Update: I finally finished the title card. It took a lot longer than I expected. Unfortunately, the image got cropped so I'll have to post it on Deviant Art or something. Nevertheless, this work is finally completed and I can now focus my attention on writing Final Exam…
Author's Note: So, I decided to write my own fanfiction fourth season. This story represents what would be the first two episodes. I have tried to keep everything as consistent with the original content as I could, while still allowing the series to evolve. It is a bit darker than previous stories, but I would say no more so than "The Ultimate Enemy." Of course, I do not own Danny Phantom or any of the other characters from the show. They were created by Butch Hartman and are currently owned by Nickelodeon.
Teaser:
"You know, I really miss when you guys were even worse ghost catchers than my parents!" Danny hissed quietly to himself, narrowly avoiding a bolt of purple energy that just barely missed his shoulder.
On the street below him, a little over a dozen Guys in White operatives had their blasters trained on him, each firing away and getting closer and closer to actually landing a hit.
Once upon a time they were some of the least competent ghost hunters in the world. However, after the Ghost King's invasion they had slowly become more efficient. But while they had become more effective, they still weren't much of a challenge. All that changed after the Disasteroid crisis. In the months that followed, they had become increasingly more skillful. They had become far more organized and efficient, becoming a far more dangerous challenge with each attack. Lately, Danny had been pushed to his limits just trying to escape them. Rumor on the street was that someone new had taken over, but the real reason they'd become so much more dangerous was still shrouded in mystery.
He skillfully flew past each of their bolts, but the shots were getting more precise and more rapid, making them much harder to dodge. He knew he had to get out of there and soon.
At that exact moment, a GIW operative on a nearby roof quickly assembled a blaster that was eerily reminiscent of a sniper rifle. He quickly lined Danny up with the crosshairs and pulled the trigger, sending a bolt of blue energy racing towards his target.
Danny did a flip to avoid an oncoming energy blast and soon found himself facing the opposite direction… which was just as well for him since he could now see the blue beam racing towards him. He pulled away just in time, only for a second beam to graze his shoulder. He grunted in pain and looked over to see another operative on another roof top. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a third operative assembling his own weapon. Between the three new snipers and the endless barrage of fire from below, Danny knew he was seriously outgunned. He needed to get out of there and fast. The Guys in White, while still dangerous, were still human and he didn't want to risk his ghost powers causing them serious harm. This meant that retreat was his only option here.
He flew away at full speed, desperately trying to get away. He pressed a button on the Fenton Phones in his ears. "Sam. Tucker. Come in!"
"We're here, Danny," he heard Sam's voice say on the other line.
"We hear you loud and clear, dude," Tucker confirmed.
"Who is it this time?" asked his female best friend-turned-girlfriend. "Skulker? Ember? Technus?"
"Worse. It's the Guys in White… again!"
"Seriously? That's like the twelfth time this month! That's pesty even by government standards!"
"Well, it gets worse. They've seriously upgraded their weapons and seem to have called in the A-Team today. I've been trying to lose them for a half an hour now but they keep popping up all over town. I think they're tracking me somehow."
"Have no fear, your tech-savvy mayor is here!" his male best friend boasted. "I should be able to hack into they're system from here. Then, I can disable their tracking and scramble their communications."
A few seconds later, a very frustrated Tucker popped back on. "What the heck? I've been completely locked out. They out-teched me! Technology betrayed me. Why, technology? Why?!"
While Danny was rolling his eyes at Tucker's overdramatization, he failed to notice the GIW sniper on the rooftop behind him. The operative fired a blast that hit Danny right between the shoulders, causing him to crash down hard on the street below.
Theme Song & Title Card
A barely conscious Danny soon found himself surrounded by a dozen GIW operatives, each with their blasters trained on him. As he began to drag himself to his feet, two men pushed themselves forward. Two bald men, one African-American and one Caucasian. Danny recognized them both: Operatives O and K. These jokers had been after him ever since Vlad put that bounty on his head. Thankfully, they weren't exactly the sharpest tools in the shed. If they were in charge, and he played his cards right, he should be able to come out of this on top.
