Authors Note: Hi everybody! This is my first Danny Phantom story. It will be multi-chapter and alternate between perspectives of different characters (starting with Danny). I hope you all enjoy it!

"Danny?"

The young boy stirred, slowly gaining back consciousness. He could catch small snippets of reality around him. A small crack on the white ceiling, a plaid mini-skirt, a red, worn-out beret.

I'm in my room. Sam and Tucker are here. I'm all right.

These thoughts calmed Danny considerably. He had been a bit scared seeing as how he couldn't recall much of the events leading up to this moment, he could only pick up bits and pieces. Fleeting memories.

"He's waking up!" A male voice proclaimed.

They had been at the arcade? No, that was earlier. They were at Nasty Burger when his ghost sense went off. Danny had excused himself and made a quick dash to the bathroom so he could go ghost.

Danny remembered making some witty remark to the ghost, as he always did before beginning a fight, but the spook had no time for humor. He was there for a reason, and he didn't take too kindly with the town hero getting in his way.

"Danny, how are you feeling?"

The halfa had thought that he could make quick work of the creature-he looked weak enough, after all. Perhaps he had been a bit too cocky, because, a moment later, the teen was being hurled to the ground. This new ghost was more powerful than he had estimated.

"I'm…fine." Danny finally spoke, still struggling with his foggy memories.

The moments in between events were hazy, so they didn't help much, but the last thing he could force himself to remember was a feeling. Or rather, a mix of feelings. Anger. Frustration. Humiliation.

That's weird. Danny thought. Where did those emotions come from?

"That's a relief," Tucker spoke, seeming to relax at the sound of his best friend's voice. "I was getting worried."

"Me too," Sam admitted. She looked back down at Danny, who had just a minute ago been passed out on his own bed. Concern brimmed in the Goth girl's eyes. "Are you positive you're okay?" She double-checked. She was always worrying about him.

Danny nodded slowly as he sat up, realizing the terrible headache he had acquired. He looked back and forth between his two friends, feeling a touch guilty. They always seemed to be rushing to his aide. However, he couldn't help himself but to smile, despite the nagging guilt. They were such good friends to always do this so willingly.

The smile was quickly wiped away as he noticed some poorly-wrapped bandages covering Tucker's left arm.

"What happened?" Danny demanded. "Did the ghost do that to you?"

Tucker looked surprised at the question, which Danny didn't understand. It was a perfectly reasonably question. His confusion rose as Tucker threw an uncertain look at Sam, having one thrown back at him, and finally responding to Danny with, "Dude, don't you remember?"

"I…" The raven-haired teen searched his mind once more for the memories he seemed to lack. Nothing resurfaced. "No," He answered honestly. "not past the beginning of the fight, anyway."

"Danny…you were acting…really strange." Sam explained carefully.

"What do you mean?" He inquired.

"Well, after you were knocked to the ground, you went a little…" Sam paused, as if she was considering the next word. "crazy." She finally decided.

Danny flinched. Sam and Tucker knew very well that he hated that word. But, he reflected, I suppose knowing that, Sam wouldn't use it unless it were really true.

"You looked so…angry," she continued, "it was actually pretty scary. It's like you weren't even…you."

Danny frowned. The look on his friend's face made his heart drop into his stomach. She seemed haunted by the memory of whatever happened that night, and he felt bad that he couldn't even share that memory with her.

There's that guilt again. Danny thought.

"You seemed to be focusing all your energy on that one ghost. You blasted him with a plasma ray, using all your strength, and, when he tried to run away, you pulled him back. You were totally wailing on him. He looked so miserable, I pulled out the Fenton Thermos just to put him out of his misery." Sam seemed to shudder as she replayed the scene.

Danny's eyes widened in shock as he listened to Sam's description. The way she described it, and judging by the look on her face, he sounded more animal than human or ghost. He sounded like a…monster.

He glanced at Tucker to make sure this wasn't some joke, but his face was dead serious, not a single trace of a smile interrupted it. Sam was telling the truth. This had really happened.

"But, wait," Danny spoke, "what does any of this have to do with Tucker's injury?"

Sam bit her lip nervously. "Well…" She mumbled, hesitantly. "After the ghost was gone, you turned to me, angry. I've never seen a more hateful expression," Her face was twisted in agony, as if it just hurt to recall it. This caused yet another pang of guilt in Danny's stomach. "You aimed a plasma blast right towards me…Tucker saw what you were about to do, and he jumped out in front of me."

