A/N: Thank you all again so much for your thoughtful and inspiring critiques. I just had to go back and revise this last chapter, not just to smooth things over but also to add some things I hadn't considered the first time in. Like Danny's ghostly enemy reactions!

My apologies for the Esperanto. I used free internet translation.

Chapter 6: Conclusion

Maddie approached her son. The ghost. Her Danny's nose and eyes tinged ghostly blue and ectoplasm green. His words colored with an otherworldly echo. Not even when she saw him draw his last breath was Maddie so aware of Danny's death. Yet he was here, speaking, moving. Her son's spirit in…well, a spirit. A miracle. A nightmare. Some warped combination of the two. No, not warped, he was still her son. Even if his eyes glowed green instead of blue, he had to be her son. "Danny?" His right hand felt cool to hers. An ice core.

"Hi mom."

Her husband staggered to his other side. "Danno? Oh son, why didn't you tell us?"

"Does the phrase 'rip it apart molecule by molecule' ring any bells?" Jazz asked.

Maddie remembered a thousand and one such rants, too many about Phantom himself. No wonder Danny only confided in them on his death bed. What horrible parents they'd turned out to be. "I'm sorry we didn't see it before."

"Are you okay?" Sam asked him.

"Yeah man, how do you feel after…biting the big one?"

Danny's hand drifted down to his chest. A ghost's core beat in place of his heart. "I…I dunno." A weak smile. "I'm not suddenly uber-obsessed with going back to town and making sure no ghost touches it because it's mine."

"It would be okay if you did," Jazz said. "Lots of ghosts have obsessions."

Would their son inevitably become like every other ghost? Drowning in compulsion and obsession until he was a creature that wore her son's face? Maddie could see the same dawning horror on her husband's face. Thankfully, Danny's attention was on his friends. His back to them. But Jazz noticed. She glared.

"Why?" Jack asked. "Why be our lab rat? Why couldn't you just…tell us?"

Danny floated back like a human flopping on a chair, "Because I wanted you to accept all ghosts. Sure, I could have told you I was a half-ghost but then I'd be the 'not like other ghosts' exception to your ghost-hating rants."

He ducked his head, white hair falling to hide green eyes. "I did try. At first. To tell you about the portal thing, the first month or so. Harder than I thought. Every time I tried something came up—a phone call or Jazz would step in and…" he looked up at them again.

"Then I started doing the whole superhero gig." He scowled, "And Walker framed me as the villain…" They opened their mouths, but he kept talking, "It got harder to tell. After I was really accepted as a hero, I was afraid you'd try and stop me."

"We should've," Maddie snapped. "If you'd told us…"

"Or you might have died instead," Danny shouted.

"We still should have done something. Or known something," Jack said, "Were we so blind?"

Team Phantom said nothing.

"I kinda expected this to happen," Danny said. "Not the whole ghost thing. That's a shocker." He looked to the lead ghost in the room. "Thanks Frostbite."

"We are honored, Great One." The ghost, Frostbite, bowed.

"But the whole dying thing? Ever since Pariah Dark I knew I could go out and never come back. Made a video…just in case. It explains everything."

"How comforting," Maddie said.

More silence. Danny cleared his throat. "So…does this mean I need to move in with Tucker or Sam?"

Danny was engulfed in hugs from both his parents. "Oh Danno is that what's going on through your head?" Jack said, hugging his son tightly.

"Honey we would never—" Maddie began.

Reluctantly Danny went intangible and slid out of their hold. "You might have," he said calmly, "Because you didn't know any better."

"That's why you should have told us!"

Danny opened his mouth to retort, only to shut it. Deep breath. Count to ten. Now he could think. Stop the useless argument before it started. That was the last thing they needed, a shouting match.

"He's told us now," Jack said. "We know better now and whatever we would have done in the past…that's not going to happen anymore."

"Yeah, not anymore," Danny repeated.

The elder Fentons winced. "Let's just…go home."

"To the lab?" Danny asked darkly.

"Well, that's the only way out of the ghost zone," said Jack.

Maddie elbowed him, "Wherever you want. Just to talk." She glanced around. "Preferably in a temperate climate." The other ghost glanced at Danny. Something was exchanged in that look. The icy-armed ghost bowed again.

"You are ever welcome within our lands, Great One."

"Thank you," said Danny. They walked, or in the ghosts' case floated toward the cavern entrance. "Not that I can thank you enough for saving my l—well, existence."

"Of course. That is what the core donation is for—"

"Wait?" Danny froze, mid-tunnel, "A donated core? That's what fixed me? You merged my core with another ghost's!"

