Future Phantom
"Everything is as it should be."
That's what Clockwork says to himself as he rests deep inside his lair, standing in front of his reality screens. He observes more than a dozen things all happening at once on Earth. It is a tireless task, and one that he occasionally grows weary of. This is one of those occasions, as he decides to turn his attention away and let the world go by. He walks over to what looks like a Trophy Case, and stops in front of it.
"My Collection." He says, referring to the items he has collected from various time periods. He has kept them as a memento/reminder of the times he has had to inject himself, mostly unknown, into the time stream in order to save time itself. One item in particular catches his eye…the Fenton Thermos. Inside it contains the most powerful & dangerous ghost to ever exist, Danny Phantom. Or to be more precise, his evil, older self. Clockwork picks up the Thermos, reminiscing on the events that led to Dark Danny's capture inside of it.
"One of the greatest threats to the Earth & the Ghost Zone…and he was defeated by his younger past self." Clockwork says to himself. "The battle was epic, and the very definition of 'once in a lifetime'." Just then, Clockwork notices a soft buzzing sound being emitted from the Thermos. It slowly starts to get louder, and he puts his ear up close to it to investigate when…
BA-KOOOOM!!!!!!!!!
The Thermos explodes, knocking Clockwork all the way across the room, and nearly knocking him out. He hits the wall and lands on the floor in a daze. As he lies against the wall, he notices that his vision is now blurry, and his ears are still ringing from the explosion. But his sight comes back, just as the dust clears to reveal the one man he was just talking about…Dan Phantom.
"Dad never was efficient at building these things." He says, holding a piece of the Thermos in his hand. "I heard every word you said, Timekeeper. And I have to disagree. Danny will see me again…twice in his lifetime. And the results will definitely be different. I bet you didn't foresee that, did you?" He lets out a low evil laugh as he jumps through the portal that leads to the Human World. Clockwork is left there, holding his chest in pain.
"No…I did not foresee this." He says, knowing Dan won't here him. "But I did anticipate it." He reaches over to his Time Staff that was dropped in the explosion and grabs it. Opening a compartment at the head of the Staff, he grabs a flying mini-timepiece and sends it on its way. "Young Danny will need help this time…and there is only one who can provide that help." The Timepiece flies through a second portal, where it leads is anyone's guess.
Meanwhile, at Casper High School…
"BYE, KIDS! Have fun learning!"
Maddie Fenton sees her two children off to school from inside the Fenton RV, with Jack in the driver's seat. Jazz & Danny try their best not to turn around, not wanting to draw even more attention to their parents. But Jack ruins all that.
"And report any Ghost sightings on the back covers of your math books." He says. "I'll scan them when you get home." With that, he steps on the gas and pulls out of the school zone & down the street, finally leaving Jazz & Danny. Jazz sees a few of her friends and runs over to talk with them, as Tucker meets up with Danny.
"I swear there is not another kid in this school that has to deal with more embarrassing parents." Danny says. But he's about to eat his words as Tucker points back to the drop off area, where Sam is now standing in front of a limo, while her parents wish her off.
"You have fun at school, my special little cupcake." Her mom tells her, before pinching her cheeks, adding to the embarrassment. The two then climb back into the limo and ride off, as Sam storms towards the school, past Danny & Tucker, feeling completely humiliated.
"I wish I was dead." She says, as the two catch up to her.
"Well, you could be half dead, like Danny." Tucker tells her, before being elbowed by Danny.
"Not funny, Tucker." She snaps back. "It's enough that I have to deal with my parents dropping me off at school once a week, but now they've started to try and GROOM me for the Family Business. They've bought me business skirts, got me a scholarship to Amity Park Business School AND they made me open a bank account."
"COOL!" Tucker says, as they walk into the school. "How about lending me a couple of thousand?"
"Knock it off, Tucker." Danny says, before turning to Sam. "And that can't be any worse than my parents. My Dad now wants to wake me up at 6am for Ghost Hunting Boot Camp. Before I go to school I have to assemble 4 Fenton Bazookas, untangle the Fenton Ghost Fisher and change the oil in the Fenton RV…and that's before I even brush my teeth."
"Whoa, that's tough." Tucker says, before grinning widely. "It's times like this I'm happy my parents just want me to go to Technical College."
"Is Jazz getting the same training?" Sam asks.
"No, Mom's training her in Taekwondo." Danny says. "And she seems to be enjoying it." Just then, their attention is turned to Jazz, as she flips Dash Baxter over he shoulder and slams him to the ground, hurting & embarrassing him at the same time. "Guess Dash was trying out another of his lame come-on lines." As they travel down the hall, the school bell rings, and all of the students in the hall head off to their classes. Sam & Tucker head to their classes and wave bye to Danny, who's still getting his books out of his locker. Once done, he shuts the locker door and runs off to his class before he's late. But as he dashes down the hall, he hears a familiar voice.
"What's the hurry, Danny?"
He stops in his tracks, instantly recognizing the voice. "No…it couldn't be." He says.
"Oh come on, don't tell me you don't remember your own voice."
"You're not me." Danny says. "And you shouldn't even be here. I locked you in the Fenton Thermos."
"Did you really think you could just keep me under lock & key? I have your powers, multiplied tenfold. No one…keeps me under lock & key."
"You shouldn't even exist!" Danny yells. "I passed the test, and I did it without cheating. So I'm not turning into you."
"Oh, there are more ways that you can become me, Danny. Losing your loved ones can put you right on that path."
Danny's eyes widen as he realizes what Dan means. "Mom, Dad. Jazz!"
"And Sam, and Tucker. So many ways to create myself, how will I ever choose?"
"You're not gonna hurt them!" Danny says, getting angry. "I won't let you!"
"…And just what can you do to stop me?"
