Chapter Three

Eventually, they continued on. More people were convinced it was for the best if they kept Danny's secret, though Tucker ended up having to threaten some with bodily harm and mortal embarrassment in order to get some of them to shut up and keep their mouths closed.

For a while, no one wanted to go into anymore rooms or travel down a stray path. The silence was strained and tense. The fear and discomfort was tangible, a far cry from what it had been at the beginning of their journey.

Then the unfortunate happened. The students' fear wore off, leading to boredom.

A loud girl at the end of the group shouted, "Let's go in here! It looks interesting."

She drew their attention to a door frame with torn caution tape over it, leading into a pure white room. She and the majority of the class wandered over to it, and Tucker watched in horror as they entered the room. He had a bad feeling, not unlike the one he had earlier about the gravel path that nearly led to their destruction.

When he and Sam reached the room, they froze. The walls of the white room were covered from floor to ceiling with red and black scribbles in that oh-so-familiar handwriting, though it was a little shaky and uneven. In the center of the room, surrounded by students, sat an unhealthily thin Danny Fenton.

The raven-haired boy had never looked worse. His face was gaunt, cheeks hollow and eyes dull. His hair had lost its luster, and even the bright lights of the white room could barely add a shine to the thin black locks. He had scratches on his arms and neck, and he held a black pen in one frail hand.

The words on the wall were far more disturbing than they expected.

Freak. Half-breed. Monster.

Humans fear me. I'm not natural.

Ghosts hate me. I don't fit. They even made up their own term for me. Halfa.

Half-dead lab accident.

I must protect them. They need my help. I have to save them.

My parents want to dissect me. I'm just a gross freak. Not even a freak of nature.

Everyone hates Phantom. Everyone hates me.

Fenton is bullied. Why do people hate Fenton? I haven't done anything to them!

Worthless.

Only Vlad wants me around. Only he can understand.

It's painful! It hurts! Make it stop!

What if I can't save them?

My friends can't die!

I can't become him. I promised I wouldn't become that.

I promised...

...

The room represented Danny's delicate mental state. Tucker felt an urge to go hug the little teen in the center of the room. He wanted his best friend to know that everything would be okay. He needed Danny to feel like someone cared about him for him, not for his powers.

He gently touched Danny's shoulder. The boy looked up wildly, eyes glowing a bright neon green. When his eyes met Tuckers, they faded slowly back to their soft blue. His best friend could see pain behind those dull eyes. Danny had suffered so much.

"When we get out of here, I'm taking you to the Nasty Burger and we can play video games all night. Just like we used to," Tucker whispered softly, pulling him into a hug.

Danny just relaxed into it, going limp with exhaustion. When Tucker lowered him to the ground, the boy curled up again, muttering under his breath. He reverted to the state they found him in.

Tucker turned to find Sam hadn't stayed in the room. He guessed it was too much for the girl to handle after meeting with Dan Phantom. She really did love Danny. His heart went out to her. Their class had dragged them into things that were deeper and more private than even he and Sam had privilege to know.

After everyone filed out of the room, he called to Mr. Lancer to stop the group.

"We will not be making any more stops!" Tucker shouted, enraged. "If I see one more person going into a room or down a path, I will personally make sure their life is RUINED. Got that?!" He glared at the group, fuming.

No one spoke. No one doubted his words. They realized they had more to fear than just Danny's retribution once they got out of the halfa's mind. Slowly, they nodded and moved on. It was another half-hour before they got to the exit point.

Once the class had left Danny's mind, they woke up in their seats with the knowledge of Danny's special situation. They had seen some of his fears. They had experienced the strain on his mind up close and personal. They were silent, waiting for the boy to wake up.

Tucker and Sam stood next to their best friend and pressed the release button on the boy's goggles. Thankfully, a manual release button had been included on the prototypes of the unique technology. With a groan, the ghost teen began to wake up and stretch.

"What happened?" he mumbled. "I feel like I got hit by a bus..."

Sam grinned, tears welling up in her eyes. "You showed them some pretty personal stuff, Danny. And you rescued the class when they met him. You're protecting people even now, in your own mind."

"Dude, that was the scariest trip I have ever been on. Let's never do that again," Tucker said, poking him in the ribs.

Danny laughed, brushing his bangs out of his face. He felt a little weird, true, but other than a bit of exhaustion, nothing felt off. What Tucker had said, though... what had his class seen while they were inside his head. Sam had mentioned him. He wondered if any of his classmates had figured out that he was Danny Phantom.

