"Are you sure you want to tell them now?" asked Jazz as Danny shakily stood up from his bed.

"I've got to do it at some point, and you'll be there to back me up," Danny said, half convincing himself as he reached out and turned the door handle after taking a deep breath. "You'll be going to college soon, and then what? I need to tell Mom and Dad before then, and now's as good a time as any."

They trudged down the stairs, the time dilating as it felt like Danny was walking towards the gallows. Jazz's hand on his should kept him grounded as he entered the kitchen. His parents were sat at the table, his dad wolfing down toast. Ford stood by the counter, and gave a nod of acknowledgement when Danny walked through the door.

Danny began to eat his cereal, despite feeling queasy, regretting choosing a sugary cereal which seemed sickly sweet in his nervous state. "Hey, uh, Mom, Dad, I need to tell you something, in private," he said reluctantly. "After breakfast of course."

His parents exchanged confused and concerned glances. "Of course, sweety." Maddie kept a calm and caring demeanor despite the worried glint in her eyes.

The rest of the meal was tense, with no one saying a word, even when Dipper and Mabel came down. Mabel had attempted to make conversation, but the reluctance of anyone else to speak put an end to that attempt within minutes. Danny rinsed out his bowl last and nodded to Jazz, who insisted that their parents leave all their weapons in the kitchen, even the hidden ones.

The quartet went into the living room, the parents sitting down by demand of their children. "I, um, remember the accident with the portal..." Danny stammered, eyes cast down to the floor. "I, I didn't really get out of it completely fine, I mean the same, I mean, ugh!"

Tears streamed down his face and Maddie and Jack got up to embrace him in a hug, but stopped, flawed when he shrunk back from their efforts. "Whatever it is, we still love you Danny, nothing could ever change that," Maddie reassured.

Danny shuffled his feet, and mumbled, "I'm half ghost."

"You're what? Half toast?" said Jack, trying to process what Danny had just said.

"I'm half ghost," Danny repeated, louder this time, his voice shaking with the rest of him as he stood there. "A halfa."

Jazz stepped forward to embrace her sobbing brother, and patted him on the back. "Halfa..." muttered Maddie under her breath before getting up alongside Jack and going to join in the hug.

"Danny, I'm so sorry," said Maddie, her voice cracking with emotion.

"What for?" asked Danny, his icy blue eyes brimming with emotion as he met her gaze.

"Everything. We should have noticed it, your grades slipping, the bags under your eyes, the injuries. And all of this because of us. We're terrible parents," she cried.

"But I lied to you, over and over, you couldn't have known, if anyone should be apologising, it's me. It wasn't your fault; I chose to go into that portal, it's my fault." Danny pleaded.

"It's not a matter of fault or anything like that. We're your parents, we should have been helping you through it. No one should have to go through whatever you're going through alone," said Jack, brushing Danny's hair out of his eyes.

"Thanks, but I wasn't alone. Sam and Tucker helped me out from the start, and Jazz worked it out on her own." Danny stepped back from the hug, only to end up in one of his dad's bear hugs.

"I should have known that your friends would help you out. You have some great friends Danno," Jack said.

"Dad...need to breathe..." gasped Danny before phasing out of his father's arms. Jack shivered and retracted his arms, muttering about never getting used to intangibility.

"You really are half ghost," said Maddie, still in disbelief.

"Well, yeah, isn't that what I just told you," stated Danny, sticking his hands in his pockets.

"There's a big difference between saying and seeing," Maddie explained. "I'm sorry, it's just a lot to take in, we still love you just the same. Why didn't you tell us sooner?"

Danny avoided eye contact. "Well, you're ghost hunters, and I..."

Each of Danny's parents placed a comforting hand on his shoulders. "We understand," said Jack, uncharacteristically calm, before changing the subject, "so, you have some pretty cool powers?"

Jazz immediately recognised what he was doing, he was trying to make Danny feel more comfortable about talking about his ghost powers by expressing interest, behind his goofy facade he was actually smart, that and he thought ghost powers were awesome.

Danny's face split into a grin. "Yeah, I've got standard ghost powers: intangibility, invisibility and flight, and I can shoot ectoblast and cr-"

"Cryokinesis," suggested Jazz.

