Summary: At the end of 'Ultimate Enemy', Clockwork described time as a parade, and explained to Danny that he could see all the turns time might or might not take. What if instead of a boy, Danny Fenton, the Fentons had a second girl, Ellie Fenton? How would the events depicted in the show Danny Phantom be different? Ellie/Clockwork

Warning: fem!Danny/gender-bender, violence, light language, manipulation of canon and the timeline

Disclaimer: The cartoon Danny Phantom belongs to Butch Hartman and Nickelodeon.

Prologue:

From Human to Halfa

"Ellie, Jazz, get down here!" Maddie Fenton called, "We want to show you our latest invention."

Being the younger sister, Ellie looked at Jazz, intending to wait. Jazz, however, made it clear that she had no intention of moving.

"You go ahead, Ellie." Jazz said without looking up from her book, "Tell Mom and Dad to start without me."

"Lucky." Ellie muttered, "All Jazz has to do to avoid Mom and Dad's crazy inventions is read because they assume she's studying."

It wasn't that sixteen year old Ellie Fenton minded having full time ghost hunters for parents. (Most of the time, that is.) Even though they'd never caught or seen a single ghost. They took a long time to prepare and get to apparent scenes, Ellie knew that it was possible that any real ghosts involved were just long gone by the time Jack and Maddie Fenton arrived. No, it was their inventions and the weird name her dad gave them that she didn't like. A lifetime of metal contraptions exploding, sending goo everywhere, or wrecking the house would do that to any teen.

"You're just in time, Ellie!" Jack Fenton said, "Your mom and I are about to start up or ghost portal!"

"Your what now?" Ellie asked, as was paying more attention to the suspiciously electric chord in her father's hands than what he'd said.

"Ghost portal." Maddie elaborated, "It's a doorway to the Ghost Zone, the dimension ghosts live in."

Now curious, Ellie's eyes followed the giant chord her father was holding to a really big metal contraption her parents had built into the wall. Ellie paled at the sight, remembering that device all too well. The adult Fentons had tried it already when she was fourteen. That version had been even bigger and reminded Ellie of the intergalactic gateways from the TV show Stargate. The resulting explosion from the power overload almost destroyed the whole house. It had taken half a year to finish remodeling the basement, and Jazz and Ellie had watched as their parents took a further six months to set up a new lab. Jazz still wondered how Jack and Maddie came out of it unscathed.

"I thought that it took too much electricity?" Ellie pointed out.

Maddie just waved off the concern. "Oh, we took care of that problem. Right, Jack?"

Jack, however, only acted like he never heard either of them, or else only heard what he wanted to. "Ready, Maddie. Banzai!"

"Jack, wait-" but Maddie was too late, he had already connected the big chord.

Ellie had just closed her eyes with a flinch. Only to open them after a late in surprise when nothing happened. Her parents were looking at the portal with hope in their eyes. After a few minutes of downcast faces, both adults gained downcast faces.

"I was so sure it would work." Jack said, sounding awfully close to a disappointed child.

Maddie was little better. "I guess it just wasn't meant to be. Come on, hun. I'll make you some fudge."

The looks on her parents' faces as they left the lab was upsetting. But Ellie was more concerned with a disconcerting oddity than her upset parents. Nothing could keep Jack or Maddie Fenton down for long anyway, Ellie knew. A couple of minutes later her best friends, Samantha Manson and Tucker Foley, came down and found Ellie still staring at the portal.

"Ellie, is something wrong?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, you parents look pretty down." Tucker agreed.

"Oh, hey guys. Ellie greeted, "It's odd. My parents' inventions never just do nothing. If they don't work they usually cause a mess or go crazy."

Sam and Tucker finally saw what Ellie was looking at. Sam didn't see the big deal, and just raised an eyebrow. Tucker, however, recognized it like Ellie had and made the fact known.

"Isn't that the thing that completely totaled the lab two years ago?" he asked.

"You got it." Ellie confirmed.

"You mean from the time you wanted to stay at my house for a month?" Sam realized, "What is it even for?"

"It's called a ghost portal, according to my parents." Ellie told her friends, "It's supposed to be a way to where ghosts live, the Ghost Zone or something."

Sam and Tucker exchanged a look. Jack and Maddie Fenton were both so obsessed with ghosts that something like seeing the place they call home was bound to be their dream. Ellie had never liked her family or friends being upset. She often went to great lengths to cheer them up if they were especially blue. It was no wonder that she was still down there.

"You can always go in there and check it out." Sam suggested, "Maybe you can figure out what's wrong and fix it for your parents."

"I don't know, Sam…" Ellie protested, clearly tempted but still hesitant.

Tucker went over to a cabinet and pulled out a white outfit dispersed with green that came with a black belt, black boots, and black gloves. "If you're worried, you can just wear this over your clothes. It's basically a hazard suit anyway right?"

"Hey, that's actually a good idea. Thanks, Tuck." Ellie said, taking the clothing from her friend.

A minute later Ellie had the suit on. And Sam had removed a sticker of her dad's face for her, which Ellie was grateful for. Ellie went inside the portal. She tripped on a cord, only for the hand she used to catch herself on the device's wall to press a green button. The portal turned on with a surge of electricity and ectoplasm, and Ellie found herself in immense pain as she was shocked. She blacked out as her friends shouted her name in alarm.

'I wanted my parents happy, not an early death.' Was Ellie's last thought before she knew no more.

End of Chapter