Author's note: Hi everyone! Thanks for your interest in my fanfic! Ever since Danny Phantom ended, I've always had this idea of what I would like to see for Season 4. I've developed it throughout the years, but it always just stayed in my head. I've only shared my story with a few friends, but they've all told me to publish it on . And I finally did! (Finally hahaha) The chapters are still in-progress, so stay tuned! And please write kind comments/reviews :) I sincerely hope you enjoy!
Amity Park: 25 Years in the Future…
A digital clock hung upon the dull yellow wall of a math classroom. 2:59 pm.
Beneath it, twenty teenaged students crouched over their desks, furiously writing on a piece of paper.
A shorter girl, with long black hair gathered up into a high ponytail, scribbled on the sheet. She suddenly paused, furrowed her full, yet thin, eyebrows, and then flipped over her pencil to erase her entire work.
A teacher, with her dark brown hair in a bun and wearing round glasses, sat behind a long, wooden table. She glanced at the clock.
"Alright, class. Time's up; pencils down."
The girl's hand trembled as she placed her pencil upon her desk.
"Bring your tests up to the front," the teacher said.
The students slowly rose from their seats and hesitantly formed a line. She made her way to the very back; her violet eyes reviewed her work from the past hour.
"Thank you, Michael…thank you, Celia…Tara? Tara?"
Tara looked up from the test in her hands. There was now just an empty space between her and her teacher.
"Oh, sorry," she said as she scrambled to the desk.
The teacher took the test from Tara's outstretched hand.
"Thank you, Tara. Are you okay?"
Tara rubbed the back of her neck. "Well, this test was definitely a lot harder than the last ones."
Her teacher smiled. "I think your peers can agree with you on that one. But I'm sure you did just fine. You've gotten all A's so far in this class."
"I guess. Thanks, Mrs. Dunham," Tara said with an unconvincing smile.
In the hallway, an African-American girl with short, curly hair and turquoise eyes leaned up against the wall with her backpack by her feet. The door next to her slid open, and Tara stepped out.
"Finally! When I didn't see you come out, I asked one of your classmates where you were, and he said you were still in there! What happened?"
"Mrs. Dunham and I were just talking for a bit. Sorry to keep you waiting, Vanessa," Tara said.
Vanessa put her bag over her shoulder. "Okay, well, let's go!"
They walked out the front doors of Casper High; while the school building remained the same, the town it belonged to had changed quite dramatically. Small, electric cars zoomed on the streets past the girls, while drones carrying small packages flew above their heads. As they walked further into the suburban part of Amity Park, they left the new, tall towers of the city behind them.
"Girl, I am so glad it's Friday. I've been waiting for this day since Monday," Vanessa said.
Tara laughed. "I'll say. I finally get to relax after stressing out over that test."
"You definitely need to relax. You've been studying all week long! I'm going to catch up on some of my TV shows tonight. Wanna come over?"
"Pass," Tara said with a chuckle. "You just said they're the TV shows you watch. I hate those shows. Plus, Mom said this morning she might order pizza for dinner tonight. And I'm not missing out on that."
They stopped in front of a white, one-floor house with a green front lawn and an electric car parked in the driveway.
"Okay then, but we'll still see each other tomorrow, right? Lunch at the Nasty Burger?" Vanessa said.
"For sure. See ya, Vanessa!"
"Bye, Tara!"
Tara followed the concrete path to her house as her best friend walked further into the suburbs.
She opened the door to an empty living room.
"Dad?" she said as she walked inside and closed the door behind her. "Daaaad?"
Quick, little footsteps came from the staircase to her right.
"TARA!"
All of a sudden, Tara could feel something colliding into her leg. She looked down to see a younger girl in a black tutu grabbing onto her leg.
"Hi Tara! I got home before you!"
"Right, 'cause Dad could pick you up from school today. Hey, Megan, where's Dad?"
The small girl looked up at her sister with big, blue eyes. "He's in the basement. But I want you to play with me!"
Tara smiled and rubbed the long, onyx hair on her little sister's head.
"After I see Dad, okay?"
Megan pouted. "Fine."
Tara opened the door leading to the basement, only slightly illuminating the dark staircase.
"Dad?"
"Down here," a deeper voice called back.
Leaving the door open, she walked down the steps until she reached a room filled with half-built machines and desks with blueprints on them. She walked towards a grown man, bent over a machine with a wrench in his hand.
"Hi, Dad. How was your day?"
The man straightened and turned to her, sky-blue eyes meeting her amethyst ones.
"Long. Tiring," he said as he brushed his hands over his stained, white shirt and dusty jeans.
"What are you working on?" she said as she walked closer to him.
