died in his hand.
"Have your fucking boxes. I'm out of here."
Danny watched him fly away. He made eye contact with the Box Ghost and sighed.
"See you later, Boxy."
He flies away, leaving the Box Ghost to rummage through the school's recycling dumpster. He lands in the same janitor's closet he originally ran into and transformed back. He raised his hands up to his face and rubbed the heel of his palms into his eyes.
Standing up straight he took a deep breath and let it out. Hopefully Sam and Tucker would still be waiting for him by their lockers. He opened the door and his eyes widened when he saw both of them standing on the other side of the door.
"Uh, hey guys. What are you doing?" He asked nervously. Sam squinted at him.
"What are you doing, Danny?"
Danny looked around. "Just, uh, looking for something to wipe down my locker with. I couldn't find anything."
Tucker pointed at a shelf and Danny turned to see a spray bottle of cleaner and a towel. "Wouldn't that work?"
"Uh-"
"We saw Dash run in the janitor's closet after you did, Danny." Sam cut him off. "We followed you both over here but the door was locked."
"Oh." Danny's mind was racing. Of all the times for them to use the same closet. Why did it have to be in front of Sam and Tucker?
"Yeah, what was up with that, dude?" Tucker asked. "He wasn't wailing on you was he?"
Danny shook his head. "No, nothing like that. We, uh, heard the Box Ghost and you know our history. Ghosts are a sore spot. I guess we both picked the same closet this time."
"But why was the door locked?" Sam asked, crossing her arms.
Danny opened his mouth and Tucker interrupted him. "And don't say it was to keep the ghosts out because we all know that doesn't work."
"I don't know. Instinct I guess. I don't know why he would've locked the door. He didn't talk to me while we were in there. We just waited long enough for the Box Ghost to go away."
Tucker started walking away and glanced back at Danny. "How do you guys always know when the ghosts show up anyways? We didn't even hear the Box Ghost this time."
Danny followed behind him, Sam walking next to him. He shrugged. "I've got some of my parents' gadgets on me. I don't know how he does it."
"I still think this thing is super weird." Sam said. She made a face at Danny. Dash still hasn't come out of the janitor's closet. Is he curled up in the fetal position in there?"
Danny snorted at the image. "I wish. Then I'd have something to rub in his face."
They pushed open the doors at the front of the school and walked out. Danny looked up and saw Casper flying around back and forth. Sam groaned.
"What is up with him? He looks like a lion kept in a zoo pen without any enrichment."
"Maybe the ghost fight got to him today." Danny looked away from him.
"With the Box Ghost?" Tucker asked. "He's not exactly the most difficult ghost to deal with. What could've possibly happened during that fight to make him pace around like that?"
Danny looked back up at the sky where Casper was floating. A pit formed in his stomach when Casper caught him staring and flew away in the opposite direction. He didn't look back.
"I have no idea."
Danny fidgeted in his chair next to Dash. Danny's parents were giving them another lecture about ghosts and how terrible they were. Normally Dash would be all ears for one of their talks. He thought they were fun. But today Danny and Dash had decided to come clean to Danny's parents. They thought they should tell someone. All sorts of weird things kept happening and Dash was scared.
But ever since the ghost portal opened, they were much more intense. Loudly proclaiming what they would do to the ghosts that came through the portal. Luckily, they haven't caught any yet. But what would happen when they did?
"And this is our prototype of the Fenton Thermos!" Mrs. Fenton proudly declared. "It will be able to secure and capture a ghost and suspend them inside it until we release them. We haven't found a way to get it powered yet, but soon we'll be able to catch ghosts to bring them back and experiment on them."
"What if you catch a good ghost?" Dash asked. "Will you still experiment on them then?"
Mr. Fenton barked out a large laugh. "Ghosts can't be good. They don't have any real feelings. All they do is manipulate us and each other. There's no reason to treat one ghost differently from another."
Danny finally spoke up. "But what if we-"
Dash reached over and covered Danny's mouth with his hands.
"We'll never become ghosts though, right?"