"Yes, Great One," Frostbite frowned at the horror in all of Team Phantom. "It is a common practice to donate a little of one's core, in case the worst should happen."

"Like…" Tucker spoke when Danny clearly couldn't, "Like a blood donation thing? In the world of the living?"

"Much like," a healer said.

"Oh," Danny looked faint. "So, I don't have…like…an entire other ghost's core merged with my own? I'm not gonna…"

All the Far Frozenlanders stopped. "I cannot imagine what horror would result from such a thing." One healer finally said.

"Did…have they..?" another healer motioned toward the elder Fentons.

"Oh no. No," Danny shook his head. In a lower voice, he said, "They weren't responsible for anything like that."

"And you're only responsible for ending it," Sam said. With a hand on his shoulder, she guided him to the Spectre Speedster.

There was one problem with the Spectre Speedster. "I don't think we're all going to fit in that," Tucker commented.

"Nonsense, its big enough for the whole Fenton Family."

"Not the extended version," said Danny, glancing at his friends.

"If you have need of transportation, my own speedster is available," Frostbite offered.

"No," Maddie snapped. She saw her son's expression and amended. "We'll manage. Everyone in."

"But there aren't enough seats—" Jazz said. Maddie pushed her in anyway.

"Ow, my head."

"Sorry."

"I'm so glad I can turn myself intangible."

"Stop bragging and turn some of us intangible too."

"Next time, you guys need to design a spectre speedster that can actually fit the Fenton Family," Jazz said, knees next to her chin.

"Next time? There will not be a next time. Anyone who dies before they've turned their hundredth birthday will be grounded for life." Maddie said.

"I'll drive." Jack snatched the keys.

"We're all gonna be grounded for life."

No one was grounded for life (or afterlife) on the way home. Not for the lack of trying. As Jack barreled his way through the ectoplasmic landscape, purple and green blurring together, he screamed. "Ghooosst!"

"Well duh, we're in the ghost—ugh!" Sam was yanked forward, along with everyone else who had a seat-belt, as Jack slammed his foot on the breaks. Danny flew through the windshield and nearly collided with Wulf. As both his parents pulled out ecto-guns he put himself between the lupine ghost and his parents.

"Hey, easy, it's just Wulf. He's helped me out. A lot." Danny turned back to his friend. "Saluton."

"Saluton mia amiko. Esta vera?" He leaned forward, sniffing. Jazz stopped her mother from raising her guns again and Sam did the same to Jack.

"Vera?" Danny asked, looking to Tucker, who was best at the language.

"Truth. He's asking what is true?"

"Danny Phantom fantomo?"

"He's asking if…if you're full ghost now," Tucker said.

"How does this spread so fast?" Danny muttered. "Jes."

Still in the Spectre Speedster, Maddie whispered, "That is…a good ghost?" She glanced between her son, his friends and what looked like a werewolf. A glowing black and green werewolf.

"You don't have to say good ghost like it's a foreign concept," Jazz grumbled.

"Kompatemo kaj gratuloj," Wulf said.

"Dankon," said Danny.

"What is he saying?" Jack asked.

"He says he's sorry about Danny's death but glad that Danny still exists," Tucker said. "Povas vi larmo fulmoklavo al Amity?"

"Jes." Massive claws sprang from one paw and both elder Fentons tensed, but the ghost tore a hole through the very fabric of the ghost zone, making a primitive portal between the two worlds. On the other side they could see Amity Park still cloaked in peaceful darkness.

As if her son hadn't died.

The ghost waved them through. "Gis Baldau."

"Dankon," Danny said.

Tucker frowned as the ghost loped off, "I wonder what he meant by that?"

Danny shrugged, "Dunno. Hey guys," he faced his parents, "If he stops by later on, please don't shoot him."

"Awww," Jack groaned.

"He's a good ghost."

"Okay, okay."

Once the Spectre Speedster pulled into their driveway, everyone piled out like clowns out of a car. Danny settled on the ground, forcing his ghostly tail to split into feet. Odd, though he'd seen it just the other day, how much he missed the crazy place.

As soon as his hand touched the doorknob, they heard: "Fenton Security Activated," in Maddie's voice. Followed by Jack's recording yelling, "Ghooooost!" Ecto-guns emerged from the roof, the windows and even the Fentonworks sign to hurl a barrage of ecto-blasts at Danny.

"Danno!" Jack shouted.

But Danny had expected this the second he heard the automated voice. An ectoplasmic shield snapped into existence. The shots bounced harmlessly off, though he still winced. "What the hell?"

