PROLOGUE

Twenty-five years ago, a portal was created; linking the ghost world to the human world. In the process, an ordinary fourteen-year boy named Danny Fenton became a human-ghost hybrid. In the year that followed, Danny had to learn to control his new abilities while fighting off any ghost that managed to escape through the portal. Meanwhile, the federal government created the agency known as the 'Guys in White' (G.I.W.) to counteract the ghost threat. By the end of the year, "Danny Phantom" became a hero in the eyes of the world. Twenty-five years later, a shipment containing one of Danny Phantom's toughest opponents is being sent to the G.I.W. Ecto-Containment Facility in upstate Michigan…IT WILL NEVER ARRIVE.

Chapter 1. The Beginning.

Hi. The name's Eric Fenton; and in case you didn't know, I'm the son of the famous Danny Phantom. He's got ghost powers; he can shoot plasma from his hands...you know. To kick things off; you'd think that, being the son of a super hero, that I was born with at least some of my dad's powers right? Well I wasn't. In fact; from the day that I was born, right up until I was fifteen-years old, I had no powers at all. A "Recessive Trait," I think is what my dad called it.

By the time I was fourteen, I had developed a taste for "vandalism" as my dad calls it. I was also in an Alternative Rock band; one that combined Nu Metal with elements of Hip-Hop. We called ourselves "Hybrid of Amedy Park." The "Hybrid" part was a reference to my Dad being half-ghost (obviously), and the "Amedy Park" portion is an intentionally misspelled reference to my Dad's childhood home. We were nearly done recording one of our songs, when mom walked in. See, she was considerate enough not to say anything until we were completely finished so...yea, I wasn't too upset about that. Looking back, Mom actually seemed to enjoy my music at times. She said it had a "Classic" feel to it. Dad on the other hand...well...he never really cared too much...or so I thought.

When we got finished Recording, Mom said "Hello boys and girls. Hope you all had a good time here, but Eric's father just called me and it's time for him start doing his homework now so..."

My bandmates were obviously disappointed. I told Mom "Seriously? We just got done recording our single."

"I don't make the rules, kiddo. Sorry."

One of the guys, Thomas Foley, says "Hey, don't worry about it, Mam. I gotta get home anyways."

The lead guitarist (And my Girlfriend) Luna says "'No matter how far we've come, I can't wait to see tomorrow'."

As everyone started to leave, I asked Luna "Hey Luna-bear, I'm gonna be spray-painting some signs around here. You wanna come with?"

"Sorry Eric, but I got homework to do tonight."

"Okay. I'll see you later, then." I kissed her on the cheek. "Love you."

"Love you too, sweetie." Then she rode off on her motor-scooter.

As I headed out the door, I remembered how me and Luna Loud first met. She was trying to write a song, but had some trouble coming up with decent lyrics; so she came to me for advice. After quite a bit of chit-chat, I asked her how many instruments she could play. I was surprised to hear that she could play almost anything, so I asked her to join my band and she excitedly accepted. After a couple of months, we started going out on dates, and eventually we went steady.

I had just gotten done spray-painting over one of the street signs at the edge of the property, when my dad's car reached the security gate leading into the driveway. I thought 'Crap! He's early!' I ran back, and went through the greenhouse.

On the way out the other side, my mom appeared out of nowhere and asked "What are you doing here?"

Surprised, I said "Hey…uh…Mom."

"You should be in your room doing your homework."

"Look, I…uh."

"You were messing with the signs again. Weren't you?"

"No. I was just-"

I was interrupted when I heard my dad's voice outside the door saying "Eric, what are you doing?"

Mom looked back at me and said "I knew it." I didn't answer.

Dad said "Eric, get out here!"

Mom looked towards me again and said "Alright look. I'll let you off this ONE time, okay? Just go back to your room and do your homework, alright? Take the back door."

I simply said "Okay. Gotcha." Then I headed out.

One thing about my mom; she's Goth, like me. I've heard that she's been like that at least since high school. Although I look like my dad in many ways, I still have my mom's purple eyes.

As I reached the back entrance and prepared to open the door, my dad came out and said "Son."

Shocked, I said "Oh…hey, Dad."

He grabbed me by the arm and said "Dammit Eric. You have got so much talent. Next time, use it wisely."

"What the hell do you think I've been doing?"

