"Do you ever wonder what it's like?" Dash said suddenly, causing Danny to startle slightly. He snorted at himself. Sudden noises could get him to jump, but a ghost threatening to kill him was a piece of cake. Imagine that – Danny Phantom's weakness being sudden loud noises!

Danny glanced at Dash with question, who quickly clarified. "Fighting ghosts."

They were standing in the library by a window. They'd been serving detention together, when Danny's ghost sense had gone off. It was the Box Ghost, and Danny had sent a clone out after the annoyance. He was slowly but surely becoming better at clones, and had felt fine during the short scuffle before the Box Ghost had been sucked up in the thermos. It was hardly an interesting fight, yet Dash had run to the window, and gasped and cringed as though he'd watched a showdown between Plasmius and Phantom.

"Oh," Danny said in surprise. It was weird enough that Dash had stopped trying to bully him a few months ago, but the fact that they were on almost talking terms still surprised him. Something had changed in Dash, and Danny hoped it would stay.

Danny rubbed the back of his neck anxiously. "Well, my parents are ghost hunters. I guess I've thought about it a little."

His clone returned invisibly at that moment, and Danny absorbed it with a slight shiver. The return of energy had goosebumps erupt all over his arms, and he shook his head to dispel some of it.

"A little? Dude, it's all I think about now," Dash murmured. It's a reply, unlike the usual responses Danny was used to getting – namely being shoved in a locker.

"Oh?" Danny awkwardly responded. What did one say to their school bully?

"I mean, I saw you with that ghost dog a few months ago, the whole class did, and I thought about how I hated being scared of ghosts, and feeling useless," Dash continued, and Danny whipped his head around to face him.

Ghost dog? Had Dash seen him with Cujo? He quickly went over the conversation again, before realising Dash had meant the time Wulf had crashed into the school seeking Danny's help.

"I think I want to be a ghost hunter," Dash said, turning to face Danny head on. "I want to be the human version of Danny Phantom. The male version of the Red Huntress."

Danny's mouth was hanging open. He knew it was. He just didn't want to close it.

Dash's expression was slowly changing from a look of determination to one of anger. Danny knew it had to be because of the disbelieving look he had on his face.

"Why?" Danny asked quickly. "Why… Why hunt ghosts? There's a lot of ghost hunters out there, and Phantom does a good job."

"Yeah, he does," Dash said, and he smiled at the thought of his hero. Danny so wished at times like this that he could just change so he would be able see the look on Dash's face. The realisation that the kid he picked on had saved him multiple times – well, he had seen the look before. In alternate timelines... and it was always pretty sweet.

"He's what inspired me. Can you imagine how awesome it must be to be him? Flying around and saving people… Man, I wish I was him. He's got the best life."

Danny couldn't help it. He laughed. It was a small snort at first, then a full on laugh that had Dash angrily looking at him, grabbing the front of his shirt.

"What's so funny?" Dash asked threateningly. Danny raised his hands up at his sides.

"I wasn't laughing at you, I swear," Danny said quickly. "It's just… Well, haven't you seen Spider-Man? Or, I dunno, Batman? It's not always easy for the hero. I bet Phantom's made a ton of enemies. And he's probably got things to do besides fight ghosts all day. He's got to keep up appearances in his life, or whatever."

Dash released his shirt and snorted. "He's a ghost, man. Ghosts don't do much."

Danny laughed again. "I wish," He said without thinking.

"What?"

Danny's eyes widened, and he rubbed his neck anxiously. "Like I said, my parents are ghost hunters. Ghosts, uh… do stuff too. They have their own world."

"Yeah, yeah, the Ghost Zone. Phantom's always yelling about ghosts staying there. Weird how he doesn't stay there."

Danny looked oddly at Dash. "What do you mean?"

"Well, a lot of the ghosts seem to attack just because of Phantom, haven't you noticed?" Dash said, and Danny frowned. Of course he had noticed. He was Phantom.

"They didn't start really attacking until after he showed up. I mean, the ghost is a hero, he's saved me multiple times, and the town, but like… don't you think he's the cause?"

Danny hadn't known Dash could think past football and girls. Danny also hadn't thought Dash wanted to be a ghost hunter. Yet here they were, attempting to discuss the root of the town's ghost infestation.

"What about the Ghost King? He didn't attack because of m – uhh, because of Phantom."

