"Daniel, I honestly don't understand how you can understand it," Vlad muttered as Danny conjured up a portal to another Timeline.
"Truthfully, there isn't much to understand Vlad. I can feel the Timestream. They respond to my calls, and I respond to them," Danny said easily as he stepped through the rift. Pulling Vlad along with him.
"You're starting to sound like Clockwork, that's how cryptic." The older man shot Danny a glare and made a face to show just how annoyed he was.
"Time is a riddle wrapped in an enigma, tied with a pretty ribbon of obfuscation." Danny immensely enjoyed the exasperated expression on Vlad's face.
"They also have a mind of their own; I do not control them, I merely guide them. So, in theory, Time could teach me a lesson." The young Time Master added.
"Okay, that's it. I'm going to stay in that Timeline forever, hoping that you'll never find me." Danny could hear his good-natured threat fading as the Timeline swallowed them up.
Ironically, or by faith, that's exactly what happened.
It felt wrong. Like expecting something sweet and you bite something sour. He couldn't explain it. Future visions assaulted his mind before he could gain control again. He felt his connection to this Timeline and audibly winced. He hadn't been so interlocked with a foreign Timeline since he became the Master of his own. And this definitely wasn't his own.
Danny opened his eyes to the new surroundings. He'd gone invisible just to be sure, like he always did, and did a sweep of the area.
He was exactly where he should have been. Without Vlad.
Danny reached out for Vlad's ecto-signature, as a cold panic began to bloom in his chest. Shit, Vlad was his responsibility, Danny couldn't just lose him. He sighed and released a wave of energy all around him. Any nearby ghost should feel it. He waited a few minutes. No sign of Vlad.
He needed to fix this immediately. He focused his energy on making a Viewing Mirror and asked it to display the current Time Master. He almost broke the Mirror in half when he saw who it was.
Cold flames danced across a blue-tinged scalp. Red eyes watched intently at an object before him. Skintight HAZMAT clung to the oversized muscles. But again there was something wrong. His posture didn't match the cruel Dan he knew. His flames didn't even flicker with anger. He held himself composed, just as Danny himself was doing that, right now.
Wait.
No.
That couldn't be.
Danny feared the worst as he let go of the Viewing Mirror, and made a regular one out of ice.
There he was. Looking at the same person, he saw a second ago.
"No, this isn't happening, dammit! There should be an explanation for this. I'm not looking at myself here." Danny sat down against the wall of the alley he had wandered into. Something about this whole ordeal wasn't right. The Time Master of this Timeline couldn't just cease to exist just because Danny decided to step in. This wasn't making any sense.
"Okay, Chronos, you've got this. You've beaten the Tests of Time, you've banished someone to hell, and this little mix up shouldn't be a problem." He muttered to himself.
Step one, locate Vlad. As soon as he found that bastard he'd be out of here.
Danny focused his attention on the happenings of the Timeline and sought out Vlad.
Fighting. Screaming. Hurt. Pain. Loneliness.
"Shit, I need to find him." He conjured up a Viewing Mirror once more and loudly stated that he needed Vlad Plasmius.
City Hall swam into few and Chronos flew like his afterlife depended on it. Within minutes he was at the scene of the fight.
Again something was wrong.
Vlad was fighting with this Timeline's version of himself. But his moves were erratic and messy. Not the clean deadly strokes Chronos was used to. Vlad had always thought of fighting as an art. Something to be respected and fought accordingly. Sure, he'd use dirty tricks now and again, but that was mostly to gain the upper hand and finish it quickly. Another minute of fighting and Danny knew what was going on.
This wasn't his Vlad. This was the alternate Timeline's version.
"If what I'm thinking is correct, that should mean that I am, somehow, the Time Master of this Timeline. That means that if I ask for my Vlad, this Timeline's Plasmius will show up. But I can't search for beings outside of Time! I can't find my Vlad, not with the help of the Mirror." Chronos was near a mental breakdown when a chunk of rock was sent flying towards his position. He side stepped it with ease; he saw it coming, after all, but it did reroute his attention back to the fight.
Alternate Danny was losing, badly. The boy faltered mid swing and let out an angry hiss of pain. He recoiled his arm, choosing to kick the other instead. Alternate Vlad took the advantage head on and pulled the teen closer to him. Now, Chronos could see that Danny was scared for his life. Vlad had this look in his eyes, that chilled the young halfa to the bone. Chronos needed to step in, to save his younger self, or wasn't he supposed to?
