Chapter Text
"My baby..." Maddie murmured in distress.
"Son, why didn't you tell us? We could have avoided this!" Jack exclaimed.
"I was afraid. Afraid of rejection, afraid that you would cut me open and..." Danny didn't dare say more, but the revelation made the ghost hunters sick to their stomachs. They had, after all, almost cut open their son.
Maddie moved forward, the kids hesitant to let her through, and bent down to hug him. "Oh, sweetie, we love you, but the robberies, terrorizing, and kidnapping, why?"
"Mom, I was being controlled when I robbed those stores. The mayor was overshadowed by a ghost warden, Walker, who wanted me in his prison. The terrorizing...well, some people are just scared of me, I guess." Danny shrugged helplessly.
"Danno," Jack started, "we never meant to scare you. I guess us chasing you around didn't help. We'll love you, always, even if you are a ghost."
"That's the other thing," Danny said, "I'm not dead, well, not completely. While it may be scientifically impossible, I'm only half dead. I'm half ghost."
"How did this-" Maddie was cut off.
"Happen?" Danny smiled. "I forgot to tell you that the ON button was on the inside of the portal."
"Inside...?" Jack muttered.
"Oh my god! That means-! That must have been horrible!" Maddie wailed.
"I got electrocuted with enough electricity to power a whole hospital and all of its tools. It hurt, and that's an understatement." Danny shrugged.
"I'm so sorry, Danno," Jack whispered.
"We both are," Maddie murmured.
Both parents looked up to Jazz, Sam, Tucker, and Rin. "Thank you, for barging in here. Otherwise, things could have gotten very ugly." Maddie's eyes shined with unshed tears.
"Don't mention it, Mrs. Fenton," Tucker spoke, "Danny's my best friend. I would never leave him to such a fate."
"Same here." Sam agreed.
"He's my little brother. It's my job to protect him." Jazz smiled at her parents.
Jack turned his head to Rin. "And you, even if you are a demon and the King of Hell, I still have to thank you as well."
"Just because I have a tail and blue flames doesn't mean I don't know what it means to have a family. They're important to you and cherishing them is the best thing anyone could do. I couldn't stand by and watch your family fall apart, as well as lose one of my only friends." Rin chuckled, waving his now unfurled tail around for emphasis. "And my ticket home."
"Oh, shut it, mister! You still have a lot of explaining to do!" Danny scowled playfully at him.
"There isn't much explaining to be done. To sum it up, I'm a bastard child of Satan from a human mother, along with my twin brother. I inherited the flames, he didn't. I grew up believing I was human, and when I was fifteen, the truth came out. My adopted dad was possessed by Satan, and took control to kill himself to save me. I went to an exorcist school and planned to defeat Satan. Blah, blah, blah, and a lot of annoying blabbering from my brother later, I accomplished that around a year ago and became the next King. Not that complicated." Rin shrugged.
"I think I understand Plasmius's fear now," Tucker said.
"How did you find out about that, anyway?" Rin asked.
"I went to see what the fruitloop was up to, and color me surprised when I find a paranoid, jittery old man in his basement. Spouted nonsense and told me I was next." Danny chuckled. "What did you do to him exactly? I never got the details."
"Okay, for the record, you, nor anybody else was 'next'. Anyway, the dude was messing with Gehenna portals. They're natural portals for demons to escape from. He was planning on taking their power and controlling them." Rin laughed. "Seriously, trying to control demons will just get your throat slit. Only tamers can accomplish such things, and even they are limited to weak demons. Manipulating stronger ones, like he was planning, will just get you killed."
"Who's Plasmius?" Jack asked.
"He's more commonly known as the Wisconsin Ghost. He's actually the only other halfa besides Danny," Jazz informed them.
"Don't forget Danielle!" Danny piped.
"Danielle?" Jazz frowned.
"She's kind of my clone." Danny laughed sheepishly.
Jazz stared blankly for a few moments. "...It was Plasmius, wasn't it?"
Silence.
"That bitter, old, creepy-"
"Let's skip that, please!" Tucker stopped Danny's sister.
"Anyway," Danny said, "his whole goal is to get me as his son/apprentice, kill Dad, and marry Mom. I don't know where Jazz fits."
"I'm still not sure whether to be relieved or insulted." Jazz sighed.
"What?!" Both parents exclaimed in outrage. "Who's his human half?!"
"That's the thing," Sam said, "You might not like what we're about to tell you."
"It's Vlad Masters," Rin cut straight to the point.
"What?! But Vladdie would never-" Jack tried to protest, but Maddie stopped him.
"I knew something was off! That insufferable man tried to flirt with me back in Wisconsin!" Maddie huffed.
"Yeah, he blames Dad because it was the proto-portal that turned him." Danny sighed.
"He can't have my wife or my son! Why, I'll-" Jack started to rant, but Rin held up a hand.
"We've all heard the over-protective dad speech, Mr. Fenton."
"We can talk about that later," Sam said, "I'm more focused on the fact that the ally Clockwork was talking about was Rin."
"Clockwork?" Maddie asked.
"He's the Master of Time. Also known as Father Time, Chronos, etc. He's a ghost, and kind of my mentor," Danny replied.
"So, not all ghosts are evil?" Jack asked.
"Of course not! Danny has a bunch of ghost friends! Dora, Frostbite, Clockwork, Pandora, Cujo, and Wulf are good examples." Tucker laughed.
"That's not many compared to all the ghosts in the Zone," Maddie said.
"Well, not all ghosts are very happy with me kicking them back into the Zone when they cause trouble. The only reason they tolerate me is because I defeated Pariah Dark and became King of the Ghost Zone." Danny shrugged.
"King!?" Maddie, Jack, and Rin exclaimed.
"You didn't know?" Sam asked Rin.
"I knew Danny was half ghost from his scent. I can't really tell if he's royalty or not by sniffing him. I could tell he was powerful, though." Rin revealed.
Suddenly, Rin realized what Sam had said earlier. "Wait, ally?" Rin asked.
"Yeah, Clockwork kind of told us someone very powerful could be a potential ally or an enemy," Sam told the demon.
"That reminds me! Danny, any luck?" Rin practically begged.
"Some. The disk you gave me can create a portal straight back to your world, but it needs something to go with it, apparently." Danny smiled sadly.
"It's a start." Rin smiled.
"What do you mean?" Maddie asked.
"I was raised in Assiah, which is Earth, in another universe. I was in Gehenna, which is Hell, and stumbled through a portal leading here! Danny is helping me find a way home!" Rin explained.
"Okay, off topic, but those scratches you gave us let us see things. What are they?" Jazz asked.
"Those are temptaints. It's an injury given by a demon that allows the victim to see all kinds of demons," Rin explained, "I figured it'd be useful for you to see them."
"And slightly worrying," Tucker said.
Rin merely rolled his eyes, but a small smile still danced on his lips.
Maybe things would be okay.
"All is as it should be..."