"Some invention your grandpa made. But you know how it is—he does half the job and then leaves the rest to me, complaining about his old age and aching back," he said with a chuckle.
"It's supposed to be a time machine."
"Really? How does that help with his ghost hunting?" Tara said.
"It really doesn't. He just wants to be able to say he invented the world's first time machine. Check it out."
The time machine looked like a long rocket, with a pointed tip at the front. The man pressed a button on the side, and the bubble that surrounded the control panel retracted back. He pointed to the knobs.
"See, here's where you type in the day, that's where you type in the month, and that's where you type in the year, past or future. Then you press this button, push down this lever, and then it should take you there, in theory. Kind of cool, right?"
"No, Dad. We don't say 'cool' anymore. It's 'savvy.' Like, that time machine's pretty savvy."
He ran his hand through his black hair. "Well, old habits die hard. We said 'cool' a lot back then. But anyway, I already told Megan this, but don't mess with the time machine. I'm still not done with it, so it's really unpredictable. I mean, I've done a lot of work on it, but I don't think it's ready yet."
"For sure, Dad."
Suddenly, they could hear a door open and close.
"Mommy!"
"Hi, sweetie. Hi, Danny!" she called out.
"Be up in a sec," he shouted back. "Come on, Tara. I bet your mom wants to order dinner now."
As he climbed up the stairs, Tara stood looking at the metallic contraption in front of her. She stared at it for a while before joining her family upstairs.
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Tara could not go to sleep. She just kept looking at her ceiling with her arms crossed behind her head.
After she couldn't take it any longer, she stepped off her bed onto the hardwood floor.
Tara tiptoed out of her room, past her sleeping sister and her lightly snoring parents, and down the basement stairs. When she reached the bottom floor, she fumbled her hand around the wall for the light switch. She flipped the switch, and the lights flickered on, one by one.
Tara walked towards the time machine. Her fingers skimmed across the machine as she walked to the control panel. She pressed the red button, and the bubble retracted.
Tara hopped into the machine and put on the suit crumpled inside. It was large for her slender, yet muscular frame; it seemed to be her father's size. As soon as she sat on the seat, the bubble engulfed her.
"Okay, so…today's Friday…she would probably have the test graded by Monday…I just need some peace of mind. I just want to see how I did on the test."
She switched the knobs and pressed the button.
"I hope this works…"
She pushed the lever.
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Amity Park: Present Day…
Danny, Sam, and Tucker walked down the street towards Fenton Works. Danny and Sam walked hand-in-hand with Tucker beside them.
"Man, they shouldn't give their own mayor homework. I've got a ton of other responsibilities now!" Tucker said, lugging his backpack on his shoulder.
Danny chuckled. "You're telling me. Between sending Jazz off to Stanford, telling Mom and Dad about Danielle and letting her move in with us, press conferences about the Disasteroid, and still fighting ghosts, I haven't had any time for myself lately. I don't know where I'm going to find the time to study."
"Well, at least the school's going to give you extra time for tests and other assignments," Sam said. "You're a hero now; it's pretty much a full-time job."
"I have to thank Jazz for talking to the school."
"You also need time to just be a teen," Tucker said. "Are we still doing movie night and pizza at your house, Sam?"
"Yup!"
"You guys aren't going to cuddle again, like when we went to the movies last time, right?"
"Can't guarantee that," Danny said.
"Aw, dang. It's been three months! Lighten up on the PDA!"
"No promises," Sam said.
All of a sudden, the floor shook under them and they heard a crash from behind them.
"What was that?" Tucker said.
"An earthquake?" Sam said.
Danny's ghost sense went off. "No, a ghost. But where?"
From an alley not too far away from them, the rocket collided into a dumpster, smashing both into large pieces. The control panel was still intact, however, and Tara was able to retract the screen.
"Where…am I?" she said as she climbed out.
She looked back at the wreckage. "Oh man, Dad's going to kill me!"
"My ghost sense is getting stronger over here," a voice nearby shouted.
"Ghost sense?" Tara said.
Then, three shocked teenagers stood at the entrance of the alley.
"Whoa…" Tucker said, mouth agape.
"What happened here? Who are you?" Sam demanded.
Tara's mouth fell open. "Oh, no…what year is it?"
"Year?" Sam said.
Tara ran past the teens, pushing them out of her way, and stood at the sidewalk. She spun in a slow circle, taking in her environment. Gas cars. Drone-free sky. Lack of skyscrapers.
"No, this isn't possible…How could it have taken me here? How am I going to get home now?"
"Just tell us who you are. Maybe we can help you," Danny pleaded.
Tara turned towards Danny.
"Dad…" she said before collapsing.