"You're a full ghost now. You…must have set off the house defenses," said Jazz.

"Someone turn it off," Sam shouted.

"I'm on it." Jack ran inside.

"That's okay," Tucker took out his PDA, "I'm faster."

With a whine, the system powered down. In the silence after, Maddie asked Tucker. "How long have you been able to do that?"

"Since you came up with the brilliant idea to experiment on your son," Tucker shot back.

The Fentons and Team Phantom entered the house in silence. Maddie took one of the two chairs in the living room. Jack reluctantly sat down on the other, facing their son who floated above the couch.

"Family of choice," Sam sat down next to Danny on the couch. Tucker sat on his other side, opposite of Jack.

Jazz shook her head, "This is a wonderful start," as she sat between the two groups.

"What are we going to do?" Jack Fenton asked.

"Whatever we do, we need to do it soon because you have school tomorrow young man," Maddie lectured on reflex. It felt good. Normal, amid a gross abnormality. As if her son wasn't a ghost.

"Mom, dad, I can't transform back into human. I've been trying the whole way back," Danny said.

"But you could go back to school and live a normal life?" said Jack. "We just have to disguise…"

"Dad. Mom. You installed ghost detectors in the school last year. I had a hard-enough time with those as a halfa."

"Oh yeah…"

"Can we please resolve the past before we look into the future?" asked Jazz.

"School is tomorrow morning honey," Maddie looked at the clock, "Later this morning. If he's…you're not there sweetie…" Maddie trailed off. Then the world would know the truth: that they'd murdered their son. And wouldn't that be justice? Wouldn't that be right?

"I have to tell everyone," Danny said.

"What?" Even Sam and Tucker stared at him. "Seriously dude, your secret identity?"

"I can't keep it secret," said Danny. "I'm a full ghost. My 'life' is over with anyway…and it's better that people know I exist than think I'm dead-dead. As long as you're okay with it?"

"You mean the loads of fanatic Phans knowing we're your girlfriend and best friend and also knowing our addresses?" Sam said dryly.

"Just tell them to go to the Fentons," Tucker said.

"What?" Jack asked.

"Any good suggestions for announcing your death?" Jazz asked sarcastically.

A ghost suddenly swooped through the wall, reminding everyone that they had not (the Fentons) or could not (Team Phantom) put up the ghost shields again. Long, glowing hair pulled up in a ponytail and a familiar guitar slung over her back. "You asshole."

"Ember?" Danny looked confused.

"It's your deathday and I had to find out through the ghost grape vine? Seriously dick move dude…and because of that, you're gonna wait a whole 'nother year for any presents from me."

Ember blithely ignore the two ecto guns pointed at her. Maddie decided to rectify that. "Get out ghost! Get out. Get out. Get out." She punctuated each phrase with an ecto-gun blast.

"Hey." Ember dove back into the wall only to poke her head out. "I was just offering congrats, no need to blast my head off." She ducked back as another shot slammed where her head had been.

"Hey, easy," Danny pulled the gun away. "That's…normal. For ghosts. That must have been what Wulf meant."

"Oh yeah, death day…" Tucker said.

"Would you be my friend?" Kempler was the next ghost to burst in, or else the most suicidal.

"Ghoooossst!"

Jazz grabbed the ecto-gun from her dad's hands. Just in time, as Kempler was only the first in a flood of ghosts. Wulf smiled sheepishly while offering a rather clumsily wrapped present in one massive paw. "Dankon," Danny said.

"Danny Phantom. What an unexpected but heroic end," Ghost Writer circled the room, quill in one hand, journal in another. "I must thank you for the inspiration. Tell me everything…" he said, quill poised.

"That's my line," Spectra floated in, her own journal and pen at the ready. "Lie down, get comfortable. Do tell me how you feel?"

Danny scowled at both, but before he could say anything, Skulker shoved both ghosts out of the way, sheer anguish on his robotic face. "It's true," he said mournfully and slumped, head bowed. "Who was it that felled you Phantom?" He lifted his head and, more loudly, "What hunter outdid the ghost zone's greatest hunter?" He slammed his fist on his metal chest. "Tell me their name and I shall hunt them down and bring you their pelt as your death-day gift."

"Someone who's gone and never coming back," Danny said.

"Ah, even that glory denied to me. Well, happy death-day welp. Now I must mourn that I did not have a hand in the glory of your demise."

Danny rolled his eyes, "Gee, thanks."