"You committed a crime, and it's my job to bring people in who do things like that. Do you have any idea how dangerous it is to be vandalising traffic signs?"

"Hey if I wanted to cause problems, I could've just TAKEN the signs, but I didn't. Okay? If someone gets into an accident it's their own damn fault for not knowing what a stop sign looks like in terms of it's shape."

"Eric, you're missing the point."

"Hey just because you got powers doesn't make you better than everyone else. Besides I can't just sit around and do nothing while you're out fighting ghosts-."

Our conversation was interrupted when, Dad received a call from my 13-year-old sister Lily on his headset. "Dad?"

"Go ahead?"

"One of the G.I.W.s transport vehicles just crashed near the edge of the property. Gotta check it out."

"I'm on my way. Eric, I suggest that you Head back inside. Don't come out until I've finished my work. Our discussion will have to wait."

One thing that really bugged me back then was that even though I didn't have any powers, my sister was born with them. Of course, in those days I was more than just a teenager. I was an opportunist. As Dad headed out, the chance of receiving recognition was too tempting to resist. As his car exited the driveway, I headed out on my scooter in the same direction.

When arrived I heard my Dad saying "Dammit. That's an Ecto-containment vehicle." He went over to get a closer look and asked Lily "Did you see any ghosts get out?"

Lily replied "No, sir."

"This doesn't make any sense. There should've been a ghost inside."

That's when I called out "Hey, Dad!"

"Eric? I told you to stay at home."

"And miss out on another ghost chase? Not a chance!"

Before Dad could say anything else, Lily held out an old model Fenton Thermos with a hole blown through the top; as well as a medallion with the Clockwork Symbol on it, and said "I also found this stuff."

Dad took the thermos and medallion and looked at them. As his face turned pale he said "Oh no."

"What? What is it?"

"Lily, keep your guard up! Eric, stay close! It could be a trap! " After a moment Dad's ghost sense went off.

Out of nowhere, the ghost grabbed me from behind. Dad turned around and said "YOU. I KNEW IT WAS YOU!" Then, Dad entered his ghost form. "How are you still here?! You aren't even wearing the necklace! Scratch that. How the hell did you even manage to get out of the Ghost Zone?!"

The ghost said "I've been outside the flow of time so long I don't even need the necklace anymore. And let's just say I had a little help from the Guys in White."

"And then you killed them? YOU SON OF A BITCH! LET GO OF MY SON RIGHT NOW!"

The ghost looked at me and said "My son?"

Confused I said "Wait. What?!"

Dad responded "Eric, I'll explain later. Just remain calm." Come to think of it; the ghost did resemble my father at least in his ghost form. The only differences were the ghost's red eyes, pale skin, aged appearance, and fiery hair.

The ghost glanced at my sister and asked "Wait a minute. That's your daughter right there, and SHE has powers right? But THIS kid doesn't have any powers of his own, does he?"

Not knowing what else to do I said "I can't do anything! I'm not a threat to you!"

Dad shouted "Eric, be quite!"

Then the ghost said "Well then. In that case he's of no use to me."

Dad yelled "LET HIM GO!" Then, the ghost threw me to the ground and blasted me.

Instantly, I saw who that ghost really was. 25 years before then, this guy called Clockwork had shown my dad a vision of the future ten years ahead. It showed death and destruction on an unimaginable scale, and at the center...was himself. Alive, but changed.

It all had started with the death of his family and friends. In that moment of failure and grief, he went to Vlad Masters place, and asked him to rip out his humanity to make the pain go away. Once that was done, all hell broke loose. In a fit of rage, Dad's ghost half took his problems out on Vlad, by separating HIS ghost half from his human half as well. Then my dad's ghost half made a critical mistake. He tried to over-shadow Vlad's ghost half and the two ended up fusing together, resulting in Danny Phantom being overwhelmed by the evil of Vlad Plasmius.

Having realized what was to become of him, Dad did everything in his power to avoid this outcome. He found his future self, fought him with everything he had, and he defeated him.

As I woke up, Dad was yelling "ERIC!" He looked over at his nemesis. "YOU BASTARD!"