"Did anyone... y'know?" he asked quietly.

Sam rolled her eyes. "The entire class figured it out, courtesy of your jerky future self."

Danny whipped around to stare at them. Everyone had an expression ranging from shock to disbelief to fear. He groaned again, and smacked his head against the desk. He could feel their eyes on him, waiting for him to make a move.

A muffled, "I knew this was a bad idea," came from him, head still on the desk.

Tucker slapped his back. "Cheer up, Danny. I made very sure none of them will tell anyone else. If they do... well, you don't really wanna know what will happen. Let's just leave it at mortal embarrassment for now," he explained cheerfully.

Sam leaned over and whispered, "You might want to have a talk with Valerie, though."

He took a moment to glance at the ghost hunter girl. She had her eyes focused on the top of her desk, silent and unmoving. He wondered how she'd react to him, now that she knew he was the ghost she hated with a passion.

The bell didn't ring for another ten minutes, so he wandered over to her. "Valerie? Can we talk for a sec?" he asked. She nodded, standing up to follow him. He noticed she made an effort to look anywhere but where he was.

Once they were far enough away from the class, she spoke. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Danny sighed. "You hated my guts. Well, you hated Phantom's guts, anyway. I didn't want to mess up the friendship we had. I didn't know if you believe me, or try to cut off our relations, or hunt me even harder than before. I was afraid, Val. You're a good ghost hunter."

She looked up at him, and flinched. "Every time I look at you, now, I can see the white hair and green eyes. Why didn't I notice it before?" she groaned, running a hand over her hair. "Danny Phantom. Danny Fenton. It's so obvious."

"That's probably why. That, and Fenton is a weak loser who gets bullied. Not a hero, not a villain, just an average teen," he explained. "Everyone was too close to see the truth."

"I'm sorry. I know you tried to tell me you weren't evil. I should have listened, at least a little. When I rescued Danielle, made friends with her, I thought that maybe there were others like her. Good ghosts- or half-ghosts. I guess I was too caught up in my hatred." She was close to tears.

"Let me know one thing, though," she continued. "Did you know I wasn't in my suit? That time you blew it up? I just... that made me think Phantom didn't really care about killing me. If it was you, though... did you know?"

Danny nodded solemnly. "Yeah. I would never have done that if I thought you were still in the thing. From the get-go, I always tried to keep from hurting you. If I ever did, I'm sorry. It's kind of hard to hold back when someone is trying to destroy you."

She laughed, catching him off guard. "Danny! It's amazing that you were able to hold back that much, considering the circumstances. I just wish I had known. Maybe I could have helped you. Did you know Vlad Masters is a half-ghost, too?"

The ghost boy rolled his eyes. "A long time ago. He's been trying to make me his son and apprentice for a long time. The perfect halfa son for him. It is beyond creepy that he even tried to clone me. Danielle came from that experiment."

"So that's why you two looked so similar. I'm glad I met her. If I hadn't, you might have been dead, already," Valerie commented. "I came pretty close to destroying Phantom- you- that time. She's such a sweet girl."

"No offense, but if you actually had come close, I probably would've revealed myself if I couldn't see another way out. Staying alive, as much as I currently am, is high on my list of priorities. I'm surprised you aren't angry at me for keeping it a secret, though."

She shrugged, glaring. "Oh, I am, Ghost Boy. I could have killed you!"

He laughed. "True. How did the trip in my head go?"

Valerie gasped, remembering the events. "You met a future version of me? And I was trying to kill you. What happened to turn Phantom into that? He's not like you at all!" She had been terrified of the dark, older ghost.

"A lot, Val. A lot happened to me. In the past and in the future. I still don't know if I'll turn into him or not. Dan Phantom is currently living outside the time stream, and I don't know if that means he'll disappear if that future does or not." Danny's eyes were dark, and green sparks crackled in his blue irises.

"So that ghost really was you," she asked, but it wasn't really a question.

He nodded. "My ghost half, fused with Plasmius's. Apparently, he killed his human half after his ghost half was ripped out. Phantom couldn't cope with the evil from Plasmius. It ended up overpowering him. Me."

"That's our biggest threat, then." Valerie crossed her arms. "We just have to keep your ghost half from getting ripped out? If that's all, I think we can manage just fine."

Danny sighed again, ruffling his hair. "I don't know, Val. If it's that easy, would he really be my biggest enemy? I think there's the chance I can become that without Plasmius, as slim as it may be. I promised I wouldn't become that."

She hugged him. "Then we just have to help you keep that promise."