"Attention Daniel Fenton," Operative O began. "You are hereby under arrest for breaking statute four-alpha, subsection D: fusing human DNA with that of a ghost. The punishment for such a serious crime is eradication."
Operative K unrolled a pack, revealing several terrifying-looking weapons. He eventually selected one that looked like a small, futuristic white pistol. "This device is the most humane eradicator we have at our disposal. It will pull you apart, molecule by molecule, in a matter of seconds."
He aimed the weapon at Danny and pulled the trigger. Immediately a panel opened in the back, with a tiny screen displaying a big digital zero.
"What's the meaning of this? This eradicator appears to be having a severe malfunction."
Operative O took a closer look at the weapon. "Negative. Equipment is in perfect working order. That is not an eradicator. It is a Spectral Speed Detector. It measures how fast ghosts are moving."
"It's a ghost speed gun?" his partner asked incredulously. "Seriously? Why do we even have that?"
Danny couldn't help but laugh. These bozos finally had him at their mercy and they still managed to bungle it. "Man, you guys are the very definition of 'good enough for government work'!"
Operative K put down the speed gun and picked up something that looked like a large white bullhorn. "This should do the trick."
When he aimed this new device at Danny, it released a series of pulsating green waves. Danny screamed in pain and felt himself getting weaker and weaker.
"Recognize this sensation? You should. This device is powered by ecto-ranium. It sends out waves to weaken and cripple ghosts. You may have stopped the Disasteroid from hitting the planet, but several large pieces still broke off and fell to earth, and we've been collecting each and every little fragment. The new commander has been hard at work designing new weapons like this one to harness the effects of ecto-ranium to neutralize the ghost threat."
New commander? Danny thought. So, there is someone new in charge… That certainly explains a lot.
But he didn't have time to ponder the matter further. Danny knew he couldn't last much longer. He felt almost completely out of energy and was about to lose consciousness. He only had one chance to get out of this. Summoning up every last bit of energy he had, he turned himself intangible and phased through the ground. He dropped into a dark tunnel and splashed into some foul-smelling water, having just fallen into the sewers. He wobbled to his feet, took a few steps, and collapsed. Then, everything went black…
Danny woke up in the dark covered in murky green sludge. He was completely disoriented and couldn't remember how he'd gotten here. He attempted to fly upwards but found himself too weak. He trudged forward, trying to find a way out. The farther he marched, the more he remembered. The Guys in White, the new commander, that ecto-ranium wave gun… It was all coming back to him. He noticed he was back in his human form. He must have reverted back when he passed out. He pressed a button on his Fenton Phones to contact Tucker and Sam, but all he heard was static on the other end.
I should have known, he berated himself. I must be WAY out of range!
He eventually came to a ladder which led up to a manhole cover. Danny ascended the ladder and slid the cover back. When he climbed out onto the street, he couldn't believe what he saw.
It still looked vaguely like Amity Park, but completely warped. The skies were now an eerie, unnatural crimson color. The buildings were all high-tech and futuristic looking. They were all made from black metal and covered in green lights and circuits, making them look unnervingly reminiscent to Technus' armor. Cars had been overturned and set on fire (ghostly green fire to be exact). A large billboard on the top of one of the new billboards read: "Ember- Live & In Concert!" Hordes of Walker's police goons marched, or rather floated, down the streets. Green ghosts swooped and flew through the sky.
"Houston, we have a problem."
No sooner had he said that, then a gruff voice from behind him growled: "We most certainly do have a problem!"
He turned around to see one of Walker's police goons hovering behind him, brandishing his police baton menacingly.
"You're out past curfew, son. That's against the rules!"
Danny took a step back. "I-I-I'm going ghost!" He raised his arms into the air. Nothing happened. "Ahem. I said I'm going ghost!" Still nothing. "Oh no. I can't go ghost!"
"Sorry son, but the only place you'll be going is straight to jail."
"Leave him alone!" a female voice called out.