Dash felt Danny lick the back of the hand and Dash stuck his tongue out and rubbed it back on Danny's face.
"Well, we can't say never." Mrs. Fenton said. "But hopefully your chances will be pretty low when the time comes."
"Hopefully that never happens." Dash stood up. "Can we go back upstairs to play now?"
"Sure!" Mrs. Fenton said. "Go grab a couple snacks from the fridge. Have fun!"
Dash grabbed Danny's hand and pulled him up the stairs and pushed the heavy door closed behind them.
"We can't tell them."
Danny's eyes widened and his mouth dropped open. "What? Why? I thought we wanted their help to fix it?"
"But what if they think we're just some scary ghosts playing pretend?" Dash whispered. "They weren't there when the accident happened. We didn't tell them that we turned the portal on. What if they don't believe it's really us?"
Danny looked down, a thoughtful expression on his face. "That's true. But they're my parents. Shouldn't they love me no matter what?"
Dash looked away from him and kicked his foot. "My parents have taught me that's not always true."
They stood there in silence for a few minutes. Danny took a deep breath.
"We don't tell them. We don't tell anyone."
Danny sat at the table in the Nasty Burger, picking at his fries.
"Did we want to see the new Trinity of Doom movie this weekend?" Sam took a bite of her veggie burger and swallowed. "Instead of them fighting each other, they have to work together to defeat some other villain. It sounds like it could be cool."
"Sure! We could go to the bowling alley after that too." Tucker said while he chewed on his food. "Are you busy this weekend Danny?"
Sam scoffs. "He's never 'busy'. Stuff just comes up."
"Hey!" Danny turns to look at her. "That's not my fault. Between hiding during ghost attacks and my parents trying to explain everything about ghosts to me stuff just comes up. It just happens."
"Uh huh okay." Sam took another bite of her burger.
"Look, I'll be able to make it. My parents don't have any inventions that they're working on right now. So my weekend should be pretty free."
"I'm gonna hold you to that." Tucker pointed at him with a smile. "It's like we haven't gotten a good hangout together in awhile."
Danny's shoulders slump and he sighs. "Yeah, I know. I'm sorry. It-"
Shouts erupted from the booths around them as the ceiling fell in. Danny coughed and when the dust cleared he could see Casper wrestling with Skulker. He had a blade pressed to his throat and Danny could tell that he didn't have enough traction to push it back.
"You're finally mine, pipsqueak." Skulker growled at him with a smile on his face.
Fire ran through Danny's veins and he stood up. He grabbed his cup of soda and chucked it at Skulker's head.
"Hey, frog head!"
Skulker turned his head to look at Danny right as the soda hit him. The flames and metal started to sizzle and Skulker's grip on Casper loosened and Casper was able to push him away. Sam grabbed Danny's arm and yanked him onto the floor underneath the table.
"Danny, what the fuck." She hissed. "For someone who has to go hide every time a ghost attacks, you sure do want the attention of a really dangerous one."
"But Casper-" Danny gestured at where the two ghosts were fighting again.
"Is a ghost." Tucker finished for him. Casper pinned Skulker down on the floor. "How's Skulker gonna skin him? He'd be fine. They're both dead. You, on the other hand, are not."
"But-"
Casper sucked Skulker into a thermos and capped it back up. His feet landed on the ground and he looked over at where Danny and his friends were hiding under the table.
He walked up to them and Danny wasn't sure what he should be feeling.
"Thanks for that, but I don't need the help from the son of ghost hunters."
And then he was gone.
Danny glared at the ceiling and Sam barked out a laugh.
"See, look where your generosity got you. He doesn't deserve your help anyways. Why isn't he more like Phantom?"
"He doesn't like Phantom, haven't you ever seen them during ghost fights before?" Tucker said as he stood back up. "They sometimes take as many shots at each as they do at the other ghosts. Casper probably doesn't want to be anything like Phantom."
"I'm just saying." Sam grabbed her bag and the last of her food. "Having compassion isn't a bad thing. He could learn a thing or two from Phantom."
