Is this really the future? Danny thought to himself as he stared at his new surroundings. It was nothing like what comic books and TV shows made it out to be. There were no hover cars, no teleporters, not even robots walking around. If anything, it was far from what the future was supposed to look like. Instead, it looked like a barren wasteland. Buildings and skyscrapers cracked and crumbling from age. Even the pavement was worn and eroding away. Garbage bags piled on the street corners, and a heavy polluted smell filled the air. The sky was a foul-looking color of grey rather than the beautiful bright blue it was in his time. Everything was dull, filthy, falling apart and relatively lifeless.
The people of this city, if it could be called a city, seemed just as dull and lifeless. They weren't dressed in the futuristic clothes portrayed in comic books, instead wore simple clothing, mostly like those of the present. Style didn't seem to have aged; people still wore t-shirts, jeans, slacks, tank tops, and jackets. Everyone looked sad and somehow hollow, and didn't seem to notice each other as they carried on about their daily business. It was as if all the life had been sucked out of the world. Clockwork must have made some sort of mistake, the raven-haired teen rubbed his eyes, This can't be the future. But it was, and it was a depressing sight.
Danny was so caught up in the sight that he almost didn't notice the taxi speeding down the road. He saw it just in time to leap out of the way before he was hit. The driver didn't stop, swerve, or even slow down, as if he didn't even care if he had hit him. After that brief incident, Danny decided it was best to stay on the sidewalk and joined the sparse crowd.
He fiddled with his hands as he walked through the crowd in no direction in particular, just staring at everything around him. Was this even Amity Park? Where was he even supposed to go? How was he going to find his future self in a place like this? Danny just kept walking; that's all he really could do. If only Clockwork had given him some sort of map, or any other details about how to even find his way in this place.
There was a newspaper stand just up ahead with post cards and junk like the ones for tourists. Maybe he could find something there that might give him any sort of hint as to where he even was, or maybe they even sold maps. He walked quickly toward it and grabbed one of the papers. The cover was so depressing; the front-page headline was about a fire burning down a city block, killing twenty-four people and injuring sixty-seven more. Other articles described how poverty had risen by nearly seventy percent, mortality rates at forty percent higher than they had been five years ago, and so on.
Seriously, was this a future he had to look forward to? What date was it even anyway? Danny glanced up at the date and his heart nearly stopped. 2516?! Clockwork sent him over five hundred years into the future?! Wait, he would still be alive in this time?! Mind officially blown.
"Hey kid," a gruff voice barked at him, "You gonna pay for that or what?"
Danny felt around in his pocket and didn't feel any loose change, so he simply set the paper and briskly walked away. His mind reeled with the thought that he would live so long; maybe that had already answered his question about whether he was immortal or not. If it did … why would Clockwork send him here and not just tell him? There had to be something else behind it, but what?
Suddenly, a woman screamed from down the street and he was brought back to the moment at hand. There was a man running down the sidewalk through the crowd, carrying her purse. No one even tried to stop him, just kept walking and minding their own business. Danny wouldn't stand for this and readied himself to take down the crook, then Clockwork's words echoed in his head, "Do not use your ghost powers. There are people watching, and they will be able to find you if you use them." He didn't realize the man was right on top of him until he was violently shoved to the side, smacking into the brick wall of the building next to him. He fell in a heap on the ground, rubbing his now sore shoulder as the thug continued to run.
"Outta the way kid!" he shouted as he ran passed.
The woman had tried to run after the man but couldn't catch him and stopped, panting in exhaustion before turning to Danny, "Why didn't you try to stop him?!"
The raven-haired teen opened his mouth to say something, anything, but what excuse could he give her? He just stood up shamefully and walked away, unable to look the woman in the eye after he'd just let that guy get away. Some hero he was.
As he continued to wander, he glanced down at the watch Clockwork gave him. It read 2:22:14. He felt like he'd wasted too much time already, and just kept moving. The ancient ghost told him that if he couldn't find his future self, then he would find him. But how were either of them going to find each other in this place?
In only a few short hours, it was starting to get dark. Danny would have to find somewhere to go for the night at least, but where? It wasn't like he had a house to go to, and he certainly didn't have any money to rent a room at a motel or something. Maybe he'd have to sleep in the street? He didn't like the idea, but it was starting to become more and more likely that he'd have to. His stomach growled loudly in hunger; he hadn't eaten a thing since he'd gotten to this world and was really starting to feel his hunger pangs.
A train passed noisily overhead and the teen had to cover his ears as the rails screeched and creaked dangerously. He hadn't even realized a train like this would still exist after so many years, shouldn't it be one of the electric bullet trains that everyone thought would be in the future? Danny was starting to slowly realize that in this time, it was as if he'd more like traveled back in time rather than forward.
He hadn't noticed he was being followed until he heard the sound of footsteps around him and turned around. There was a man, obviously from some sort of gang, walking casually behind him, a smirk across his face. Danny decided to walk faster, maybe try to get away from him, but soon saw another man ahead of him and he stopped. Other men started to surround him, laughing quietly to themselves.
Danny swallowed and spoke awkwardly, "H-hey guys, what's up?"
One laughed at him again, "You're on the wrong side of town kid," and lightly pounded a fist against his palm, "This is Blood territory, and you're trespassing."
"Oh, this is your part of town?" he held up his hands defensively, "I'm sorry, I-I didn't know this was your territory. I'll just be leaving now," and backed away slowly.
