DISCLAIMER: I don't own Danny Phantom. Italics are thoughts.

Danny Fenton wasn't always afraid of ghosts.

The foundation for this fear was placed as his parents constantly reminded him about the dangers of ghosts, but it didn't come into full force until one fateful Halloween.

He had been getting ready for trick-or-treating at the age of 12; Jazz was 14. He was dressed up as Spider-Man while Jazz was dressed up as nothing; she cited that since she was a freshman in high school, she was too old to trick-or-treat. She said she was going to "supervise Danny while he trick-or-treated."

"Now remember, honey, ghosts are dangerous creatures, and should never be trusted." Maddie said.

"Rightio, D-Man! If you see any ghost, make sure to run back here and tell us!" Jack yelled.

"Yeah, yeah, okay, see ya…" Danny replied as he quickly ran out to join his friends.

He never really took his parents' claims that ghosts were real seriously, since Jazz influenced him heavily and convinced him that ghosts were not real. Besides, if there was no evidence, how could they be real?

"Don't let them get to you, Danny. You know that ghosts aren't real, right?" Jazz asked.

Danny nodded. "Yup. Well, at least I hope so…"

"You hope so?" Jazz questioned as they neared the hoard of children attending the Halloween block party.

"Well, yeah, if those reports of ghost sightings are actually real, I don't want to be attacked by one. Besides, they might be especially common tonight since it's Halloween." Danny replied.

By that time they had joined the crowd, and Danny was looking for Sam and Tucker. Unfortunately, they hadn't set up a meeting place, so if they were in costume, it'd be hard to recognize them.

Fortunately, Sam found him first. "Hey, Danny!" She yelled.

Danny turned his head towards his name and grinned as he saw his friends, Sam and Tucker. He quickly ran over to see who they were dressed as. Sam was dressed as Harley Quinn, and Tucker was dressed as Cyborg.

"Nice costumes!" Danny exclaimed.

"Not too bad yourself!" Sam responded.

"You guys ready for trick-or-treating?" Danny asked.

"Of course! How many homes are we going to hit?" Tucker inquired.

"Dunno, maybe around 50?" Sam responded.

"Sounds good!" Danny replied enthusiastically.

However, before they went off, Tucker eyed Jazz. "Danny, is your sister going to stalk us the whole time?"

Jazz looked offended. "Hey, I'm not stalking! It's good to have someone to supervise you guys while you trick-or-treat; who knows what could happen?"

Danny rolled his eyes. "Jazz, the welcome sign literally says 'A safe place to live,' I doubt we're going to get robbed or something like that."

Sam gestured toward the nearest house, irritated. "If you guys are done arguing, let's go trick-or-treating; the candy will be gone if we wait any longer."

Tucker nodded in agreement, and quickly joined Sam. Danny, not wanting to be last, followed suit, and Jazz did the same, trying not to lose track of them.

10 houses later, and they had already filled their bags about halfway. People were extremely friendly and had given them more than one piece of candy (some even giving them a whole handful), which made them overly excited. Once they got to high school, they would probably never trick-or-treat again, so they thought to make the best of it now.

Even Jazz was starting to feel slightly jealous that she couldn't trick-or-treat. Of course, that restriction was self-imposed, but feelings she denounced as "childish" started to creep up on her.

Danny noticed his sister staring at his candy and smirked, nudging her in the side. "Jealous that you're not trick-or-treating, huh?"

Jazz was quick to shut the truth down. "What? No…I was just grimacing at how many calories that must be. Anyway…aren't you hot in that?" She asked, trying to change the subject.

Danny took the bait, to her relief. "Nah, I think it's cold enough outside to compensate."

As they walked over to another house, they heard a bunch of screams. However, no one thought it to be unusual; it was Halloween after all. Danny assumed it was some scaredy-cat elementary schoolers who got scared by an elaborate Halloween decoration.

However, when Tucker starts screaming, and Sam soon after that, then it's a whole different story.