"Then he'd have to be capable of learning something." Danny spat out. "Or feeling real emotions."
Danny stood up to grab his backpack and saw Sam and Tucker staring at him.
"What?"
They looked at each other. "That's just the first time you've used your parents' rhetoric, Danny." Sam said. "I thought you didn't believe that about ghosts?"
"I don't." Danny said. "They can't all be evil. Just the ones that come to Amity Park."
They began walking towards the exit. Tucker held the door open for them. "But he's here fighting the evil ghosts. He can't be evil himself, no matter how much of an asshole he is."
"Maybe there's more to his story than you know."
Danny walked out ahead of them and ignored their calls. If only they knew.
Danny jumped out of his parents' car and pulled his backpack over his shoulder. He heard some kids laughing and looked up to see Dash with his new friends. Kwan and Paulina were covering their mouths giggling as they pointed at the GAV.
They smirked and walked away when Danny saw them looking but Dash hung back. Danny walked over to him.
"Were they laughing at me?" Danny looked past Dash and saw the door to the school closing where they walked inside. Dash shrugged.
"Moreso at your parents. They think all the ghost stuff is goofy. They don't believe in them."
Danny looked back at Dash. "Did you tell them that they're wrong? That ghosts exist?"
Dash shuffled in his spot. "Everyone thinks your parents are nuts. If I was telling them ghosts existed they'd think I was nuts too…"
Danny's heart dropped into his stomach. "But you know it's true. You're part ghost! You're going to ignore that just to be friends with the cool kids?"
"I want kids to like me." He said quietly. "People don't like your family."
The feeling in Danny's stomach grew heavier. "Well, what about me? Aren't we still friends?"
"Yeah, of course. But if they knew we were friends they'd-"
"They don't know we're friends?" Danny frowned at him and he could feel his hands start to shake. "You don't defend me when they talk about me?"
"Danny-"
He swatted Dash's hand away and started walking towards the school. After everything they went through? Dash would just drop him for some random cool kids?
"Danny, if you would just listen-"
Danny turned and shoved Dash to the ground, tears springing to his eyes.
"We're supposed to be best friends!" He shouted. "You're the only one I have! My family doesn't know our secret! That's because of you!"
"We're still friends-"
"No!" He glared at Dash. "You don't pretend to not be friends with your friend to the other kids you want to be friends with. You're supposed to defend your friends, not make fun of them with other people. You're not supposed to hurt them!"
"I never hurt you!"
"You killed me! I'm dead because of you!"
Dash recoiled like he'd been hit. He took a step back.
"That was an accident. You know it was."
"That doesn't change the fact that it happened." He turned back around at the teacher's call. "You hurt me. Maybe my parents were right. Maybe all ghosts are evil."
The next thing Danny knew he was being knocked to the ground. Dash banged his fists on Danny's back and Danny tried to buck him off, but they weren't the same size anymore. He managed to roll over and tried to kick Dash off with his feet but Dash landed a hit on his face instead. Danny let out a cry and tears sprung to his eyes and he grabbed onto Dash's bear arm with his hand and dug his nails in. Then they were being pulled apart.
Danny's chest heaved and he ignored the teachers that pulled them apart. They were asking him questions but he couldn't make anything out as he glared at Dash. Dash stared back at him, his face was void of any emotion, like he had shut down. He stared at Danny for a few more moments before looking away.
Danny didn't need him. He could handle this whole ghost thing on his own.
Dash shot an ectoblast at a tree deep in the park. Why didn't Fenton just leave him alone? Puny Fentwink shouldn't be fighting ghosts anyways. He needed to get out of his way.
He landed on the ground and started hitting the tree with his fist, over and over again.
Stupid Fenton. Stupid ghosts. Stupid ghost powers. Why couldn't he just have a normal life? Why did he have to step into that stupid portal?
He shot another ectoblast into the forest. He was surprised when it flung back at him and nearly hit him in the face.