By the time I had fully regained consciousness. Dad and the ghost were gone. The road was scorched with burning vehicles and debris from the forest. When I tried to run, I just seemingly fazed through an overturned car. I thought to myself 'Hey…what the hell was that?' I fazed through another one and then suddenly it came to me. I had ghost powers now. I thought to myself 'Oh…Oh hell YES!' I took off my beanie, and looked at it. Not surprisingly, it had the Danny Phantom logo on it. I had thought to myself 'Aw man. I need my own logo.' I put my beanie back on.

Off in the distance I heard Lily scream "Dad?!"

"It's not safe here, Lily! Take Eric home and get out of here! I'm gonna teach this guy a lesson!"

As I continued up the road, I saw Lily coming up the road. She called out "Eric! Eric, are you okay?"

I told her I said "'Okay?' I'm better than 'Okay', sis."

"What are you talking about?"

"I freaking got GHOST POWERS now! Can you believe it?"

"How is that even a thing?"

"Hell, I don't know. But it's pretty darn cool right? I'm about ready to go kick some ass now."

"What? Eric, I know what you're thinking, AND DON'T!"

"Hey in case you've forgotten, Lily, that ghost over there just tried to kill me. This is personal now."

"You're gonna get yourself KILLED!"

"Look, if you're gonna complain, head back to the house and hold down the fort. Okay? Mom will be worried about us."

"Ugh!"

I continued down the road, I repeatedly felt the earth shake. I thought to myself 'What the hell? It's like there's a freaking war going on out here.' It wasn't long before I discovered my ghost sense going crazy. I looked around, and I saw two ghosts; my dad, and the ghost that I got my powers off of.

My dad punches the ghost in the face, sending him crashing into the ground. Feeling confident, he says to the ghost "Come on, I thought you were stronger than this."

Frustrated, the ghost replies "No. I am weak. Quite weak in fact. I've been trapped in that damned thermos of yours for over twenty years without any wiggle room, let alone exercise."

"Huh. And to think I actually mistook you for a threat."

Mom runs up and says "Dan, the thermos!" She tosses the Fenton Thermos to Dad.

He says "Thanks, Sam."

The ghost says "So Sam's your wife, huh? Why am I not surprised?"

"Listen, are you gonna come in quietly, or do I have to-?"

Then I yelled "Dad, over here!"

Dad looked towards me and said "Son? What the hell happened?"

"Who cares? I got ghost powers now!"

"You're kidding."

Dad turned around to notice that the ghost had disappeared. "Shit. Where the hell did he go?" He looked toward Mom and yelled "SAM! GET OUT OF HERE! RUN!" It was too late.

The ghost grabbed her and she screamed "DANNY!"

Dad yelled "GET AWAY FROM HER!" Then a duplicate ghost came from behind Dad and put some sort of belt on him. Instantly he started screaming in pain before reverting back to his human form.

Shocked, I ran over to him and said "What the hell is that thing?"

Weakened, Dad responded "Specter deflector. It cancelled out my ghost powers. I'm in no condition to fight. I've failed."

"Ah shit." I thought to myself 'So much for that. I thought that Mom was still at the house. This...This is all my fault! If I hadn't sent Lily away this wouldn't have happened.'

Mom screamed "ERIC!"

I turned around and yelled "LET HER GO!"

With a smug look on his face, the ghost said "Well, well. Is that anger I sense in your voice, 'Son?'"

"DON'T YOU DARE CALL ME THAT!"

I took one step toward the ghost, and he fired a bolt near me. Then he said "Do I really have to spell things out for you, boy? Come any closer and your mother dies. Surrender now, or my next blast will kill her."

"Screw you!"

Suddenly, Dad calls out "NO! Son…don't!"

The ghost says "Do you want your mother to see another day, or not? Choose."

Finally, Dad says "Just…let him go, Eric. Please."

Then Mom says "It's going to be alright, sweetheart."

After assessing the situation at hand, I said "Alright. I surrender. Just...just let her go."

With a smug look on his face, the ghost says "Good boy. You've done well, SON." Then the bastard blasted my mom through the heart.

I screamed "NO!"

Then Dad yelled "YOU FREAKING MONSTER!"

I charged at the ghost yelling "YOU'RE GONNA PAY FOR WHAT YOU'VE DONE!"

Then he blasted me back with a 'Plasma Pulse'. The ghost flew over, stepped on me, and said "I could squash you like a bug right now if I wanted to, you know that? but you're my own flesh and blood; so I'll spare your life…for now. Night-night." Then he hit me so damn hard I blacked out.