Summary: Many things happen in life. Some are just coincidences. Some have a purpose. But the troubles Danny goes through always have a reason. When his classmates and teacher get thrown into an alternate time-stream, Danny must go through the future that he hoped would never come true.
Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom because I don't have enough creativity to create such a awe-aspiring cartoon. I own the plot though and that's good enough for me.
Chapter 1:Through the Ghost Zone
"Stop acting as if life is a rehearsal. Live this day as if it were your last. The past is gone and over. The future is not guaranteed."~Wayne Dyer
Mr. Lancer's classroom was probably the quietest place in all of Casper High. Not only did the tired Monday morning help the unmotivated students who either were too tired to bother texting or pay attention, it was the most boring place in existence.
In the middle of Lancer's lecture on Romeo and Juliet, he was soon interrupted by the sound of a student bursting into the classroom. Danny Fenton, for once, was not late because of a ghost attack he had to take care of in the morning, but because he overslept from another night of ghost hunting. Before Danny could come up with an excuse, Lancer spoke up.
"Mr. Fenton, I suppose this would be another detention for you," he said, writing on his clipboard to take note of his student's tardiness. Danny grunted, just like any other day he was late.
You see, many people would think Danny as an irresponsible child, mostly because of his low GPA average and constant lateness in class. But none of them knew Danny Fenton was actually the spectral ghost hero Danny Phantom who had basically saved the town, more than once.
The only people who knew about this were his two best friends, Sam and Tucker, including his older sister Jazz. Although Vlad also knew about Danny's secret, the crazed up fruitloop didn't want to exactly shout that out loud. He knew what would happen to him if he ever revealed it.
This meant most of the students didn't know his secret identity, including the overweight teacher. Danny walked to the nearest empty seat closest to his friends and slumped to his chair dejectedly. It wasn't fair! He spent the whole night catching ghosts and this is the thanks he gets? Detention? Okay, no one knew about it, but still! Sometimes, Danny wished people knew about his secret so he wouldn't have to come up with a bunch of lame excuses that weren't even true. Well, at least there hasn't been any ghost attacks this morning.
As if on cue, a small mist escaped from his lips. His ghost senses went off. Danny scowled. Of course he had to think those words. He raised his hand. Mr. Lancer raised his eyebrows, already guessing what Danny was trying to say.
"May I go to the bathroom?" Danny asked. Dash snickered, followed by the rest of the football team. Before Lancer could answer, his eyes widened when a blue msit suddenly swirled in the middle of the room, revealing a ghost. Nearly everyone in the room screamed, jumping out of their chairs as they raced to the door way, all except for Sam, Tucker, Valerie and Danny. It was the Box Ghost, the most annoying ghost ever, mostly to Danny's bane existence.
The Box Ghost floated above the classroom, waving his arms dramatically. "I am the Box Ghost! Master of All Things Cardboard And Square!" Danny rolled his eyes.
Sam faked gasped. "Oh no! It's a ghost," she said in mock-horror rather loudly. "Everybody run." No one needed to be told twice as the scared students hurriedly tried to reach the front door. Lancer grabbed the door handle, twisting it furiously.
"Lord of the Flies! It's bolt shut!" The overweight teacher proclaimed. Danny raised an eyebrow. Since when did the Box Ghost become smart enough to lock doors from the outside?
"You will all face my wrath!" The Box Ghost boomed, raising his arms as two large boxes of cardboard floated in the air.
Danny's eyes widened, not because of the floating boxes, but what was inside them. Dangling from the edges of the box, were metallic blue amulets clearly inscribed with the letters 'CW.' Judging by Sam and Tucker's shocked faces, they were thinking the same thing. How did the Box Ghost get a hold of the time medallions? And what are they doing in cardboard boxes?
Tucker quickly grabbed a thermos from his backpack and threw it to Danny, catching the metal container with his hands. Before he could aim it at the ghostly pest, Danny was suddenly bombarded with small boxes, knocking the metal container out of his hands. It skidded to the side, closest to Sam.