"Who's there?" Dash shouted, floating up off the ground. His hands lit up with more ectoblasts.
"Hello, child."
A ghost with black hair and blue skin appeared into visibility. Dash stared at him with narrowed eyes.
"Who are you?"
The ghost flamboyantly raised a hand to his chest. "My name is Plasmius, my dear boy. I couldn't help but notice you in these trees here."
"What does it matter to you?" Dash growled. "I'm not interested in chit chatting with some ghost."
"Oh, but what if I can help you get something you want?" Plasmius lilted with a charming smile on his face.
"What would that be?" Dash deadpanned.
"Revenge."
Dash furrowed his brows at that. What is this guy talking about?
"Now, you don't know me but I know you." Plasmius flew closer to him. Dash took a step back. "Turned into a monster by no choice of your own."
Dash's blood ran cold. What?
"You and I are alike in that way, my dear boy. Transformed into something forever because of the actions of one Jack Fenton."
"Jack Fenton wasn't the reason that button got pressed with me inside the portal."
"No, but he was the reason the portal was left unattended, was he not? The reason you had access to it in the first place? There were no precautions to keep any young children out of such a dangerous area. How would it not have been Jack's fault?"
"I guess that's true." Dash whispered. Maybe it hadn't been his own fault after all. Maybe he didn't have to blame himself for becoming what he is now. For becoming a monster.
"I've been watching you for a while, my boy. I know your home life isn't the best. If you help me get revenge on Jack, I'll give you the best life you could ever live. Full ride scholarship to any college, any car you could want."
"What about my parents?" This felt skeptical. Like it was too good to be true.
Plasmius shrugged. "We could threaten them with a lawsuit for child abuse. There's no case we couldn't win with our powers."
"Isn't it bad to use our powers like that?" Dash asked. Plasmius floated over to him.
"I like to think of it as a way to right the wrongs done to me."
Dash thought about it. It made some kind of sense. If he was sentenced to be a monster for the rest of his life, he might as well get something out of it.
"I'm in. What do we do?"
"All in time, my dear boy." Plasmius wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "We'll get you out of that horrid house first."
For the first time in a long while Dash felt a semblance of hope. That someone was truly looking out for him.
He wasn't alone anymore.
Danny looked up into the sky and groaned when he saw a ghost destroying the surrounding buildings. It was just an ectopus, but it was still doing a significant amount of damage. Danny ran into an alley and transformed, flying into the air after the thing.
Danny was almost to the ghost. He'd just have to pull out his thermos and he had it.
Casper slammed into him and Danny flew through the air.
"What the fuck?" He shouted at him. "I'm not the one destroying things, Casper! Take out your anger on him!"
"He's not who I'm angry at." Casper growled. He summoned two ectoblasts into his hands and Danny scowled at him.
"What? Annoyed you couldn't bully me into doing your homework today?"
Casper flung a blast at him that Danny dodged. "I'm angry that you had me in that basement and got me turned into a monster!"
Danny paused for a moment and it was just long enough for Casper to land a hit on him. He groaned.
"You're the one who stepped into the portal! You're the only reason we were in there! You're the reason it turned on!"
"You brought me down there!"
"You wanted to see it!"
Casper growled and hit Danny with another ectoblast.
"Your parents shouldn't have allowed us to be down there! They should have done a better job protecting their children from getting hurt by their own inventions."
Danny scoffed. "You're the only reason I got hurt."
"I'm talking about me!" Casper screamed. "Your parents cared about me more than my own! They treated me like they treated you and they allowed us to get hurt! And then they made me feel like a monster! Like they'd tear me apart or think I was some evil ghost if they found out what happened!"
"So, what, have you been upset at my parents all these years? Are you mad at me for that? Gonna take it out on me?"
"I'm not going to do anything. He is."
Danny watched as Vlad appeared next to Dash. His eyes widened.
"You're working with the fruit loop?"
Plasmius growled. "I am not a fruit loop!" He composed himself and smirked at Danny. "I provided this boy with what Jack could not. A place to stay, people who understand you. Who won't alienate you."