"Sam, Tucker, what's-" Danny was cut off as he looked behind him, only to see a monstrous-looking ghost chasing costumed kids down the street. At first, Danny thought it was an elaborate costume, and that Dash was in there succeeding in scaring kids.

"Pssh, guys, it's just a very well made-" He was cut off again as Jazz interrupted him.

"Uh, Danny? I don't think there's a ghost costume which leaves a trail of glowing green slime behind it."

Danny saw that there was, indeed, a mysterious glowing green substance behind the ghost. Maybe it was homemade? However, he was slowly starting to come to terms with the idea that this may be an actual ghost, and with that idea came a gradual fear. Was his parents right about the dangers of ghosts?

"So, Jazz, are you saying that's a ghost?"

"Well, no, but-" The ghost let out a deafening growl as it rushed towards them. "Danny, RUN!"

As if that wasn't self-explanatory… Danny, along with his friends and his sister, quickly ran away with the other kids. Danny, however, was less terrified than he should've been; he had this idea that since his parents were avid ghost hunters, they would always be there if he needed them.

As they ran, Sam suddenly tripped over a pothole in the road, falling. Danny quickly ran over and tried to help her up…only to be dangerously close to the ghost. Sam managed to get away, but Danny gulped as the ghost leered over him.

"Uh…hi?" Danny nervously said, not having any idea how to deal with ghosts. His parents always told him to run whenever he sees a ghost, but they never went beyond that.

The ghost said nothing as it suddenly picked Danny up, ripping the mask he wore off and holding him by the collar. Danny instinctively flailed while he was being held up, ectoplasm from the ghost dripping onto his suit and clashing with the red and blue on his torso. He was severely terrified now as he continued flailing, looking desperate.

"GUYS! HELP!" He screamed, scared that the ghost would try to kill him.

Jazz was paralyzed with fear before springing into action, taking out her cellphone to call their parents. The wait for them to pick up felt agonizingly slow as she saw Sam and Tucker out of the corner of her eye, staring in shock at their friend who was currently writhing in the hands of a ghost.

"Jazz, we saw a ghost on the Specter Detector. We're already on our way there. Is Danny safe?" Maddie asked quickly.

"No, Mom, he's being attacked by the ghost!"

Maddie's tone immediately became frantic as she yelled to Jack to speed the RV up. "It's okay honey, we'll be there soon. Try to keep Danny calm, okay?"

"Okay, Mom, please be safe…" Jazz trailed off as she stared in horror at her brother in the hands of a ghost.

Danny still struggled as he hung from his neck, trying to get the ghost to let him down. "Please, let me down! I can't…breathe…"

The ghost cackled as it slammed Danny down into the ground, causing extreme pain to him. Danny rolled over and tried to get away, but was pinned down by the ghost's hand. His scream came out muffled as he gasped for air, clutching the ghost's hand around his throat in an attempt to pry it off of him.

The ghost, however, made no attempt to stop, and laughed maniacally at the boy's panic and pain, as he writhed on the ground. Ectoplasm from the ghost surrounded him as he continued struggling, hoping that his parents would come soon to save him, lest he die from suffocation.

Fortunately, he faintly heard the screeching tires of an RV, and he sighed slightly in relief as he knew that this nightmare would be over.

However, it didn't last long, as he screamed again in terror and pain as the ghost scraped him against the ground, still holding him by the neck. The RV screeched to a stop, and Jack and Maddie jumped out, aiming at the ghost with anti-ghost weapons.

"You're going DOWN!" Jack yelled.

"Don't you DARE hurt my baby boy!" Maddie threatened.

Jazz quickly ran over as she saw them, hugging them. Both gave her a quick hug back before firing at the ghost, careful to not hit Danny.

In what seemed like minutes but was actually seconds, they had caught the ghost, and Danny could breathe again, and stopped writhing. However, he was injured and was covered in scratches, his mask lying in tatters over to one side and numerous rips in his Spider-Man costume.