The police ghost turned around only to be hit in the chest by a bolt of green energy, sending him flying backwards. A female silhouette descended from the sky and pulled out a Fenton thermos. She opened it, sucking the police ghost back inside.
"Are you alright, citizen?" the figure asked, trying to sound tough and heroic.
"Yeah, I think so. Thanks," he responded Suddenly, he noticed that the voice sounded familiar "Wait, Sam?"
Suddenly, the silhouette came into full view. It was indeed Sam, but she looked…different. Her hair was white and her eyes glowed green. She wore an outfit similar to the one he wore in his ghost form, except hers had an S instead of a D.
"Danny?" she asked, a look of confusion on her face. Then her face hardened into a look of anger. "Oh, you have some nerve showing up here!"
"What are you talking about? Where is here? What happened in Amity Park?!"
"Like you don't know… You live with the man who did all this! Or has life in Wisconsin been so perfect you haven't bothered to look out the window?"
"Wait…Wisconsin? Are saying Vlad is behind this?"
His archnemesis hadn't been seen since he flew off into space during the Disasteroid crisis. That had been two months ago. Some people thought he was gone for good, but Danny knew it was only a matter of time before he came back with another diabolical plot. Still, he had no idea how he could have accomplished all this in such a short amount of time.
"Well, duh! He only established himself overlord of the whole planet a few months ago! Come to think of it, that was the same time you abandoned us to a full-scale ghost invasion. You moved in with a megalomaniac and never looked back, leaving us to try and defend our home town all by ourselves. And here I thought you were our friend."
"I am your friend, Sam. More than that, you're my girlfriend. If you would just tell me what—"
"Girlfriend? Wow. Backstabbing and delusional. Now you're really going to get blasted!"
"The only one getting blasted here will be you, ghost child!" a familiar deep voice boomed from behind them.
The booth turned to see Skulker flying towards Sam, launching a massive missile in their direction.
"I'm going…" Danny called out, but then realized he couldn't transform into his ghost form, "…to go hide over there!"
He ran behind a nearby tree and watched as Sam dodged out of the way of the missile just in the nick of time. She fired a series of ghost ray blasts at the ghostly hunter. He was able to avoid most of them but the final two managed to hit him dead on, blasting him back several feet. He growled and released a powerful purple beam from a cannon that emerged from out of his robotic arm. Sam flew out of the way, but was quickly hit by a rocket he had released simultaneously. She was blown out of the sky and crashed down hard on the ground. Wounded and weak, she struggled to bring herself back up to her feet. Seeing the perfect opportunity, Skulker cast a glowing green net around her, effectively trapping her in place.
"Sam!" Danny called out running to her side. He picked up a piece of flaming shrapnel on the ground and began desperately cutting through the net.
"How cute. The ghost child has adopted herself a human pet," Skulker mocked them from above. "Too bad he won't be able to save you!"
Realizing he had to get rid of the Ghost Zone's greatest hunter, he picked up another, much larger piece of flaming shrapnel. He gave it all of his might and threw it at his adversary… only for it to land about three feet in front of him.
"Wow, that was a really lousy throw."
"Really?" Skulker aske in mild annoyance. "What was that supposed to do?"
Danny shrugged his shoulders, able to offer no good answer, and continued cutting through the net.
"No matter. You shouldn't have gotten yourself involved in this, human. Now I will have to mount you both on my wall!"
At that moment, Danny finally broke through the netting, releasing Sam. Instantly, she fired of a blast of green energy at the outermost turbine on the right wing of Skulker's jetpack. The ghostly hunter immediately lost control and began swooping and looping through the sky before ultimately crashing through a nearby building.
"Now's our chance, come on!" Sam yelled, grabbing Danny by the hand. She immediately flew off, carrying Danny along with her. She raced through the sky, before dropping into an alleyway on the far side of town. She turned them both intangible and phased them through one of the walls.
The room inside was mostly empty. There were only a few cots on the floor, but no other furniture. The windows and doors were all boarded up. Ghost-fighting weapons of all shapes and sizes lined the walls. Monitors were set up around the room. Danny recognize the displays as ghost-tracking systems, reminiscent to ones his parents designed.