"That," said Danny, "and my ghostly wail, which is this super powerful attack where I scream with ecto energy and it.." He trailed off, suddenly wondering if explaining the sheer destructive power of his ghostly wail would make his parents afraid of him.

"You don't have to tell us everything just yet, just whenever you feel comfortable, okay?" Maddie comforted him.

"Remember that we'll love you no matter what, whether you're ghost, human or something in between," Jack chimed in.

"Thank you." Danny embraced both his parents in a hug.

"See Danny," said Jazz as Danny stood back from the hug. "Ford was right."

"Yeah, yeah, I know." Danny rolled his eyes.

"Ford?" questioned Maddie.

Danny nodded. "Yeah, he worked it out last night, and told me that you'd love me no matter what. I think Bill's halfa comment tipped him off, and I guess it was kinda suspicious for Danny Phantom to be here."

"I'll make sure to thank him," said Maddie. "Do the other Pines know?"

Danny shook his head. "No, just Ford."

"Are you going to tell the other Pines?" Maddie asked.

Danny paused in thought. "Um, I don't know. Should I?"

"It's probably for the better with us fighting Bill together," Jazz said.

"Okay then, Mom? Dad?" Danny looked up to them.

"Go for it Danny-boy," Jack cheered.

"We'll support you if you need it," said Maddie.

The Fenton family made their way to the kitchen, where Dipper and Mabel were talking about the previous night's events while Stan munched on corn flakes with raisins in. Ford still stood by the counter, visibly relieved to see the conversation had been positive.

Jazz cleared her throat loudly, drawing all the attention in the room to her direction. "Danny has something he'd like to tell you guys."

Danny shrunk under their inquisitive looks. "I'm Danny Phantom," he forced out. "I'm half ghost and I swear I'm good and-" Danny cut himself off.

The immediate reactions varied, with Dipper yelling "I knew it!", Mabel letting out an excited squeal, and Stan being somewhat unaffected, just giving a grunt of acknowledgement through his mouthful of cereal. Danny was met with a barrage of questions, most of which he answered, with his parents and Jazz supplying answers whenever Danny got overwhelmed. Danny declined to answer how he got his powers at first, but the groans of annoyance convinced him to give a very vague description of the portal accident, carefully skipping over the part where he felt like he was being burnt alive as countless volts coursed through his body as not to distress anyone, namely his parents. The end result was overall good, with Danny clearing up as many misconceptions as he could.

"So does this mean that you'll be using your ghost powers to fight Bill?" asked Dipper.

Danny nodded. "I'll do my best."

Ford cleared his throat and pulled out a piece of paper, dumping it on the table. "Now that's all cleared up, I have a list of ingredients here for a ward to keep Bill out. I need you to split up and get them."

Everyone crowded around the paper as Ford read it out loud. "Unicorn hair,-" Mabel's face split into a malicious grin. "-Glub slime, mandrake leaves, gold salt, goblin steel, blood blossoms-"

"What!?" yelled Danny. "Did you just say blood blossoms?"

Ford looked up at Danny's pale face and spoke, "yes, that's right. What's the matter?"

Jazz butted in, "oh yeah, blood blossoms hurt Danny, so we can't use those."

Ford looked over the top of his glasses as he crossed it out on the list. "Not that then. I assumed you'd be fine because you're only half ghost, apparently I was wrong."

Danny shuffled his feet awkwardly, he didn't exactly want his parents to be reminded of how inhuman he was. He glanced at his parents, who remained supportive, his dad placing a giant hand on his shoulder. "It's okay Danny, it doesn't matter how much of a ghost or human you are, we still love you," Jack reassured.

"Thanks Dad," Danny sighed in relief.

Ford tapped his pen on the paper. "Moving on, we'll have to make slight adjustments to the ward, but I think that betony should be good substitute for blood blossoms. We'll also need pearls and wolpertinger antlers, and that's it."

"Dibs on getting the unicorn hair!" shouted Mabel, slamming her palms on the table. "They won't know what hit them."

Stan reluctantly pulled a handful of glistening pearls from his pocket. "I was saving these, but since you need them..."

"Thank you," Ford said, ticking it on the list. "I already have gold salt and betony, so we don't have to get those. Jasmine, I want you to accompany Mabel - make sure she doesn't do too much harm to the unicorns. Danny and Dipper, you're going to be getting the goblin steel. Invisibility and intangibility will make your quest easy. Maddie and Jack, I'd like you to collect the glub slime. Stan, I'd like you to collect the wolpertinger antlers. And I'll procure the mandrake leaves. Is everyone okay with this arrangement?"