"Dash, Vlad is crazy." Danny floated towards him a foot or two. "He's been trying to get with my mom since I met him. He's tried to kill my dad over it. This is not a guy you want to be friends with."
"He's like us, Danny." Dash gestured at him. "He understands us more than anyone else could. He got me away from my parents."
"He's trying to manipulate you." Danny ground out. "My dad never tried to manipulate you. Not once. You think Vlad is the guy in the right?"
"I think someone deserves to pay for what happened to us." Dash straightened his posture. "And that person just happens to be your dad."
Danny shook his head rapidly. "No, no, no. What are you guys going to do? Kill him?"
Dash opened his mouth to respond but Vlad spoke over him. "We're going to give him what he deserves. Your mother will be mine and I'll finally have the son I've always wanted."
Dash looked at Vlad, and back at Danny. Vlad's words seem to have conflicted him. Danny opened his mouth to say something but then Vlad was suddenly in front of him.
"I can't have you warning them, little badger."
Vlad charged up an almost blinding pink ectoblast and slammed his hand into Danny's chest. It sent Danny flying to the ground and a crater formed around him when his back hit the pavement. He groaned and pried his eyes open just in time to see the two of them fly away.
He tried to push himself up off the ground but fell back down again. He had to get up. He couldn't let Vlad do this. Couldn't let Dash turn into Vlad.
Danny tried to get up again. He rolled onto his side and pushed himself up to his knees. He weakly floated up off the ground in the direction of Fentonworks. He had to get there. He had to get home in time. Before Vlad did anything. Before Dash did something he'd regret.
Every second dragged on. It felt like it took forever and Danny was relieved once he saw Fentonworks. He flew in through the door and scanned the living room. Then he heard shouts coming from the basement. He flew through the door and down the stairs and saw Vlad holding onto his mom and Dash had his dad held up in his hands.
"Casper!" Danny shouted. "Don't do this! Put him down!"
"He deserves to pay!" Dash shouted.
"What is going on?!" Danny's mom shouted in Vlad's grip. "Why are you three spooks here? Put me down!"
"It wasn't their fault! We were dumb kids! We shouldn't have been playing around down here!"
"I know the way he talks about us!" Dash shot a look at Danny. "Do you still believe he wouldn't try to tear us apart or experiment on us if they really knew?"
Danny looked at his parents. Both of them looked very confused about why two ghosts seemed to have such a personal interest in them. He didn't have any other cards to play.
It was time.
He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He felt his transformation rings appear around his waist. He heard his parents gasp as the rings traveled around his body, leaving his human form behind. He opened his eyes and saw everyone staring at him. Dash's eyes were wide.
"No!" Vlad hissed.
"Danny?" Maddie whispered.
He looked away from her and held arm close to him, his hand holding it tight.
"I'm Phantom. I've been Phantom since the ghost portal turned on."
"I- We-" Danny gestured between him and Dash. "We were in the portal when it turned on."
"What?" Jack looked from Danny to Dash. "We?"
Dash let go of Jack and backed away. "It was an accident. We were just looking at it."
"Come now, are you really going to let these two ghosts sway you two?" Vlad hissed into Maddie's face. "Are you going to change your whole ideology just because a ghost has been masquerading as your son for years?"
"There's too many of us for them to ignore it!" Dash shouted up at Vlad. "What about you? What would they think if they knew about you?"
"Now that they know about me, there's nothing preventing me from revealing you to them." Danny said.
"You forget I have your dear mother in my hands right now. I could do anything I wanted- Agh!"
Jack had pulled a goop blaster out from somewhere and shot Vlad in the face. The shock of it gave Maddie enough leeway to elbow her way out of his grip. She pulled her own blaster out and pointed it at him.
"Get lost, spook." She ground out. "Leave our family alone."
He frowned and looked at Danny.
"This isn't over my boy. I'll be back for your family."
Then he left.
Maddie lowered her blaster and turned to look at Danny. After a moment she dropped it on the floor and ran to him, wrapping her arms around him in a hug.