Danny Fenton didn't talk about ghosts. Danny Fenton was scared of ghosts. He ran whenever they were near, and avoided all conversation about ghosts. So his almost saying me was understandable, right? Whenever Danny Fenton spoke of Phantom, it was to someone who knew his secret. When he spoke to his friends, he didn't have to watch what he said.

Danny wanted to flee, to turn invisible and not have to continue to talk to Dash, his school bully, who was getting uncomfortably deep in the conversation.

Dash didn't notice or didn't care about the slip up. He just shook his head at Danny's answer. "But the town was targeted because of the ghost activity or something, right? I mean, why was just our town sucked into the Ghost Zone when this ghost king wanted to rule everything?"

Danny wanted to say because Plasmius is a crazy fruitloop out to manipulate and use me, but he realised that by twisting that bit of logic, again it was his fault that Pariah Dark had attacked Amity. Plasmius had manipulated him because he was a half-ghost. If he hadn't been one, the situation might never have happened.

"Because of the ghostly energy!" Danny said instead. "Because the town is a hotspot for ghosts. I mean, who knows how Phantom came to exist, but he's trying to save us, right?"

The bell rang suddenly, signifying that the detention was over. Dash didn't respond as he grabbed his bag from where he'd stashed it under one of the tables, but paused when he realised Danny wasn't near him as he was leaving the library. As odd as it seemed, Dash wanted to continue talking to him. Danny hastily grabbed his bag and followed Dash out the door.

"He's trying to save us yeah, and he's gotten loads better at it – remember all the destruction he used to cause trying to stop those ghosts?"

Danny winced slightly at the mention of those harder times. He'd been thrown into more buildings then he cared to admit. Sometimes going intangible was difficult.

Dash continued on without noticing Danny's reaction. They were outside now, heading in the general direction of the parking lot. Dash drove, and Danny usually flew, so Danny awkwardly tagged along, waiting for an escape as Dash carried on.

"I just want to know why he'd try to save the town anyways. It's inspiring. Do you think it had something to do with how he died? Maybe he couldn't save someone before dying or something… It's his obsession now or something."

Danny knew Dash was just speculating the same way everyone else in the city must do. None of them had ever voiced their thoughts to the actual ghost in question, however. Danny felt oddly offended at being analyzed by someone who wasn't Jazz.

Dash had gone silent, obviously expecting an answer from Danny. Danny shrugged.

"I guess he feels like he has the power to stop those other ghosts from causing harm, so he does it. I mean, if you had ghost powers, wouldn't you use them for good?"

Dash barked out a laugh. "If I had Phantom's powers I'd tell everyone. And I'd be a kick ass ghost hunter."

Danny frowned at Dash's response. "Spider-Man, though. Protects his identity to keep those around him safe from his enemies."

Danny's mind flashed again to the danger of Plasmius. They still seemed to be fooling the older half-ghost about his parents continued ignorance of his and Danielle's abilities. They were more involved than ever before, now. There hadn't been much from Vlad in the last month, which was as worrying as it was refreshing.

Dash snorted. "Yeah, I guess. I mean, it'd be cool if everyone knew. Like Iron Man."

"Like Iron Man," Danny absently repeated. They'd reached Dash's car, and Danny hung back, wanting the jock to drive off so he could fly home. Sam and Tucker had said they were going to meet up with Danielle and wait for him there.

Dash waved Danny to the passenger side door. "Get in man, I'll drop you off."

Danny bit his lip in frustration. He knew he lived far by walking standards, and turning down the offer of a free ride would be suspicious.

"Thanks," he muttered, and sat in the seat.

Dash put the car in reverse, backing out. Throwing it into drive, he left the parking lot.

"But what about you? You'd keep your ghost powers secret, yeah?" Dash asked absently, almost uninterestedly.

Danny studied Dash. He obviously wasn't interested in Danny's response, and was asking to continue the conversation. Why Dash would want to continue speaking to Danny after several years of bullying, Danny didn't know. But it was refreshing. And it was a little funny just how close Dash was to the truth.

"Not from my family and friends," Danny replied. It was the truth. There wasn't a cover in that simple sentence. He'd come clean with them – the only thing he held to his chest was Dark Phantom. The secrets were gone. Sam and Tucker knew everything from the start, Jazz learning slowly, Danielle picking up as she went along. His parents got the full explained story, though they hadn't experienced much at all.

Dash nodded absently. "You'd tell Sam for sure, yeah? Like Spider-Man. Only his girlfriend knew. And enemies."

Danny laughed awkwardly. "Yeah. Sam knows."

Eager to change the subject, Danny motioned absently with his hand at the car.