Nods came from all around.

"Right then. Dipper, I trust you know where to get goblin steel?" Ford enquired.

Dipper nodded enthusiastically. "Yep!"

"Maddie, Jack, stay behind, I'll give you more information on glubs. The rest of you, go get the ingredients."

The group dispersed, heading in different directions into the woods, Mabel practically dragging Jazz through the underbrush.

Danny swatted at a stray branch as he followed Dipper through the dense foliage. "So where are we getting goblin steel?" he asked.

Dipper gave him an incredulous look. "From goblins of course."

They clambered over a rocky wall, somewhat reminding Danny of the trash heap climb from when they met up with Wendy. Slightly out of breath, Dipper elaborated, "goblins live underground, they produce strong metals, but they're incredibly protective of them - that's where you come in."

"Got it," said Danny, hopping down the slope. "Invisibility, intangibility, in and out."

"How do your powers work?" queried Dipper.

Danny paused. "Not sure, you'd have to ask my parents. Jazz thinks that ectoplasm bonded to my DNA, and that's how I'm half ghost. As for how I use my powers, I guess I just do, it's kind of like a muscle. It used to be really difficult, and happen at random times, but now I'd say I've got it under control."

"That's so cool!" exclaimed Dipper, "I wish I had superpowers."

"Don't say the w word!" gasped Danny, "there's a ghost called Desiree who grants every one she hears but with horrible consequences."

"What sort of consequences?" Dipper said cautiously.

"Like making you turn into an evil ghost or a monster. Trust me, she's bad news," answered Danny, stopping right before a sheer drop and holding our his arm to halt Dipper.

"Woah, how are we gonna get down there?" asked Dipper, before face palming. "Oh yeah."

Danny grinned as he shifted into his ghost form. "Just a little heads up, I'm kinda cold in my ghost form," he said before grabbing Dipper's arm and levitating them a few inches above the ground. Dipper yelped as the plunged down off the cliff face and glided up just in time to avoid the ground and keep flying. They flew down into a tunnel, crystals of increasing size sporadically lodged in the rough walls. Danny landed them on a large crystalline platform, Dipper panting, his heart hammering in his chest. "So, what now?" Danny asked, perching on the side of the hexagonal form to peer down into the tunnels below. Short humanoid figures with long hooked noses traversed below them.

"We'll need to find one of their metal works, just look around and grab the steel when you find it," explained Dipper, staying low on the crystal, clearly unhappy with the precarious place he was standing on.

"Got it." Danny nodded, taking Dipper's arm and turning them both invisible and intangible. It felt like being submerged in icy water, making Dipper's hairs stand on end. Danny weaved through the crowds of goblins. Now able to see the goblins up close, Danny observed their wrinkly, grey skin, long, spindly fingers and large, satellite-like ears. The goblins spoke to each other in an arcane language with harsh, raspy tones. Dipper's breath hitched in his throat every time any of the goblins turned in their direction, almost as though they were able to sense their presence, before muttering to themselves and continuing on their way.

The twisted routes seemed to have no order or purpose, with many dead ends and loops. Eventually Danny reached a pair of heavy wood doors, pushed open by the goblin they were following, the goblin hardly straining despite its skinny appearance. Danny phased through the door as it slammed shut behind the goblin. Brick walls laden with dozens of pegs and shelves surrounded a particularly wrinkled goblin, its leathery skin sagging from its gaunt face, who bashed at an anvil with a worn hammer while the goblin Danny and Dipper had been following stoked the fire embedded in the wall furthest from the door with the bucket of coal it was carrying, beady eyes burning bright in the light of the flames. Dipper pulled Danny's hand in the direction of the piles of metal on the shelves nearby, and Danny glided towards them. Various metals, from gold to iron to bismuth were stacked in gravity defying arrangements. "I don't think any of these are goblin steel," Dipper muttered, barely audible. "It's usually processed, in a sword or such."

