The future was unavoidable. Fixed points in time can't be changed, especially once you read the grave of your friends and family. Clockwork knew it, but he couldn't bring himself to tell the Phantom. Danny Phantom has tried everything to set things right, each ending in the world falling apart. He had to face the facts; neither he nor Clockwork could change the unavoidable future.
Danny's friends and family died and he went to live with Vlad Masters. Just the thought of it made Danny grimace. He had nowhere else to go. No one else was left. He believes he is all alone in the world. He has seen his future, there was no changing the fact everyone he has cared about is gone, even Mr. Lancer.
Vlad took Danny in immediately. His anger towards the boy was no more. It disappeared when he showed up on his door step with his belongings and the news. It took a few weeks before the boy warmed completely up to him. They always sat in the library at night and played games such as Monopoly and chess. The day Danny sat down with the board game with Vlad was the day they started to bond. It was out of nowhere and it puzzled Vlad.
Little did the man know, there was a secret Danny kept from Vlad. It wasn't the ghost secret since they both knew that about each other. It is a deeper secret the man wouldn't understand: the secret friend.
It started the night before Danny started playing games with Vlad in the library. A whooshing sound like a beautiful screech to play in the air outside air, then a light flashing on top of a big blue police box started to appear. Danny watched from his window in disbelief. A man in a brown pinstripe suit stepped out and locked the doors behind him. The man with the box looked straight at him. Danny shrunk down to where his eyes peaked over the edge of the window. The strange man curled his left index finger at Danny, beckoning him to come down and see him. Danny wasn't sure if he should trust the man, but something made him start shuffling through the dark, vast house until he was outside. He weaved around the willow trees and bushes until he was around the side of the house where the man with the mysterious blue box was waiting.
"Are you the great Danny Phantom or should I say Fenton?" the man asked in a deep British accent.
"Why would you care?" Danny mumbled.
"I should introduce myself. I'm the Doctor and today we are taking a trip." He smiled.
: You are just some weirdo and I'm dreaming. I knew I was crazy. You couldn't possibly be real." Danny started jumping to conclusions and tried to make his way back in the house.
A firm hand grasped Danny on his shoulder and twisted him around.
"I know your future. You didn't defeat your older, evil self. He got free again. He destroys the Earth after 10 years of being locked up. It's unavoidable." the Doctor explained, his face twisting into an expression that was too sad to even look at.
"How do you know?" Danny asked.
"Let me show you." the Doctor unlocked the door to the blue box and cast the door wide open, pushing Danny inside.
Danny's eyes widen at the sight of the vastness of the inside of the box.
"It's bigger on the inside! What is it?" Danny let his eyes wonder around the inside of the box.
"She is the T.A.R.D.I.S. or Time and Relative Dimension in Space. This baby is my time machine and spaceship." the Doctor proudly stated.
"You're an alien?"
"And you're half ghost."
The Doctor danced around the center console area pushing buttons and hitting things until they worked. He made his way to the screen and pulled Danny over to looks at it.
His future ghost self is flying through the sky. Underneath on the ground nothing but debris and dead people were strewn everywhere. The screen buzzed to show all parts of the world: Japan, England, Ireland, and the rest of the most devastated parts of the world. Then it flickered to a new area: a shelter surround by a ghost shield filled with crying people scared for their lives. Then the screen turned off.
"That's...that's my fault?" Danny's voice cracked as he asked the alien before him.
"Yes, but that's not what I'm here for. I'm here to cheer you up since you are all alone." the Doctor patted him on his back.
Tears started to stream down the teenager's face.
"Oh dear... I made it worse again, didn't I? I thought the truth would help."
"It's okay. I knew inside something couldn't change the future. It's just you cheer people up by showing them the future that's bad."
"It isn't why I brought you inside the T.A.R.D.I.S. I brought you in here for fun. Today I'm going to be the fun Doctor." the Doctor grinned.
"What do you mean?"
The Doctor pressed a couple more buttons on the console and pulled a lever. The T.A.R.D.I.S. started to shake violently and the loud screech wailed all around of them. Danny clutched onto the railing before the ship tossed him around. The Doctor held tightly to the console. Within a few seconds, the ship went still. He let go of the console and strolled over to the doors and opened them to reveal the entire space. Danny was dazed and then he started to panic.
"What about air? I can't live without it!" Danny shouted.
"There's this field around the T.A.R.D.I.S. letting you have that." the Doctor reassured him before sitting down at the doors with his legs hanging out.
Danny went and joined him, happy for once. Outer space was beautiful, especially right now. He sighed and put his hand on the older man...err...alien's shoulder
"You know...I actually know how you feel. I've lost my entire family, child, grandchild, even the greatest companion ever to the cruel fate of the world. I caused it. It is my fault that they're gone now." the Doctor sighed.
Danny remained silent, not sure what to say. He knew what the alien was talking about, but he just couldn't offer any words to try and tell him that it wasn't his fault.
"I'm over 900 years old; it's lonely to be a madman in a box. Everyone always leaves." he continued.
"I will stay...I will be your friend, Doctor." Danny smiled.
"Thanks, Danny. I guess all we need is a friend in this world to help us. Even though you say you won't leave me, you will when you don't need me anymore."
"Are you sure?"
"I'm pretty sure. Remember I know these things." the Doctor laughed.
Danny smiled and looked under his feet at the vastness below. The stars were burning bright and he thinks he sees a few comets go by. He couldn't believe that he got to see all this. It was kind of like being an astronaut.
"You know if you open up to who you have left in some way, it will make it easier." the Doctor turned to Danny, his voice serious.
"How? Vlad would never understand." Danny looked away from the sight around him to look the Doctor in the eyes.
"How do you know if you don't try? You can open up in any way. It can be fun. It doesn't have to be hard." the Doctor tried to offer another one of his award winning smiles that his old companion used to love.
"Fun?" Danny didn't think opening up to someone could be fun.
"Play games or whatever you do to have fun? Bond with...erm...Vlad."
"I think I have some board games. I miss playing them."
The Doctor smiled and patted Danny on his head playfully.
"Can you...take me back? I have something I need to do." Danny finally asked after a long moment of silence.
"Sure thing." the Doctor had a wide grin that spread across his face.
The Doctor and Danny got up and the Doctor shut the doors. The Doctor danced around the console pressing buttons until he got to the lever he pulled before they took off before.
"Allons-y!" he shouted as he yanked the lever.
The T.A.R.D.I.S shuddered; its wail pierced the inside of the ship. They landed back in the same spot the ship was at first. The Doctor and Danny both walked outside the T.A.R.D.I.S. and said their goodbyes. Danny gave the Doctor a big hug before jogging back the way he had came and disappeared. The Doctor sighed and his smiles faded to his normal sad expression. He couldn't tell the boy he would destroy the boy's future self before the destruction of the world. He didn't want to scare the boy. He wanted the boy to have a friend: a friend who actually understands him.