Danny sat for a moment in complete shock. He would never aim an attack towards Sam. Ever. He looked back to his other friend. Tucker was sitting in silence with a solemn expression on his face.

Danny let his eyes wander back down to the injury. The boy was completely flooded with guilt by this point; he had gone crazy, hurt his best friend, and there was nothing he could do to fix any of it.

"Tuck, I am so sorry," He sincerely apologized. "I don't…I don't know what came over me. I can't even make myself remember doing any of this."

Tucker shook his head. "No, man. Don't worry about it. I'm fine. We're fine."

Tucker expression was one of sincerity, but nonetheless, Danny still felt awful.

"After that, you seemed to go back to normal," Sam finished. "your eyes lightened up. They were much less…" she searched for the right word to use, "menacing. After that, you passed out and fell to the ground before changing back into your human self."

Danny flopped back down on his bed suddenly, taking this all in. He ignored the pain that radiated throughout his skull. "This won't happen again, guys," he whispered, closing his eyes. "I don't know what's wrong with me."

"Nothing's wrong with you, man," Tucker assured him. "Maybe there's just something wonky going on with your ghost half right now."

Sam quickly opened her mouth, as if she were going to suggest something, but ultimately decided against it and closed it again.

"Were you going to say something, Sam?" Danny questioned, desperate to try anything that might fix the problem.

"Well," She started, hesitantly, "I was just going to suggest that maybe you might possibly under some circumstance ask…Vlad for advice?" The end of the sentence came out in a rush, as she was almost afraid to suggest it because she knew Danny wouldn't like the idea.

Danny glared at the thought of the billionaire, half-ghost prick. "Vlad?" He scoffed. "As if Vlad would ever help me anyway, even if I wanted him to."

"She does kind of have a point," Tucker agreed. "I mean, Vlad's had his ghost powers a lot longer than you have. Maybe he knows something about this. Maybe it's normal for stuff like this to happen."

"It's normal to attack your best friends?" Danny muttered under his breath. Although, he did have to admit that Sam and Tucker might have a point. Vlad's had his ghost powers a considerable longer amount of time than himself. He could actually prove quite helpful.

As if Vlad would allow himself to be helpful. Danny thought dismissively.

"I think I'm just going to try and figure this one out on my own, guys," He professed. He noted his friends' unsure expressions. "And I'm sorry for the trouble I've caused," He added. "Really. I appreciate you guys putting up with all of…this." He told them, referring to his ghost powers in general.

Tucker gave his friend a soft smile. "Dude, it's cool. We're your friends and ghost-fighting partners. It's what we do."

Danny chuckled, glad to see Tucker held no resentment towards him for what happened. He was lucky to have found such great friends that accept him, no matter what.

"We have to get going," Sam announced, checking the time on her cell phone. "It's getting late," She and Tucker stood, grabbing their bags. "If you need anything, just call."

They began walking out before Sam stopped and turned back towards Danny, who was starting to feel tired again at this point. "One more thing. Jazz saw us bring you home. We told her you got hurt during a ghost fight, but we didn't tell her anything else."

Danny smiled at his friends' loyalty. "Thanks, guys." He told them. He genuinely meant it. They would never know how much their friendship meant to him.

As soon as he heard his bedroom door shut, Danny was left alone with his thoughts. How could I have even thought about hurting Sam or Tucker? They're like, the best friends anyone could ever have. What happened to me back there?

He slowly stood from bed, careful not to strain himself too much. He wasn't sure of all his injuries yet, and he didn't know how weak he'd be. He carefully made his way to his bedroom mirror, studying himself. He had gained a few scratches; nothing that wouldn't heal by tomorrow morning, though. He would probably just be really sore along with having a persisting headache.

He began examining himself closer. He didn't look any different. Same messy, matted, black hair. Same shimmering blue eyes. Same skinny, frail body and pale skin. Same worn-out expression he always seemed to wear nowadays.

No, he definitely looked the same. But he certainly didn't feel it. He felt changed, somehow. Like something dark was growing inside the center of him. Something almost...evil.

He was changing, and he didn't like it.

"Maybe I am going crazy." He muttered miserably to himself. Those were the last words he spoke before turning off his light switch and crawling back into the comfort of his bed.