"This is one of my safehouses," Sam explained. "I have a half dozen or so set up around the city for when I need to lay low from Plasmius' henchman.
"So," she continued. "You saved my life back there. Maybe you do still care about us."
"Sam, I never stopped caring about you. But this…" he said gesturing around, "…this isn't my world. It's wrong. It's… it's changed somehow. I don't know what he did, but Vlad messed with reality somehow."
"What are you talking about?" Sam asked, more than a little confused.
And so, Danny explained everything. He told her how he acquired his powers and about their various adventures together, fighting evil ghosts. He told her about the ghost king's invasion, the alternate timeline, and the Disasteroid crisis. He told her about the day's previous events and how he got there. When he finished, there was a long silence between them.
"So," she began, finally speaking, "you're not the Danny I know. All of this…is wrong."
"I know this sounds crazy and I don't expect you to believe me but—"
"No, I totally believe you. If there is one thing that makes sense, its that this isn't how the world is supposed to be. I used to love having these powers, but I would give them up in a heartbeat if it meant putting things right. No one should have to live like this."
"Trouble is, I don't know how to fix this," Danny admitted. "I don't even know how all this happened. I want you to explain everything to me, starting from the day you got your powers."
"Well it played out almost exactly like it did in your world. We were in your parents' lab and I tried to convince you to check out the ghost portal. You almost did too but you lost your nerve and wussed out like a total baby at the last second and went running out of the room. It was really weird too. You weren't really acting yourself, like you were possessed or something."
Or overshadowed, Danny thought, noticing a potential clue.
"Anyway, I went in myself and got ghost powers just like you did. We had similar adventures to the ones you had and everything was great. I was having the time of my life!"
"So what changed?" Danny asked, eager to hear where this was headed.
"Well, I'd say it all started with your parents' college reunion in Wisconsin. While you were there, your dad had some kind of mental breakdown or something and attacked the guests. He later tried to claim a ghost made him do it, but everyone thought he was nuts and the police threw him in jail. Having nowhere else to go, your family moved in with Vlad Masters and I never saw or heard from you afterwards.
"I continued fighting ghosts for another month or so. But while I was doing that, Vlad was putting all the pieces in place for his hostile takeover. I was too busy shoving the Box Ghost down the Fenton thermos in Amity Park to notice any sinister plots hatching in Wisconsin. By the time I found out what he was really up to, Plasmius had opened the ghost portal and unleashed an army of ghosts across the globe. In a little over a day, he crowned himself ruler of the entire world! The ghosts started creating chaos all over the world. Ember enslaved everyone's minds, Technus took control of all technology, and Walker started arresting people for breaking ridiculous rules no one's ever heard of! We've tried to stage a little rebellion here, but we're not making much of a difference. As much as I like to take on the establishment, this is way out of my league!"
"And when did he take over exactly?"
"A little less than two months ago. Here, let me show you," She walked over to one of the of the monitors and typed something in. Immediately, a scan of a newspaper clipping appeared on the screen. It had a black and white photo of Vlad in front of a few world leaders as he accepted the title of King of the Earth. Danny's eyes settled on something he was wearing. Around his neck he wore a metal medallion with an inscription on it. The picture was too blurry to make out the exact letters, but Danny knew what they were right away: CW.
"Clockwork, of course!" Danny exclaimed, piecing it all together. "Vlad must have stolen one of his time amulets and changed the timeline so I never got my powers!"
"Clockwork? That's the time ghost, right?" she asked, recalling what he told her about the dystopian alternate future.
"You got it. Which explains how I got here. He must have sent me to this timeline to stop Plasmius. The good news is, now I know how to beat him. All we have to do is get the medallion away from him and it should send him back to my timeline."
"That's not going to be easy," Sam countered. "He mainly stays in his castle in Wisconsin and that places has more defenses than your parents have ghost-fighting gear! We won't be able to get in there without some serious help!"
Then a wide grin spread across her face. "Thankfully, I know just who to ask…"