"You will not trap me in your cylindrical container!" The Box Ghost exclaimed, pointing at Danny. "For I am the BOX GHOST, Master of All Things Cardboard and Square!" The moment he said 'ghost,' the students began banging the door repeatedly. Danny simply gestured at Sam, knowing fully well how harmless the Box Ghost really is.
Picking up the thermos, Sam unscrewed the weapon and aimed it at the spectral pest. With a click of a button, the 'Master of All Things Cardboard and Square" was sucked into the container.
Everyone stood near the door, filled with awe shock that, Sam, a goth geek, had just captured a ghost. How did she do that? The only people who weren't gaping their mouths open and standing around like idiots were Danny, Sam, Valerie, and Tucker. After all, the Box Ghost is the weakest ghost in existence.
Soon, Valerie found herself staring at the two brown cardboard boxes that were left in the scene. Curiously, she walked over and picked up a medallion that was inside the box. She felt the cold metal surface touch against her hand, carefully tracing the inscribed letters in the front. She had never seen anything like it. Almost like it's from the future or something.
Danny, Sam, and Tucker glanced each other nervously. The medallions were extremely dangerous. Who knows what could happen. They both decided they should return the trinkets back to Clockwork as soon as possible. Tucker and Danny carried the cardboard boxes up.
The rest of the students left the room, after one student managed to open the door using a credit card, for they feared that the ghost might return. The only students who didn't leave were Dash, Paulina, Star, and Kwan. They wanted to see what was going on and were a bit curious about the ghostly items the Box Ghost left. Especially Paulina, since she had a complete obsession with the ghost boy, Danny Phantom. Anything involving ghosts was worth looking into, in her opinion.
Sam knew Valerie was involved with Vlad Masters/Plasmius. If Vlad got a hold of it, it won't be long until the lonely wealthy bachelor learns about…him. She swiped the Time Medallions from Valerie's hands.
"Hey!" the ghost hunter protested, grabbing back the trinket that Sam took. "What was that for?" Sam was about to take the object from Valerie again, only to be blocked by Mr. Lancer, who stood between the glowering girls.
"Settle down peoples!" The teacher shouted, even thought there were only about eight people in the room, not including himself. Sam's face fell from not getting the chance to take back the trinket, while Valerie silently hid the Time Medallion in her pocket. The bald overweight teacher soon turned his attention to Danny and Tucker and took one of the trinkets, studying it carefully.
Danny was about to tell Mr. Lancer to give back the item, but Paulina swooped down like an eagle and grabbed the metallic object from the box Tucker was carrying.
"Oohh…this would go great with my Ghost Boy shrine." Although Paulina wasn't sure if the ghost boy ever touched it, she could only guess that any ghost item worth taking belonged to him.
Dash perked up when Paulina said those words, knowing fully well what kind of ghost boy she was talking about. The large quarterback loomed over Tucker and grabbed the medallions from the box, hoping the object showed some use. It may belong to Inviso-Bill after all. Soon, Kwan and Star took the Time Medallions and it wasn't long before the A-list hung them around their necks like some sort of badge.
Danny protested. "You guys can't wear those things!" They belong to Clockwork, after all. "It could be dangerous." Dash, Paulina and Star ignored him, knowing that he was only a loser with freaky ghost-hunting parents.
Kwan seemed to be hit by those words, seeing as he was about to take off the medallion. "We should probably take these things off." Dash scoffed in response.
"Fenturd's just a loser, Kwan. What does he know?"
Well plenty being half ghost and all, Danny thought, but he didn't say those words out loud. Sam stood next to Valerie, determined to take back the medallion. She grabbed Valerie by the shoulder, but before Sam could take back the medallion, she felt a tingling cold sensation.
All the students in the room, including Mr. Lancer, were surrounded by a bluish glow, before they disappeared in a flash.
Darkness descended upon the luminous lair. Clocks surrounded the place, each hand at a different time, which was strange. But then again, this is Amity Park…or was.
Paulina was shaking, her heart thumping loudly as it rang deeply in her ears. The place felt ice cold, almost like the Ghost Boy but more noticeable. Everything here felt wrong and out of place. For some reason, Paulina didn't felt she belong here, like she was something insignificant and tiny compared to this creepy tower. And that just plain sucks.
