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It had been a few weeks since Danny and his friends had been transported to this “new” timeline — created by Clockwork to essentially erase everyone’s memories of Danny’s identity and his involvement in the Disasteroid incident. His friends all had adjusted fairly well, since for the past couple years, having to cover for Danny Fenton while Danny Phantom was chased by ghost hunters was their daily life, but Danny himself was having trouble.
Oh sure, he could handle the anti-Danny posters and inflammatory rhetoric from the mayor, but he had really gotten used to his parents finally knowing his identity. After years of hearing nothing but how much they hated ghosts, finally he could rest assured knowing that they didn’t hate him for it.
And now he was right back to his parents nonchalantly showing him how they were going to eradicate all ghosts from the planet, “molecule by molecule.”
Danny knew from the original timeline that they would be perfectly fine with it, but the thought still kept gnawing at him.
He asked Jazz to drive him to school so he could talk to her about it.
”And I dunno, I guess every time they talk about hunting down the Ghost Boy, I feel like I’m right back when I started? Worried that they’d vaporize me or throw me into the Ghost Zone or something…”
”Danny, you know they’d never do that.”
”Yeah, I know, I know…”
”And you remember back in the Disasteroid timeline, how Dad was so excited to do missions with you, and how Mom was so proud of you.”
”Yes, yes, I remember! And I know they wouldn’t actually hate me for being half-ghost, but that’s how it feels when they don’t know who I really am! I wish I could just…”
”Tell them?”
Danny sighed. Could it really be that simple?
”…I guess I just solved my own problem, didn’t I?”
***
”So how are you planning on telling them?” Sam asked at lunch.
Danny hadn’t thought that far ahead.
”Don’t tell me you’re just going to say ‘Mom, Dad, I’m a ghost.’”
”Well what else am I supposed to say?”
”I don’t know! Just…not that.”
Tucker spoke up. “Yeah I’m with Sam on this one. It’s a pretty important revelation. You can’t just drop it on them like that.”
”True,” Danny sighed. “I guess all the other times it just got dropped on them by someone else — if I’m doing it on my own terms then I might as well break it to them differently. But how?”
”You could go ghost in front of them?” Sam suggested.
”They’ve seen my Phantom self and my Fenton self separately, they’ll think I was just impersonating…me.”
”Then have us there too,” Sam said. “We can, I dunno, corroborate things? Tell them, ‘Hey this is actually Danny’ if they try to suck you into the Fenton Thermos?”
“Thanks guys,” Danny said. “I think I’m ready to go through with this.”
”And they probably not gonna suck you into the Fenton Thermos,” Tucker said. “Probably.”
”Not helping, Tuck.”
***
Danny’s parents were in the living room, using the coffee table to repair some ghost-catching device — which didn’t make Danny nervous at all, surely. Danny, Jazz, Sam and Tucker were in the kitchen.
”Okay, they’re in the living room,” Jazz told Danny.
“You ready?” Sam asked.
”Not really,” Danny said, his voice shaky.
”C’mon… You got this,” Tucker nodded, putting his hand on Danny’s shoulder.
They all walked into the living room, Danny stepping forward.
”Mom? Dad? Can I talk to you about something?”
”Oh, sure! What is it, Danny?” Maddie Fenton asked.
”Well… There’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you guys…”
“Oh my God, our son is gay!” Jack reacted.
“Wait, wait? No—“
”Don’t worry Danny! We accept you no matter what! Why, I must have known all along, what with how much time you spend with that Tucker friend of yours, I always—“
”No, that’s not it!” Danny shouted, making his father go silent. “Sorry. It’s just… Well, I guess while I’m coming clean I should tell you I’m bi, but that’s not what I wanted to tell you.”
Jack and Maddie looked at each other, concerned. Danny looked over at Jazz and his friends, who gave him looks of encouragement.
”Mom, Dad…” Danny said, clenching his fists together. Fluorescent rings went up and over his body, transforming him from Danny Fenton into Danny Phantom. “I’m half-ghost.”
Jack and Maddie were in silence for a good 30 seconds before, finally they embraced Danny in a hug — which was soon joined by Jazz, Sam and Tucker.
After that, they were gathered around the couch as Danny tried to fill them in on the past two years.
“I’m guessing Jazz and your friends knew from the beginning?” Maddie asked.
”Sam and Tucker knew, but Jazz didn’t find out until later. And then I didn’t find out that she found out until later after that. And now you know! Only a couple years too late, heh.”
Maddie let out a sigh. “Oh Danny, I’m so sorry you couldn’t tell us sooner…”
”Especially with all the times we shot at you or threatened to vaporize you,” Jack added.
”Not helping, Jack.”
“No, no, it’s alright. I mean, you did catch me a couple times.”
”Darn right I did!” Jack exclaimed. “Uh, I mean, I regret it and I’ll never do it again.”
”Dad, it’s alright,” Danny laughed. “At this point I’m just glad I don’t have to keep it a secret anymore.”
”Wait…” Jack realized. “Does this mean we can go on father-son ghost hunting missions?!”
”Uh, yeah?”
”Boo-ya! Imagine it, me, Daring Ghost Hunter Jack Fenton, and my superhero half-ghost son, Danny! The unstoppable duo defending Amity Park from ecto-tyranny!” Jack proclaimed, running downstairs. “I’ll be right back with a Fenton Thermos!”
”Wait, Dad, we don’t have to—“
Maddie put her hand on Danny’s shoulder. “Go with him, Danny. You probably need it more than he does.”
Danny smiled. “I guess you’re right. Wait up, Dad!”
Danny went intangible and phased through the floor, surprising Maddie. “Well that’s going to take some getting used to…”
”Don’t worry,” Sam said. “We’ve been helping him through this for a while now. It was definitely a little weird at first.”
”Uh, Mom?” Jazz asked, sitting down next to Maddie.
”Yeah, Jazz?”
”I know Danny doesn’t want to tell Dad about this yet, but I thought you should probably know first… Danny’s not the only half-ghost around.”
”He’s not?”
”Jazz, no,” Tucker protested. “You can’t tell her about…him!”
“Believe me, if anyone deserves to be outed, it’s him.”
”Jazz, who are you talking about?”
Jazz took a deep breath.
“Vlad Masters.”