Chronos concentrated on the Timestream. Yes, this course of action would be beneficial, it would help him on his journey. He tried to look further, but a flash of excruciating white hot pain ripped through his body. He doubled over and let out an unearthly groan. His vision was blurring, and he felt himself falling to the pavement. For a moment he though he was about to die again when a voice pierced the oncoming darkness.
"Come on Daniel. You can't give up so soon."
Vlad! His Vlad, he was here. Chronos needed to find him. He needed to bring him back. He needed to save him.
That one thought blazed its way through Chronos' head and tuned out anything else.
"I need to save him," He said to himself as he looked up at the battle. He needed to save both Vlad's. He needed to save this Danny. He needed to save this World.
This fight was one he could leave. It was bound to over soon as he saw Vlad's own injuries. The older halfghost would never let himself be harmed more than he could handle, and would teleport himself out of there in no time.
Chronos worked with cold precision as he planned out his next move.
Vlad was his primary goal. He would start looking as soon as he had a clue. Until that day, he would focus his attention on this world's Vlad and Danny. Those two butted head in a way not healthy to either one of them. Maybe searching the Ghost Zone, for his Vlad and gaining information of the other could be helpful?
Chronos lifted himself off the ground and went to stand against the red bricks of a house. Still, invisible to all senses, he let his power flow to his hand to create a brightly glowing Portal.
His first instinct was to dive right into it, but as he knew all too well, not everything goes as planned.
He reached his hand out to touch the smooth marbling mass when he pulled his hand back the instant he touched it and felt the electric zing flashing through his form. Like touching a ghost shield, his mind helpfully added. Okay, so no Ghost Zone adventure for him.
Time had decided that this mission would not follow Chronos' plan. Danny was sure of that. What he'd do know was up to him. He pondered for awhile.
'I need to stay here, to gain more information about this World. I can't stay like this,' He gestured at himself. 'I need to find a disguise or something that will mask the fact that I'm a ghost.'
Maybe go to a quiet place first, where I don't have to keep up the invisibility.
He teleported to the outskirts of town, into one of the large abandoned warehouses.
He hummed to himself for a little while, when he had the idea to meditate. He remembered Clockwork doing it in times of turmoil.
'What did that stopwatch use to say again,' Danny tapped his foot against the ground. 'I swear that there was a special chant.'
"Ahh, that's it." He shouted to himself.
He positioned himself in a corner and started to meditate.
"Now focus on the flow of Time." He went to float about 3 feet off the ground in the lotus position.
"Listen to the wind as it carries the voice of Fate." A bright swirl of light concentrated around Danny's body as he continued to chant.
"See the path you were meant to take." Time itself warped around the boy, as he accepted their guidance.
He opened his eyes as the light exploded away from him and a shimmering dust fluttered to the ground.
He let his feet touch the ground and made himself a mirror out of ice.
Black hair, forest green eyes.
He almost squealed in happiness as he looked at himself. Finally, something was working in his favour!
He looked faintly like a human Dan, he didn't have the bulk but was still considered buff. Stood at around 6ft 3, and looked like any average human.
He scanned himself and his energy. Yup, still the same ghost he used to be, just more human looking. He felt his power flutter as all the possibilities formed plans in his mind.
sidenote Look up, The Gentledan, from Krossan. That's how I'm going to picture Chronos/Danny from now on. /sidenote
Danny looked at the black suit he wore. Okay, something new, that's nice. He felt around the suit but halted at the pocket of his pants. In one hand he held a brown (fake) leather wallet and in the other a keychain full of keys.
He conjured up a table and chair out of ice and went to sit down.
He dropped the wallet on the table and went to inspect the keychain.
Three keys and a tag.
One looked like a car key, the fob had an unknown logo on it, but he guessed he'd find out soon enough.
The next one was shiny and sparkled in the dim moonlight that streamed through the broken roof. A house key, most likely.
The third puzzled him. It looked like a locker key, something you'd get from the gym.
The tag made him smile, as he saw his Time Pendant dangling in front of his face.
He hummed as he went to look at the wallet on his table. A nondescript little thing it was. Nothing that would stand out in a crowded area.