He breathed heavily as he stared upward, in shock. Jack and Maddie ran over as they looked at their son anxiously. "Danny, are you seriously hurt?" Maddie asked frantically.

However, she never got a response as Danny started to weep, crying into his parents' embrace while his sister and his friends looked at him solemnly.

Two years later, and that experience still lingered with him. He had asked his parents to throw away his Spider-Man costume right after the ghost attack. It wasn't because the suit was damaged beyond repair, but it was that if he ever saw the suit again, he would probably start crying again. It represented the anguish that he went through that day, and the overwhelming fear of ghosts that came with it.

Even when his parents mentioned the word "ghost", he felt uneasy. However, he had slowly gotten better ever since that Halloween. His fear of ghosts wasn't completely gone, but he wasn't on the verge of a panic attack anymore whenever he saw a ghost, which was thankfully very rarely.

He still sweated and became clammy whenever that happened, however, and if it was an especially bad day, he would start hyperventilating and someone would have to calm him down.

This all came to a head one day as he was hanging out with his friends, Sam and Tucker. They themselves had recovered from seeing Danny suffering in a ghost's wrath, and were pretty chill when it came to ghosts, unlike Danny. This was especially prevalent as they were hanging out in the Fenton family's kitchen, eating sandwiches.

Tucker, as he took a bite of his sandwich, turned his head to look at the staircase which led to the basement lab. "Hey, Danny, didn't your parents say they built a new invention today?"

Danny stopped mid-chew and looked at Tucker. "You mean the Ghost Portal?" He tried not to hide it, but he was already starting to feel a bit nervous, and the wavering in his voice displayed it.

"Yeah, how did that go? I'm surprised your house hasn't burned down from the number of inventions your parents test in the basement." Tucker mused.

"Gee, thanks, I don't need you to jinx it." Danny said sarcastically. "Anyway, the Portal failed when they tested it. Pretty fortunate if you ask me…" He trailed off as he tried to force memories of one of the scariest moments of his life out of his head.

Sam cocked her head. "Why? Wouldn't it be cool to prove the existence of a parallel dimension?"

"Uh, no, it wouldn't." Danny rebutted. "What if ghosts escaped through there? Then Amity Park would be in big trouble."

"True…can we still check it out though?" Sam asked.

"What? Are you nuts? I just said it was dangerous." Danny exclaimed, now looking visibly nervous.

"If it doesn't work, then wouldn't that danger factor be negated?" Tucker reasoned.

Knowing his friends wouldn't back down, he sighed in exasperation. "Fine, I guess we can take a peek…" He slowly got up as he headed towards the staircase descending it while his friends followed.

They emerged from the staircase to find a octagonal portal, currently open, showing the gray interior.

"Woah, that looks complicated." Tucker exclaimed.

"Yeah, they spent a couple of months building it after their previous prototype one back in their college days failed." Danny explained,

"How did it fail?" Sam asked.

"I don't know, they just said that one of their college friends got zapped by it and received ecto-acne." Danny replied.

"Does that even exist?" Tucker questioned,

Danny shrugged, looking back at the entrance to the lab. "I just trust that what they say is real, since they are experts with ghosts."

Sam looked at the portal curiously. "How about you take a picture inside of it?"

"WHAT!? Are you nuts!?" Danny exclaimed, incredulous that Sam would say something like that.

"You said that already." Tucker pointed out.

Danny ignored this as Sam responded. "Look, Danny, it'll be an awesome picture in my scrapbook. Besides, the Portal's broken! If you're not convinced, you can wear that protective suit your parents made." She gestured over to a suit hanging on one of the walls.

"Sam, just because I've slowly recovered from my fear of ghosts does not mean that you can shove me into a Ghost Portal, even if it's not functioning, and expect me to not freak out." Danny said, sounding frantic.

"That's exactly the point! This'll be a big step in conquering your fear!" Sam explained.