Danny tugged him over to the broadsword that was displayed over the fireplace, clearly the blacksmith's finest work, with intricate patterns with runes engraved in its hilt. The fire sputtered as Dany approached, deterred by his freezing aura. The goblin stoking the fire began shouting, its words like boulders being ground against each other, demanding angrily and swiping at the air in front of him before stepping back and cringing when he passed through the invisible duo. It began screeching and cursing at the top of its lungs, drawing the attention of the blacksmith, who grabbed an axe that had been leaning against the wall next to him and lumbered forward. Danny pulled the sword off the wall, straining to lift it and trying to turn it invisible.

"I can't turn it invisible!" Danny hissed in panic. "I think it's immune to my powers!"

They flew up suddenly to try and dodge the axe that came crashing in their direction, slashing Danny's leg and lodging in the wall.

"Run! I mean, fly away!" screamed Dipper, the blacksmith now trying to tug the axe out of the bricks.

They burst through the doors, crashing into the corridor outside, the fuming goblins sprinting after them, screeching at the top of their lungs. All beady eyes turned to face them and the floating sword. The crowds parted as the sword swooped through the tunnels, going this way and that, and speeding up the entrance, the blade chipping at the crystals as Danny's forward momentum made dodging difficult. They shot out of the tunnels and drifted down to the ground outside.

Danny crouched with the sword held against the ground, his chest rising and falling drastically as he panted. "We made it!" He grinned.

Dipper struggled to regain his composure, still shaking with adrenaline from the wild flight through the caverns. "Yeah."

Danny slowly got to his feet and held out his hand for Dipper. "Let's go, those goblins will probably be coming after us - they were majorly ticked off." Dipper nodded and took his hand, being pulled up.

As they started to walk away Danny stumbled and reached out to grab a nearby tree to support himself. A gash ran along his right leg, the skin and muscle knitting itself back together. "Crud," Danny exclaimed, choosing instead to hover until his leg could support his weight.

"Are you okay?" asked Dipper, concerned, stopping abruptly when Danny fell.

"Yeah, I heal quickly," Danny said dismissively, gliding forward. "I'll be fine in an hour, don't worry."

Dipper looked unconvinced, but didn't question him, following Danny down the forest path. They kept travelling slowly for a few minutes, before a cougar with bright green wings sprinted terrified past them. Loud, grating screeches crashed through the forest behind them. Danny and Dipper exchanged glances before Danny grabbed Dipper's arm and flew them rapidly away from the furious shouts, the screams becoming quieter and quieter before becoming silent.

The duo kept flying until they whooshed out of the dense forest. The sun hitting their eyes made them squint. Danny lowered Dipper in front of the Mystery Shack's door and they pushed it open. The vending machine/door was wide open, light emanating from the bottom of the staircase. Danny and Dipper descended the stairs, with Dipper announcing their presence. "Grunkle Ford? We're back!"

Ford stood to the side of the basement, typing on a computer, large, green leaves, glittering gold salt, pearls and a plant with small purple flowers on the table next to him. Ford turned around to face them, his eyes wide when he saw the large sword hanging from Danny's hand. "How did you manage to get that?" he exclaimed, standing up and moving forward to take it from Danny.

Danny handed the sword to him by the handle. "We grabbed it and flew really fast," he shrugged.

Ford placed the sword horizontally on a nearby table near the middle of the room. Ford glanced at Danny's leg and opened his mouth to speak before being interrupted by a pair jumpsuited figures and a putrid smell crashing into the basement, covered in goop.

Jack held a large jar filled with the same earwax coloured goo that covered his jumpsuit. "Where did you want this?"

"Put it down over here," said Ford, moving over to a table at the opposite side of the room to his workstation, grimacing at the smell. "And please clean off, there's a hose outside."

Jack dumped the container down on the table, splattering slime all over it, then wiped the goggles of his jumpsuit, jumping when he spotted Danny. "Oh, hi Danny, Dipper. Didn't see you there, I'll be back in a mo, just got to clean off."

"And we're treating that cut of yours when we get back Danny," Maddie stated before following Jack up the stairs.

Ford went back over to his computer, and sat down, his chair facing the two teens. "I was going to offer to treat that myself, but your parents have it covered. I would be interested to hear how you got that wound," he enquired.

"A goblin came at us with an axe, it turns out that goblin steel isn't affected by ghost powers," he explained, gesturing to the great sword as he sat on a chair next to it.

Ford hastily typed a note on a new line from the expanse of text before it. "Fascinating, the magical properties of goblin steel must negate ghostly abilities."