"Oh don't be ridiculous," said Ghost Writer, "Of course you wouldn't have killed him. That wouldn't have been nearly climatic enough. Or realistic."

"Why you…" Skulker turned on the writer ghost.

"Now just one minute you. All of you." Maddie glared at the room full of ghosts. "What is this and more importantly why is it taking place in our house?"

"A death day party of course." Said Nocturne. "Tis a cause for celebration."

"My son's death is not a cause for celebration ghost."

"His life was," Princess Dorathea said, "They are both types of existence. Why not celebrate it?"

The next ghost to arrive was one everyone recognized. "The Wisconsin Ghost!" Jack shouted. "What's it doing here?"

"I'd like to know too," Jazz's eyes narrowed dangerously.

The ghost in question sneered at Jack before directing his answer to Danny, "Merely here for the same reason we all are. To offer my congratulations and commiserations to young Daniel. Should you need some time away," now he disdainfully acknowledged Jack, "My door is always open."

"Thanks but no thanks. They know and they accept me."

"That's right," said Maddie. She might not have known exactly what was going on, but only a fool could ignore the possessive vibes this ghost gave off. "He has us as family." And she stood between the ghost and her son.

Danny's face suddenly split into a wicked looking grin. He floated past his mom and wrapped one arm around the Wisconsin ghost's shoulder in a friendly way if not for the tight grip. "Hey Vlad," the ghost winced, "I don't think you've ever been properly introduced. Vlad, this is my mom and dad. Guys, this is—"

"You little…badger."

"Vlad? Hey, I've got a friend named Vlad too," said Jack.

"Here," the ghost, Vlad, shoved a package at Danny, "So sorry. Important things to do. Must leave." And he vanished through the ceiling. Just outside, from the rooftop, they heard a pained yelp.

Tucker smirked and moved his thumb away from a button. "Whoops."

"You had better not be planning to do that with us," said Amorpho.

"As long as you behave," Tucker warned.

"Beware!" Another ghost appeared through the wall. "I am the Box Ghost. And in honor of your death Danny Phantom, I have brought my most prized possessions." Dozens of boxes floated through the living room walls behind him.

Johnny 13 sauntered in afterward, winking. "And I brought what's inside."

"Wait a minute. Hold that." Walker floated up and tore into one of the boxes, pulling out a bottle. "That's contraband. And he's way too young."

Wulf grabbed Walker from behind with one clawed paw, shredded the fabric of the living realm with the other and shoved the warden through the hole.

"Oh no you don't," Maddie said. "That ghost was right." She tried to yank the bottles away. "None of that until he's twenty-one."

"Bah, old enough to die. Old enough to drink," Ember grabbed a bottle. She was only the first and ghosts outnumbered Fentons by a dozen to one.

The party, lubricated by alcohol, dissolved from there. Jack tried grabbing his ecto-bazooka from his daughter. Maddie used the distraction to slip away and re-activate the ghost security system. This was too much. Far too much. It went beyond good ghosts or bad ghosts and right over into too many ghosts. Even for an ectologist.

The dark ghost that looked like a piece of the night sky in humanoid form, swooped over her. "My apologies, but this is to your son's benefit."

And Maddie knew no more.

Danny grabbed his mother as she fell. Jack also slumped on the couch, snoring. "What did you do with them?"

"Merely sent them to sleep, no need to be troubled."

"What kind of sleep?" Danny asked suspiciously.

"The kind they desperately need. They have been deprived of a good night's sleep for too long. Consider it my deathday gift to you. They'll sleep the rest of the night and the day away."

"Now come enjoy yourself," Desiree floated up. "Every other day we shall be bitter enemies, but for this one day, you'll get your wish."

Would he? Danny thought, but joined the party.

As drunkenness gave way to hangovers and confetti gave way to cleaning up, Clockwork floated in, looking… "Woah, you look like the one who should have the death day party."

"Not quite an apt description, but close enough," the Time Ghost said.

"Clockwork? What happened?" Jazz, the soberest of all, asked. "Did…did Dark Danny do this to you?"

"No," and Clockwork looked despairing. "Danny, I am sorry. While I had no direct hand in your future self's escape, I foresaw it, but chose not to intervene."

All of Team Phantom looked as though he'd punched their guts. "Why?"

"There was a still graver future…or a lack of one, I was preventing. Still, you bore the worst of the consequences for that choice and for that, I apologize."

"It's not like we can…well, maybe you can turn back time?" Danny looked at Clockwork. "Can you?"

"I could warn your younger self what was about to happen. Much as I did when I warned you of your future self in the first place. Would that make a difference in the outcome?"