Danny thought about it for a bit. It DID make sense, stepping into the Ghost Portal would help him get over his fear of ghosts quicker, and besides, it wasn't working. He also didn't want to look like a wuss in front of his friends. He sighed before his spoke. "Fine, I guess you can take ONE photo."

He put on the HAZMAT suit as he nervously glanced over at the Portal, starting to sweat. Calm down, Danny, it's broken…

He finally got the suit on as he stared at his friends with eyes the size of dinner plates, twiddling his thumbs as a nervous habit.

"Wait a minute." Sam said as she ripped Jack Fenton's face off of the front of the suit. "You don't want your dad's face in the photo, do you?"

Danny nervously laughed. "Heh, no, I don't."

He then cautiously stepped toward the Portal as his friends looked on. Stepping inside, Danny pretended it was like a cave before turning around to pose inside the Portal, eager to get this over and done with, so that he wouldn't have to spend any more time inside the Ghost Portal than he had to.

However, he didn't notice a switch on the side of the Portal as he leaned against the wall, accidentally flipping it. The next thing he knew, he was screaming in agony as he was shocked with what felt like a static shock, but a hundred times worse.

He was faintly aware of his friends screaming in terror, which brought his mind back to that terrifying Halloween. They sounded exactly like that when he was in the ghost's wrath, and getting zapped by the Portal was not all the different, as his world was bathed in radioactive green.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, the pain stopped, and Danny slowly limped out of the Portal, thinking that he had just suffered a horrible electric shock and had nearly escaped death by electrocution.

However, his friends' incredulous stares made him worry, and he quickly ran over to a mirror. Greeted by snow-white hair and glowing green eyes, he resisted the urge to scream like he had on that Halloween and slowly turned to his friends. "…Am I dead?"

His friends were about to answer before Danny started to hyperventilate, as he suddenly realized that he was a ghost: what he was afraid of. The sheer shock from that epiphany caused him to pass out, hitting the ground with a dull "thud." He reverted to human form as he hit the ground, just as footsteps were heard coming down the stairs.

Sam and Tucker then saw Jack and Maddie Fenton descend the staircase, looking worried.

"What happened? We heard someone screaming and came over as quickly as we could." Maddie questioned.

"Well, uh…Danny got shocked by the Ghost Portal." Tucker stated bluntly.

Maddie immediately became worried while Jack ignored Tucker as he stared at the Ghost Portal, now a swirling green abyss. "Maddie! The Portal works!"

Jack then bellowed in pain as Maddie elbowed him in the side, signalling this was NOT the time to say something like that. She saw Danny lying on the ground, unconscious. Fearing the worst, she rushed over, hoping that her son wasn't dead. Jack did the same after he realized that Danny was unconscious.

"Danny? Danny! Oh, please wake up…" Maddie pleaded.

As of Danny heard her, Danny slowly opened his eyes as he stared at his parents. "W-What happened?"

"You just got shocked by the Portal, honey, but it's not serious. We'll just have to give you some Neutrogena." Maddie reassured.

"Neutrogena?" Danny asked, confused.

"For the ecto-acne. We told you the story; one of our college friends got better right after the ecto-acne." Maddie explained.

Danny was about to respond before memories of what happened came back to him. He immediately looked less calm than he did before, thinking of an excuse so that he could talk to his friends. "Um, can I go to my room? I think I need rest…"

"Of course, dear, but what were you doing in the Ghost Portal?" Maddie asked.

"Oh, uh, Sam wanted to take a picture of me inside the Portal for her scrapbook. Please don't blame her, or Tucker, it was an accident. I didn't see where I was going."

Maddie nodded. "Of course not. You go and rest now, okay?"

Danny nodded back as he gestured for Sam and Tucker to follow him as he ascended the staircase. As they ascended, they could faintly hear Jack asking Maddie where the HAZMAT suit went.