"THIS!!!" Danny turns around and unleashes a widespread Ghost Ray. It doesn't do any damage, but it is powerful enough to open every locker in the hallway. Danny grits his teeth and starts breathing hard as he pulls back, seeing that Dark Danny isn't there. He takes a deep breath and is about to head off to class, when he hears an unexpected voice.
"Of Mice & Men, what is going on here?"
Danny turns around to see that his fear is confirmed. It's Mr. Lancer. And with no other student around, all signs point to Danny being responsible for this mess. Danny would explain, but that involves giving away his secret identity as Danny Phantom. So instead, he prepares for his punishment.
"Detention?" Danny asks.
"Detention." Mr. Lancer answers.
Back at Clockwork's Lair…
Clockwork is still out of it, KO'ed from the explosion that freed Dark Danny. But the Flying Timepiece he sent through the portal returns, and a shadowy figure is behind it.
"Hmmph, someone roughed up Clockwork real good. Guess that's why I got that message. Well, show me where they went, little guy."
The Flying Timepiece leads the figure through the other portal, the one Dark Danny went through, and into the Ghost Zone.
Hours Later, after school…
It's 5pm, and Danny has just finished serving his Maximum Detention. Tucker is waiting out in front of the school as Danny walks out.
"So how does it feel to be a free man, jailbird?" Tucker asks, jokingly.
"Very Funny." Danny replies. "What happened to Sam?"
"She had to go try on more business dresses with her mom." Tucker tells him. "So it's just you & me on the way home." The two start off on their trip home as the sun starts to set. The streets are abnormally clear at this time. They're usually filled with people on their way home from work, but it's almost like a ghost town. This doesn't go unnoticed by Danny.
"Boy, what's with the Ghost Town impression by Amity Park?" Danny asks.
"I don't know, but I like it." Tucker says, working on his PDA. "No more interference with my PDA."
"And no more interference with your death."
The two both stop and turn around quickly, to see Skulker floating above them. His look has drastically changed from the last time him and Danny met, but Danny finds it familiar. It's almost the exact look he had when his future self merged with Technus to form Skulktech 9.9. "Skulker? Out in broad daylight…uh, Sunset?" Tucker says.
"You've got a lot of guts, Skulker." Danny tells him.
"I've also got a lot of power now." Skulker says, as a missile launcher pops up out of his shoulder. A missile is fired, and Danny shoves Tucker out of the way before impact.
FATHOOOOM!!!!!!
The missile is indeed more powerful than before, as it creates a crater about 5 cars wide. Danny gets up and transforms into his ghost mode, ready for battle. "He is more powerful" Danny says to himself. "Usually his missiles leave a small hole. That was almost like a megaton bomb." Before he can launch an attack of his own, Skulker aims for another attack.
"You are lucky, Ghost-Child." He says. "I am not here for you this day. But you might want to wish your friend a fond farewell." He aims his missile launcher at Tucker, and prepares to fire.
"Wait, what?" Tucker says. "This isn't about that PDA thing, is it?"
"No, YOU CAN'T!!!" Danny yells, about to leap into action. But everything stops once another voice is heard.
"Going after a defenseless human? And you call yourself a Hunter."
Skulker quickly turns in the direction the voice came from, looking angry. "WHO DARES???" What he sees is a lone figure standing in the sunset, so none of his features can be seen. The figure takes a few steps forward, and now can be identified as a man. He's wearing a black hooded jacket, and what looks like to be a Superhero outfit underneath (sans a cape). The hood hides his face in shadow.
"You were always pathetic, Skulker. But to stoop to this level?" The man says. "You make the Box Ghost look tougher now."
"I will rip your skin off and use it as a rug in my Lair!" Skulker tells him. Meanwhile, Danny & Tucker regroup together.
"OK, what is going on?" Tucker asks.
"I don't know." Danny says. "But he's given me an opening." He's about to attack Skulker with full power when the man puts up his hand and stops him.
"WAIT!" He says. "Don't bother, kid. I'll handle Elmer Fudd, here."
"And what can a puny human do against the mighty Skulker?" the Ghost Hunter asks.
"You see that's just it." The man says. "I'm not "fully" human." After saying that, the man lifts his head a bit, exposing some of his face, and smiles. A moment later, his eyes begin to glow a very familiar bright green. So familiar, that Skulker has feelings of confusion and fear.
"What a minute, you're…but you can't…I just left…YOU'RE NOT DA-."
He doesn't get the chance to finish, as the man raises his arm and fires off a green orb of what looks to be super condensed Ghost Energy…aimed right at Skulker.
KRA-KA-BOOOOM!!!!
There is a massive explosion once the Orb hits Skulker. It's big enough to send cars flying, and knock Danny & Tucker off their feet. The two stand back up, and brush themselves off. A moment later, when the dust clears, they see absolutely no sign of Skulker. It's as if he's been completely vaporized.
"Whoa…he just annihilated Skulker with…with…what was that?" Tucker asks, in complete shock.
"A Ghost Bomb." The man tells him, after hearing every word Tucker said, much to their shock. "Took me almost forever to master it, but it's been useful. Skulker's now back in the Ghost Zone, where he belongs."
"Yeah, well that doesn't let you off the hook." Danny says, confused & still angry. "Who do you think you are?"
"Geez, I know I wasn't that good in school, but come on." The man says, turning away from the two. Danny doesn't allow him to leave though, as he zooms after him and grabs his arm, turning him around.
"You're gonna give me some answers, pal! And…" The rest of his words die in his mouth once her turns the man around. His jacket opens wide and Danny gets to see what is underneath…the DP Emblem. The very same DP emblem that is on his chest. Danny looks up at the man's face, only to see an older version of himself staring back.
"Get it now, Danny." The man says. "I'm you."