"This all yours?" He asked, feigning interest.

"Nah, my dad lets me use it," Dash replied, and Danny raised an eyebrow at the honesty. He'd expected a story about how it was technically his, and his parents used it occasionally.

"You drive?" Dash asked, and Danny smirked.

"No. Thinking about getting my flying license though."

Dash glanced at him in surprise. "Really? Flying?"

Danny smiled widely, holding back his laughter. "It's faster," he said blandly.

Dash made a sound of agreement, though Danny could see he'd irritated Dash with the comment.

They pulled up outside his house, Dash giving the glowing neon sign a look Danny couldn't read. Even in the daylight, the FentonWorks sign seemed to light up the area around it.

"Uh, thanks for the ride," Danny said awkwardly. Dash nodded.

"No worries. See you around."

Dash left, and Danny watched the car drive down the street. He was mostly confused. He'd had a civil discussion with Dash. They hadn't had an issue in about two months, since Wulf showed up at Casper High, but Danny had never imagined himself speaking to the guy normally.

He headed inside after the car had vanished from his street. Dash had ulterior motives for talking to Danny today. There wasn't a universe in which Dash would talk to him to be nice. Danny would just have to figure out what Dash wanted before he got it.

Dash Baxter left Fenton's house without checking to make sure that he got in the door. It was impolite, but Fenton wasn't a friend. Driving away was easy, but not thinking about the kid he bullied for years was a bit harder. Seeing Fenton standing so close to that enormous ghost dog a few months ago had really rattled Dash. There had been no fear in Fenton, he'd simply done what he thought he needed to do. Which, oddly enough, was to try and protect a giant ghost dog.

It was unsettling to know that Fenton was able to stand against something that left him breathless with terror.

So he'd backed off. Dash wasn't so naïve as to think Fenton incapable of standing up to him if he kept tormenting the kid.

Dash had to admit, he felt a bit better not bullying his classmates. It had been engrained in him for so long to be mean to his peers that focusing on himself had been different. A good different.

He'd stopped Kwan from going at some maths kids a few days ago. It was difficult, trying to be a nicer person. Kwan had stared at him like he had two heads, but let the kids go.

Focusing on himself meant he focused on what he wanted from life – and right now, he wanted to help the town by hunting ghosts.

Dash snorted at the term. Ghost hunting. Years ago, before any of this messed up ghost invasion shit had happened, he remembered watching a show where people went into supposedly haunted houses and tried to contact ghosts. They'd called that hunting.

Now, it was more like ghost response. A ghost is spotted, and the ghost hunters dealt with it. Like first responders at the scene of a crash. It was a regular thing in Amity Park, and barely a day went by without a report of a ghost causing havoc. Why people continued to live in this town confused him, but home was home.

What Dash needed was to collect real information about what it was like to be a ghost hunter. The Red Huntress vanished after a fight, but the Fenton's tended to stick around and make sure everyone was okay. There was also Masters' Blasters, but Dash hadn't liked their attitude when they first started out. They were chill now, but opinions were opinions.

Then there was Phantom. A ghost himself, he fought for the safety of the town. He was elusive and powerful and intelligent. It was easy to understand why he and so many others admired the ghost.

A ghost that hunted ghosts. It was so weird. Why would a ghost protect humans from its own kind? What made Phantom so inherently different from the other ghosts? Fenton had said he thought Phantom was like Spider-Man... great power and great responsibility, or whatever. But Spider-Man was a human(?) protecting humans. It made more sense. Spider-Man also had a life outside of being a hero. Phantom was a ghost. What did he do besides float around invisibly?

Thinking back to what he'd actually listened to Fenton saying, the way the kid spoke was as though he'd thought Phantom had a secret identity. Dash had said he'd tell everyone if he had superpowers, and what had Fenton said? Something about Spider-Man keeping his identity secret, right?

Why did the kid compare Phantom to Spider-Man? Phantom was a ghost, while Spider-Man was a genetically modified human or something. Peter Parker kept his identity secret because he had powerful enemies, but Phantom was a ghost. Even if he had a secret identity, why would worry? His dead ghost enemies were going to hurt his dead ghost friends?

Dash snorted at his thoughts. He was home anyways. He'd go play some shooter game online with Kwan, now. Practice his aim for when he used actual ecto-guns for ghost fighting. Not that he really thought a video game would help him be able to shoot a real gun. Help his reflexes, maybe.

Dash was oblivious to the ghost the hovered invisibly above him. If he'd known Phantom was so close, the questions be endless.