Once they got to his room. Danny closed his door and locked sit, lying on his bed as he tried to breathe normally. "Please tell me seeing myself as a ghost was a nightmare."

Sam and Tucker both shook their head. "Sorry to break to you Danny, but you actually turned into a ghost. However, you're still alive. Weird." Tucker said.

Danny sighed as he curled into a ball on his bed. For some reason, it made him feel slightly better whenever he felt extremely scared. "Maybe I'm half-dead?"

"That sounds weird, Danny, you can't be half-dead. I'd say more like half-ghost." Sam stated.

Danny cringed as he restrained himself from hyperventilating. "Not helping. How am I supposed to deal with being the thing I'm afraid of!? Also, my parents are ghost hunters; they'll kill me if they find out!"

"I doubt that Danny; they love you. They wouldn't kill their own son." Sam reassured.

"I guess you're right, but I need time to think about this. Can I talk to you guys tomorrow? I need to do this alone." Danny said, obviously still shaken.

Sam nodded. "Of course."

They both left while Danny sat on his bed, holding back a full-blown panic attack. Was he really a half-ghost? He suddenly realized that as he was thinking about all of this, he was now hovering over his bed. Shocked, he quickly dropped back onto his bed, freaked out by his newfound ghost powers.

Eight hours later with Neutrogena applied to his face, Danny lay in his bed, sleepless. He had obsessed over his ghost side constantly today, and he still was when he was trying to sleep. He had learned while he was "resting" that he could do an array of things, including phasing through things, flying, and turning invisible. He could also shoot beams of ectoplasmic energy called ghost rays.

He also accidentally transformed into his ghost self while thinking about it, which severely freaked him out. However, he suddenly learned that he could change between his human and ghost forms at will, which he knew would probably be useful.

Studying his ghost form, he noticed that everything about it was opposite of his human form. Instead of black hair, he had white. The HAZMAT suit was also inverted, as black became white and white became black. Instead of a dull blue, his eyes were a vivid green.

He noticed that when he transformed, two rings formed from one at his waist and traveled up and down his body, transforming him into his ghost form. He had unoriginally named his ghost form "Phantom", but he figured that it had a nice ring to it when it came after his first name.

After his initial panic and distress, Danny found that, by the time he was now lying in bed to a darkened sky, he felt a strange lack of fear now. Sure, he was still stressed about the fact he was now a half-ghost, but he wasn't, well, afraid of himself. Becoming a ghost opened his eyes to the idea that maybe ghosts weren't inherently evil.

Besides, since this was his only glimpse into the Ghost Zone so far, it was a pretty good first impression. However, he couldn't keep thoughts out of his head that maybe full ghosts worked differently, and that because he was a half-ghost, he was an exception.

He was left with a troubled mind as he finally got to sleep, still conflicted about how he was going to deal with this situation he was in.

Now, however, he knew that he had made major improvements in his fear of ghosts, and that he was pretty much cured. After resolving that he would fight ghosts the day after the accident, he slowly stopped being afraid of the ghosts he fought.

By the time he fought his evil self, he was fearless and confident, and the determination he had in fighting Dark Dan showed how he was determined to never let his weaknesses drag him to an alternate future he didn't want.

That applied to his fear of ghosts as well. Halloween didn't evoke feelings of despair or fear anymore; the ghost attack seemed distant now. Danny Fenton, and his ghost half, Danny Phantom, were better now. They didn't think of the past anymore, only on the present. Past experiences never weighed them down anymore, as they thought that they would only if they let them.

Danny had this in mind in the present as he smirked, staring Skulker down in his ghost form.

"Ready to be prey, whelp?" Skulker taunted.

"Bring it on." Danny simply said, rushing towards Skulker to throw the first punch.

This is probably my longest oneshot yet. Danny's past before he became a ghost isn't looked at that much in the series, so I thought that I would elaborate on it. Please let me know what you guys think in the reviews! As always, I really appreciate them.