"Are you really..?"
Danny nodded. "I'm really me. And Phantom. There's no difference between the two."
Her face dropped into a look of relief and then one of mortification. "You said you were in the ghost portal when it turned on?" Her brow furrowed and she turned to look at Dash. "Both of you?"
"But who is that?" Jack asked.
Danny looked at Dash who looked the smallest he'd looked in years. Fear was etched into every inch of his face and he looked like he wanted to bolt.
"He's an old friend." He looked back at his parents. "You actually used to know him pretty well."
Maddie's face fell even more. "Dash?" She whispered.
He flinched when he heard his name. He let out a resigned sigh and called on his transformation. Maddie covered her mouth when it was done.
"Both of you? You died?"
"Something like that."
"How did this happen?" Jack asked.
"We-" Danny started but was interrupted as Dash walked up beside him.
"It was my fault. I pushed the button while we were messing around in the portal." Dash looked at the floor.
"The button?" Maddie asked.
"The portal wasn't on when you plugged it in." Danny said. "The power button was on the inside."
"Oh my god." Maddie covered her mouth. "That's why it didn't work? We just didn't turn it on?"
Danny nodded. She sniffled.
"I'm so sorry you boys had to go through that. And all on your own too."
"We were going to tell you. We ended up deciding against it though."
"Why?" Jack asked.
"I was afraid." Dash whispered. "The day we were going to tell you guys you were going on and on about how evil ghosts were and what you were going to do to them if you ever got your hands on them and it scared me." He looked back up at them. "I thought I had turned us into monsters. I hated what I became."
"No, you two have never been monsters." Maddie said softly. "We've been suspecting that there might have been something different about you two. You're the only ghosts that have aged since the portal opened. We were curious and always wondered why."
"It's because you are very much alive." Jack said. "There's nothing monstrous about that."
Tears welled up in Dash's eyes and he nodded. "Okay."
Maddie took a step towards the stairs and gestured for them to follow her.
"Let's go upstairs and we'll talk about everything."
Danny walked down the stairs. He looked up to see Dash sitting in their living room, asleep on the couch. The tv played softly and cast shadows across his face.
Dash had told them how Vlad manipulated him with his home life to get him to side with him. Vlad had overshadowed a lot of people to get it done, to fill the paperwork for Dash's emancipation. But then Dash didn't have anywhere else to go. Danny's parents offered him the spare bedroom.
Ever since his parents said they weren't monsters, Dash seemed to be a lot nicer. Like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. Sam and Tucker were really confused. They didn't know their secret yet but they could already tell something was up between them.
Danny made his way into the living room and picked Dash's blanket off the floor. He laid it on top of him and hand accidentally brushed Dash's arm. His eyes peeked open and he looked at danny.
Danny cringed. "Sorry. Did I wake you?"
Dash stretched his arms above his head and yawned. "I think I've been in and out for a while."
"Ah." Danny moved to grab the remote. "Are you gonna head to bed now?"
He moved to turn the tv off but Dash grabbed his arm and dragged him onto the couch next to him.
"I'm too tired to move. Besides, this is a good movie."
Danny looked at him and turned to look at the screen again. Casper the friendly ghost was playing.
He smiled and settled in. Dash moved the blanket so it was laying across both of them. Soon Danny heard soft snores coming from Dash. He rolled his eyes and smiled but stayed where he was.
"Come on, Danny! Your mom almost has the movie ready!" Dash shouted at him.
Danny ran into the living room, his arms filled with snacks and jumped onto the couch beside Dash.
Dash grabbed the bowl of popcorn out of Danny's hands.
"Hey!" Danny shouted. "We're sharing that!"
"You can hold our juice and I'll hold the popcorn!"
"You'll eat all the popcorn then!"
Soon enough, they were settled in watching the movie. They didn't even make it halfway through before they were both dozing on the couch together.
Danny closed his eyes and fell asleep to the sound of Dash's soft snores and the friendly ghost on the tv.