"Paulina, are you okay?"
The Hispanic girl jumped and swiftly turned around, only to be disappointed when she saw it was Danny who was speaking to her. For a second, the loser sounded just like the Ghost Boy! Ew!
"What loser?" Paulina spat, and then stopped herself. This was no time for insults. Flicking her hair, she closely examined the boy. There was aura of familiarity passing through the social-outcast, like he knew this creepy place. "Where are we?" She finally asked.
"The Ghost Zone," Danny replied, as if it was something you would normally talk about in a conversation. Before Paulina can process what she just heard, a familiar voice spoke out in the shadowy distance.
"Dude, what the heck happened?" It was Dash, judging by his squeaky voice. He approached the two teens, his entire body shaking with either hypothermia or fear. Star, Mr. Lancer, Valerie, and Kwan were behind him, almost as freaked out as he was. Paulina saw Sam and Tucker, looking completely unfazed by the entire situation.
"Everyone, just calm down," Danny said. Everyone stared at the raven-haired guy, feeling nervous. They were just transported into a freaky tower and some kid tells them to 'calm down?'
"What do you suppose we do Mr. Fenton," Lancer replied calmly. Truth to be told, he was impressed at how well Mr. Fenton was taking the situation.
"Well since we got here from these medallions, all we have to do is take these things off," Danny explained, emphasizing his point by gesturing at the amulet hung around Kwan's neck. Sam frowned.
"It won't work," the Goth girl said, speaking for the first time since they got here. "We were transported here by something or someone else. Danny, Tucker and I weren't wearing the medallions when we got here."
"Looks like your idea is dumber that I thought Fentonia," Dash sneered. "That means I'm the leader, got it?" He said smugly, although it was hard to imagine Dash taking charge. It took almost all of Valerie's willpower not to groan. Didn't he hear what Danny had just said? They were in the Ghost Zone, for crying out loud! Dash didn't know anything about ghosts!
He probably didn't want to be under classed by Danny, Valerie thought bitterly. I'm guessing he didn't want to be showed up by the 'loser.'
As much as she loved hunting down those spectral spooks in their home turf, she decided otherwise. The African-American slowly backed up to gaze outward at the giant clock above them. Valerie had a feeling she shouldn't be here…
Thump!
Apparently, she bumped into something. Turning around abruptly, she looked down at the floor to see what was dropped and crouched down, only to pick up what seemed like a soup container.
It looked exactly like the thermos Danny and Sam carried, with its metal gleam and colored green edges. Unlike their perfectly mint-condition thermos, this one was worn and bent, with the surface dusty and smeared with small pints of blood. A hard bump was on the object, the dent shaped like a face of someone.
A sudden chill overcame her, looking at the thermos, although she didn't know why, struck thought her like a deathly impending doom that could not be explained. This wasn't like facing Phantom, or even the Ghost King. No. The chill was intangible and petrifying, and all Valerie could do was stare at the object, completely mesmerized by the sudden ghastly aura it gave off.
"Don't touch it!" Valerie dropped the thermos, startled by Danny's piercing tone. He grabbed Valerie by the shoulder and seized the object, his clutched hand filled with forcefulness but at same time, handled with delicate care.
"We should put this back," Danny said slowly, his voice trembling from what Valerie could not be mistaken as fear. The ghost hunter couldn't help but feel curious. Why is Danny acting like this?
"What's in it?" The question was pretty straightforward and simple, but Danny began to pale as if she slapped him in the face. His blue eyes stared at the thermos with such dread that was completely different from anything Valerie had ever felt from someone. "Danny?"
Maybe he didn't hear her question, because Danny stood up and began setting the thermos back onto the counter and began to give a brave smile, although masked with weariness only recognizable to his best friends. Everyone was staring at him now, a bit peculiar by his sudden attitude change while Sam and Tucker cast each other uneasy glances, but didn't say anything.
Something was definably weird going on with Danny, Valerie thought. Like way weirder than usual.
But she didn't want to press him any further as it already was. So she didn't ask Danny any more questions.