My Own Worst Enemy
Part 1
"Those that do not learn from the past are doomed to repeat it…"
Danielle was floating through the void of the Ghost-Zone. It had been five years since Danny saved the earth from the ectoranium asteroid and the nations of the globe finally worked out their differences. Although, she never fully got over the fact that she was essentially him, having been cloned from Danny by Vlad Masterson almost six years previously… Since she had gained her freedom from the man she originally thought of as a father, she'd been exploring the world and the Ghost-Zone trying to find her purpose in the grand scheme of things, and so it was that she found herself in the void.
Her purpose was an exceptionally large problem for her since, despite her appearance of a 16 year old girl, with all of the hormones that go along with them, she was only about six years old. She was actually beginning to reconsider the Fenton's offer of adopting her when she looked around and found herself in a new section of the Zone. Frostbites Infinimap, when she looked at it, confirmed her suspicion that this was one of the oldest areas. There were no homes around, and as far as she could see, she was the only sign of life for several miles in any direction.
After consulting the map again, she saw that there was some kind of giant clock tower directly ahead of her. She flew as fast as she could, not enjoying the solitude of the space around her, until she finally reached the tower… Dani phased back into her human form and walked through the front door. One of the perks of being half ghost, was that she could be intangible on either plane when she need to be…
"Whoa…" she muttered to herself when she was inside the giant, lonely structure.
"Is anyone in here? I was wondering around and I kind of ran into this place. Hello?"
Silence returned her call.
"My name is Dani Phantom… is ANYONE here?" she called out, starting to really freak out. There were only two explanations for an empty area of the Ghost-Zone. None of them were good.
"Fine then… I guess I'll just be leaving…" Dani muttered, turning to walk out the door she came in, when a burst of light from down the hallway made her turn around. She knew it was probably a bad idea, but she wanted to know what it was…
She flew off down the cathedral like hallway. As she went, she couldn't help but notice that the walls were almost completely covered in moving cogs and springs. As if the entire building was alive.
When she finally reached the room that held the soft glow, Dani phased back to human and walked through the door. The first thing to catch her eye was a portal, swirling in the center of the room, almost like a television screen.
"Why hello there…" a voice said from behind her, causing Dani to start.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I…" she tried to apologize.
"It's alright Danielle. I'm not going to hurt you. You were supposed to be here anyway…" the ghost said, smiling and changing his form from a baby to a fully grown man, then into an old man.
"You're Clockwork…" she guessed, remembering something Danny had told her once…
"Yes. Yes I am. And you are Danielle Phantom, 16 year old girl who is a half-ghost and the clone of none other than the famous Danny Fenton. I know you well." Clockwork replied cryptically, "I have been watching you for quite some time actually. It seems that you are to follow your predecessors' footsteps and make a very important decision very soon."
"How do you know that?" Dani asked, "I know Danny said you know everything, but you can't know everything can you?"
"Well now… that's an interesting question." Clockwork admitted, "It is true that I know many things, but you are correct, I don't know everything. There is free will after all, and many timelines that could come into being. But I'm afraid that the rules say you have to be alone for your decision… and since you are where you need to be to make your decision, I'll leave you alone to choose…"
"Wait!" Dani called out as Clockwork disappeared in a vortex of time to go wherever. "At least tell me what my choices are…" she grumbled, looking around the home of the Master of Time.
In the reborn silence of Clockwork's tower, Dani started to look around when it was apparent that he wasn't coming back.
There were so many things on his shelves that Dani was mesmerized by the sheer variety. There were jewels that looked like they would be at home in the tomb of a Pharaoh. Then there were all the different pieces of technology that had caught the time keeper's eye. Some of the stuff looked like it came from alien planets, and others looked like they came from the future of her own world. Suddenly, she noticed something familiar amongst the collection…
Dani reached out her hand and wrapped it around the cold metallic cylinder. Upon closer inspection, her suspicions were confirmed. Clockwork had a Fenton-Thermos of all things… as she was about to put it back where she found it, a whisper cut through the silence and caused her to jump for the second time that day.
"Dani…" the voice called, "Help me…"
"Who's that?" Dani asked, looking around the cavernous room.
"It's me…Danny."
"Danny?" she asked, still looking through the gloom of Clockwork's tower. "Where are you?"
"I'm in here…" the voice whispered, "The thermos. Open it up and save me. Clockwork trapped me in here. Help me Dani…"
"Hold on Danny!" she called, "I'll get you out of there…"
Dani started to struggle with the Thermos, not really sure how it worked and regretting turning Danny down the time he had offered to show her how to use it. Finally, she unlatched the lid and found the release button. There was a small rush of wind as the thermos expelled it's captive, which wasn't Danny at all.
"Thank you child…" the ghost said, smiling evilly and stretching its arms, "I can't tell you how cramped it gets in there."
"You're not Danny!" she shouted, transforming and flying out of the way. "Why did you say you were? Who are you?"
"Ahhh my dear, I am Danny. Just not the one you know." The new ghost answered cryptically. "Now, I can't have you running off and ruining my wonderful revenge, so I'm afraid you'll have to take my place in the thermos…"
"What? NO!" was all Dani could get out before the thermos was turned on her and she was sucked into the cold depths of the container in a vortex of energy.
Danny popped the lid on the thermos and laughed, "Pity, she could have made a wonderful servant, but then, what do I care?"
"So I see you're finally out?" Clockwork said, coming out of a vortex behind Danny.
"Yes I am you meddler, and now, it's your turn to experience my prison…" Danny replied, spinning in place and pointing the Thermos at Clockwork.
For all the power that he held, Clockwork did not flinch as he was pulled into the cold metal.
"Hmmm… now that he's out of the way, I can try and figure out how to get my revenge on my less powerful self… but first, I should get rid of you two hunh?" he said, looking at the Thermos in his hand and smiling, his fangs gleaming in the light from the vortex.
And with that, the evil that was Danny flew out of Clockworks tower and headed straight for Pariah's Keep… the least traveled part of the Ghost-Zone besides Clockwork's area. The dead palace echoed every breath and through the ruins of a wall long since blasted to pieces, he saw the Coffin of Forever Sleep. Unlike Vlad Masters though, he didn't want to open the coffin, instead, he simply phased his hand into a mortal form and passed it and the Thermos through. When the Thermos was safely put away in the coffin, away from any accidents that could release Clockwork and the girl, he headed back to Clockworks zone, a plan long since formed bubbling inside his mind.
When he got back to the portal at Clockwork's home, Danny grabbed one of the medallions off the wall and switched the portal on to the present day. He wanted to see how his Good self had turned out. After all, it was no fun to destroy him if he wasn't at least somewhat of a challenge. When he caught sight of Amity Park, he jumped through and went through the portal, ready to finally have his revenge on himself…
Okay. There's the first part of the story for you. Please review it and let me know what you think. For those of you who know me, I am going to be updating when the parts are done, not necessarily weekly. For those of you who have never heard of me, just put me on author alert if you liked it and you can read it as I finish it. the next chapter will show the present Amity Park, that is, five years after the Phantom Planet incident, and all the wonderful relationships that are going on. This story will be part action, part drama, part romance, and hopefully some comedy from Tucker… and as always,
Happy Reading,
musicalreader