He opened it and immediately saw the amount of cash inside the thing. He could live a normal life on that, for sure.
He pulled out each card and carefully examined them.
Three blank cards greeted him.
He picked one of them up and tried to find a clue as to what it was.
Slowly, as he set the card back down, black ink wrote itself onto it.
"Don't worry; this is all part of the plan. These three cards are yours to use. It will show the reader whatever they want. You wanted an explanation, and you got one. Now go out and follow your chosen Path.
PS: Might I advise you that history has always been your strong suit?"
~Your Own Fruitloop, Vlad.
Danny almost fell off his chair as he read the little note.
He and Vlad had established a code long ago, that if ever someone needed to sign something, and let the other know they were safe, they'd use a unique set of words.
Vlad was safe.
He picked up the next card, wondering if Vlad would write him something else. But no such luck.
He put everything back into the wallet and put it back into his pocket.
He reached for the metal of the keychain and fingered around for the fob. Maybe the sound of the vehicle would reach him.
He dissipated the furniture into thin air and pressed his finger on the fob.
An audible click caught his attention.
He went outside to the back of the building and spotted a sleek black and green motorcycle. He pressed again, and sure enough, the bike flashed in greeting to its new master.
Danny made an audible, "Yippee." When it turned out to be his motorcycle. He'd always been a bit of a gear head; he just didn't have the time to learn it.
"I guess having transportation besides my powers is handy. I can't always teleport, or fly." He murmured to the air around him.
"Wait a second, I have my travel method fixed, but where am I travelling to?"
He reached for his wallet again and plucked out one of the blank cards.
"Who am I?" He asked the card.
A neat business card greeted him.
Dan Phoenix, born 1979, lives on 87 Oak Drive.
Danny almost facepalmed at the name. Phoenix, as in reborn. How cheesy could Time get? He was 28 years old and had a house to live in. Maybe getting a profession and starting a life there wouldn't be so bad, for the time being.
What did Vlad say about history again?
Then it dawned on Danny, Vlad was suggesting doing something with history, as a job.
Ahh.
A teacher.
At the local high school.
Close enough to Alternate Danny, and close enough to Alternate Vlad. It made sense, but it weirded him out to think of himself as a teacher.
Okay, I don't have to worry about a diploma, as the cards will settle that for me. But it might be a good idea to get to my house, and settle everything.
And so he left.
On the other side of town, in the Fenton residence.
A young Danny Fenton was limping upstairs to his bedroom. His parents were away for a trip, so they wouldn't mind the late hour, and Jazz was busy at college. He twisted the knob of his bedroom door and plopped down on the bed with a heavy sigh.
He groaned as he grabbed his shoulder in pain, Vlad had gotten him good. He rolled over and bent down to grab a first aid kit. Messily grabbing a bandage and disinfectant. He gritted his teeth and went to remove his shirt when a voice made him whirl around.
"You could just phase it off you know?" The disembodied voice said from a corner of the room.
"Show yourself!" Danny yelled in surprise.
"I knew you were terrible at being subtle, but I hadn't imagined it to be this bad." The voice drawled.
"I'll make you come out; you d-don't want to fight me." He sounded unsure, scared.
"Please, don't make promises you can't keep," The voice was coming closer now. "but I am not here to fight, young one."
"What are you here for." The other spat with false anger.
"I am bound to you by Time, and I am to be your guide, in this coming...confusion." It sounded like a smile.
"Who are you?" Danny asked helplessly.
"Vlad," Danny gasped. "Vlad Phoenix."
A/N
It is finally here! After all these months of waiting, and writing, and re-writing, it is here. The first chapter of the direct sequel to Oh My Field Trip. There are some things I have to explain. I'm going to be calling everyone different things, 'cause we have two Vlad's and two Danny's. So, our Danny/Chronos will be known as and/or Dan. But I will call him Chronos when it makes more sense. Our Vlad will be known as just that, Vlad. The other Vlad will always be named Plasmius. Last but not least, the other Danny will be called, you guessed it, Danny and/or Phantom.
As for the updates, I can't guaranty anything, as my life tends to be a bit hectic whenever I think I have time to write, but I do want to have a bi-monthly update, if I can make it. For the ones, who wanted another story updated, I am truly sorry, but for the sake of my sanity, I probably won't be posting much other than this. For awhile.
Eternal Luck,
~Ghosty!