Thundering footsteps came back down the steps, and Maddie and Jack reentered the basement, now clean with just the odd bit of slime clinging to the folds of their clothing. Maddie dug out a first aid kit from one of the shelves and kneeled down next to Danny.

"Should I change to human?" Danny asked slightly nervously.

"No, it's alright Danny." She picked out cleaning alcohol, and soaked a disposable cloth in it. "Please can you lift your leg for me Danny, I need to clean it."

Danny held his leg up, allowing Maddie to dab at the now shallow cut. Danny hissed in pain as the radioactive green blood stained the cloth. "Why couldn't I just go intangible?" he questioned.

Maddie shook her head. "Intangibility can't kill germs." She pulled out a roll of gauze, and was just about to bandage Danny's leg when he spoke up.

"It's fine, you don't have to bandage it - I heal really fast."

Maddie cocked her eyebrow. "How quickly?" she enquired, knowing full well that Danny had a habit of downplaying his issues.

"It'll be completely healed in ten minutes by the looks of it," Danny explained. "I'm fine, really Mom."

Dipper, who had been talking animatedly to Ford, looked over at Danny and had to do a double take upon seeing the cut. "Woah, that was fast! I swear that was twice that size just earlier."

"Danny, just how much have you been hurt without us realising?" Maddie asked, parental worry seeping into her voice and tears welling up in her eyes.

"I don't normally get too hurt, just little scrapes and bruises." Danny shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "It's not your fault, I lied, over and over. I'm sorry."

Maddie wrapped her arms around Danny's torso, barely noticing that he was like a freezer, tears trickling down her cheeks. "You don't have to lie to us Danny, okay?"

Danny hugged her back, and Jack soon joined in, holding them both in his arms. "You can talk to us about anything Danny, remember that."

"Thanks, that means a lot," Danny said, still stuck in his parents' embrace.

After a while the trio separated from the hug and Maddie insisted on checking Danny's leg again, still not quite sure whether Danny was just downplaying his injury.

The cut was but a mere green sliver that was sealing up more with each moment. "Okay, you really didn't need bandages, but if something like this happens again I want you to come and get help as soon as possible," she lectured. "And I want you to be more careful. You'll have to have training sessions with me whether you like it or not. I doubt we can stop you ghost hunting, but I do want to make sure you're not in danger."

"I get it Mom,"consented Danny, testing his leg to see if it could hold his weight now.

Ford cleared his throat. "On that topic, I'd like everyone to train to fight Bill, Danny especially. We need everyone to be proficient with ghost weapons so we have a fighting chance against Bill."

The next hour was spent teaching Dipper how to use ectoguns properly, as Maddie had pointed out flaws in his aim and form, while waiting for the others to arrive from their quests. At around the half hour point Mabel had come in grinning and dumped a load of iridescent hair on the table, brutally cut from the mane of the creatures, and she and Jazz, who had sprinted down the stairs to try and catch up with her soon after she arrived, joined in with the training. Danny began sparring with her in his human form (to make it more fair), all the while Maddie glanced over and corrected their techniques. By the end of the training session everyone had made significant progress - both Mabel and Dipper had perfected their aim with the guns, and Danny's fighting ability had improved to the point where Jazz had flat out refused to fight him since apparently going intangible was cheating.

It was decided that Danny and his mom should go and spar outside, since Jack had insisted on training Jazz, and Danny didn't want to risk getting hit by a stray blast, remembering all the times Jazz had trapped him in the thermos.

"How long have you been fighting ghosts?" Maddie asked as they stood on the foam mats on the lawn.

Danny looked unfocused at nothing in particular for a moment before saying, "almost a year now, I guess.The ghosts didn't really start showing up until about a month after I got my powers."

"You've learned fast. Did anyone teach you?" she enquired, stretching her arms and legs in preparation for training.

Danny also stretched a bit before hopping up and down on his toes. "Not really, I kinda had to learn on the job, but the martial arts you taught me as a kid came in handy." He initiated the spar with a light punch, only to have his wrist caught.

"Your punches are a bit too wide and loose, but other than that I'm really impressed," Maddie said, "watch my technique and try to copy it." Danny repeated the swift punch to the air that she demonstrated.

"Well done, that was almost perfect," she encouraged. "Now try fighting me with ghost powers."