"You're the one with the timey-whimey sense."

Clockwork's gaze turned inward for a moment, then he shook his head. "Even if you knew it would cost you your life…you would do it anyway. Thank you, Danny. You have obtained a new existence, that is true and something to celebrate. But you have lost another existence, a comfortable and treasured one and that is to be mourned."

Clockwork bowed and left. "Well," said Sam, "Goodbye drunkenness, hello sobriety."

"We should start cleaning this up while your parents are still asleep," Tucker said. "Or they're gonna have ten kinds of heart attack when they wake up."

Danny looked around at a living room near buried with ghosts. "Yeah."

Wulf helped drop off all the uninvited guests before offering one last thanks and departing himself. The next order of business was to get Danny's parents up to bed. Danny and Jazz took Jack while Tucker and Sam balanced Maddie between them, both fast asleep. "You guys have a plan to take me down, right?" Danny said beneath his father's weight.

"You're not him." Sam said fiercely.

Danny glanced at his now icy-blue hands. "I could be."

Tucker rolled his eyes. "Skin deep dude. Frostbite's best healers scanned your core. It's stable. Nothing like his."

"But—" Jazz silenced her brother with a finger.

"How can you be him Danny? When you died defending all of us from him? When you died surrounded by friends and family?"

In a smaller voice, Danny said, "But…just in case."

"If it makes you feel better. Just in case."

"Thanks."

Maddie hadn't expected such a large crowd at a time like this. News reporters filmed, lured by the promise of a juicy story. Most of Casper High had been shepherded to the gravesite of one of their own. Vice Principal Lancer stared down at the tombstone with the expression of someone wondering how they'd failed.

Oh, you have no idea.

"We are gathered here today for a very different kind of funeral," she began. Voice steadier than it should have been. It helped to have talked to her dead son not half an hour ago. "Our son Danny, he was…killed," she swallowed a hard knot in her throat, "By a ghost. Before he…died, he confessed a secret. Something he had been hiding since he was fourteen years old."

A ghost appeared above the gravestone.

"Phantom?"

"Is that Danny Phantom?"

"He looks different."

Cameras zeroed in as whispers erupted in the crowd. Much like when Maddie and Jack had first proposed their idea to Danny. Flames above and below, how had that lead to this? Squaring his shoulders, Danny readied himself to reveal his biggest secret. "I am Danny Phantom. I am also Danny Fenton."

From the back, came Wes's shout. "I knew it!"

"Curse of Capistrano." The Vice Principal exclaimed.

"No way." Dash said.

Danny raised one ironic eyebrow, "Danny Fenton. Danny Phantom? Come on, I didn't even wear a mask."

"Who expects a ghost to be a human," Paulina shot back. "Oh my god?" Her hands flew to her mouth. "Have you been dead? All this time?"

"No. The other ghosts called me a halfa. Half human, half ghost. The actual dying thing?" The faint smile slipped from his face. "That's new."

"A couple weeks ago, a really horrible ghost escaped. Worse than Pariah Dark," Danny bowed his head. "He's gone now. Dead-dead and never coming back but…he blasted a hole in my chest first. My parents and ghosts from the Far Frozen tried to save me. They couldn't save my life, but they saved my existence." He raised his head. "I'm a full ghost now."

"Why are you telling us this?" Lance Thunder asked.

"Why not? Can't live a normal human life like this," He motioned to himself. "Had a hard-enough time as a half ghost."

"What…what will you do now?" Asked Mr. Lancer.

"I…"

Squealing tires interrupted him. Danny glanced briefly at the Fenton van, but it sat innocently by the curb, wires spilling out of several compartments from his parents' hasty efforts to Danny-proof it.

Instead, a pair of familiar white vans screeched to a stop in the grass. Agents K and O jumped out, guns blazing. "Cease and desist ghost. Surrender peacefully now," Click, click, "Or be forcibly detained."

"Seriously guys? At my funeral?" Danny asked.

Jack and Maddie jumped in front of their son, their ecto-guns also blazing.

Pointed at the GIW.

"Don't. You. Dare."

The agents glanced from the ghost, hands glowing with icy power, to the Fentons standing between a ghost and them. "They're not possessed," Agent K whispered. "Scans coming up clear."

"It's a ghost. It can't live like a human anymore. It can't be part of your family," Agent O tried to reason with them.

Maddie and Jack stared back, deadly intent in every rigid line of their expressions. The sort of intent that said, 'no one will ever find the body if you harm my child'.

"Yes, he can."