But the man behind him just shoved him roughly, "Where do ya think you're going?"
"A-away?" he tried to back in another direction, but there were other men that way as well.
"Well, we can't just letcha leave now, can we?" another descended upon him, "We hafta teach ya a lesson about wandering into places ya shouldn't be."
Danny gasped and turned to run, to try to escape them before they could completely surround him. He tripped on a wide crack in the road and fell face first against the pavement. Before he could try to get back to his feet, he felt two pairs of hands grasp either of his arms and hoist him up off his feet. They held him firm as he kicked his feet desperately to try to break their hold on him. But he knew it was useless, there were too many of them, and they were all bigger than he was.
There was a sharp pain in his stomach as one of the thugs punched him hard in the gut. The two men released Danny and he fell to his knees, holding his middle painfully. Another kicked him in the side of his ribs, causing him to fall to the side. All Danny could do was curl up and cover his head with his hands as the men began kicking and beating him violently. If only there was something he could do! Clockwork's words echoed in his head once more about not using his ghost powers, but what else could he do? He finally resolved to only use something small, and fired a small ecto-beam from his finger, grazing one of the thugs' shoulders.
The man stumbled back and gripped his shoulder, "The kid's got a gun!"
Danny fired another small blast at another man, hitting him in the thigh and causing him to fall to one knee, "Shit! Let's get outta here!" as they fled like a bunch of cowards. All talk and no substance.
The ghost teen just lay on the ground, still curled tightly in a ball, shaking from pain and shock. He closed his eyes tightly to try to keep from crying. What kind of cruel world was this? People could just beat kids senseless without any remorse? If he hadn't used his ghost powers, who knows how far they would've gone. Probably beaten him within an inch of his life.
Suddenly, Danny heard footsteps running toward him and he braced himself in case it was those thugs coming back to finish him off. But he soon realized the footsteps were from high heels and looked up to see a young woman kneeling next to him.
She placed a hand on his shoulder, "Oh my gosh! Are you okay little boy?"
He only looked up at her pitifully, his stomach hurt too much for him to speak. The woman swung her purse over her shoulder and tried to help him stand. His legs were shaky and he couldn't even support his own weight.
"Are you lost?" the woman asked as she helped hold him up, "Where's your house? Where are your parents?"
Danny didn't say anything, just trying to maintain his balance and stared at the ground. That said everything as the woman realized he had nowhere to go, and led him carefully to her car that he hadn't even noticed she'd pulled up in, "Here, I'll take you home and care of you. It'll be okay."
He was hesitant at first, but right now, he didn't really want to argue or turn down her kindness after what he'd been through. She opened the passenger door and helped him inside. After buckling him in, she carefully closed the door and got into the driver's seat and slowly drove off in some unknown direction. Danny didn't really care where he was going at this point, just as long as it was far from this place and hopefully somewhere safe in this world.
She told him along the way that her name was Barbara, and that she was on her way home from her job at a diner nearby. Danny decided to give her some random name and told her his name was Dillon, not really wanting to tell her his real name. In no time at all, they arrived at her home and she carefully brought him inside. It was a cozy place, small yet simple, shared by her younger brother, mother, father, and grandmother. They didn't seem too happy at first about Barbara bringing home yet another stray kid, but when she told them what happened with the thugs and they looked over his injuries, they relented and allowed him to stay. The family didn't have much to offer, having very little themselves, but agreed to let him sleep on their couch for the night, gave him a small blanket and even shared with him their meager dinner of some sort of stew. Danny took it gratefully and couldn't seem to shovel it down fast enough to fill his empty stomach. It was nice that, even in this cold cruel world, there were still people kind enough to take in a complete stranger in need of help.
"So where are you from?" Barbara asked, placing a hand on his back as he practically licked the bowl clean.
Danny didn't really know what to say, "I'm from … Amity Park. I came here to find someone … but I don't know where to go."
"You came all the way from Amity Park?" the young boy leaned in with excitement, "That's really far away, like, a bazillion miles away!"
"No Billy," Barbara rolled her eyes, "That's more like two thousand miles away."
"Who are you looking for?" the father changed the subject as he sat in his old lazy boy.
" … I don't think you know him," the raven-haired teen said quietly.
"Well, we might be able to help," he sipped from a coffee mug, "I work as a handy man, and traveling around the city with my job, I know most everyone."
Danny bowed his head as he rolled the bowl in his hands, " … you'll probably laugh, but … " he sighed and just decided to say it, "I'm looking for Danny Phantom."
There was a long pause between everyone before the grandmother finally spoke as she held her rocking chair still, "Did you say … Danny Phantom?"
He looked up at the old woman and nodded. Then the mother just laughed, "You're looking for 'Danny Phantom'?" as she took the empty bowl from him, "That's just some old myth."
"That's not true!" the grandmother said quickly, "He does exist! I've seen him!"
Danny perked up slightly, "You know Danny Phantom?"
The mother scoffed, "No, Grandma Janet doesn't know what she's talking about. Some homeless kid rescued her from some thugs years ago and she's been going on about 'Danny Phantom' ever since."
The older woman snorted in irritation, "Think what you want child, but I've seen him with my own eyes. And if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be alive today, and you and Barbara wouldn't exist," she leaned forward on her cane, "Do you know about the legend of Danny Phantom?"
"Kinda, not much," Of course I know, but decided to listen to her words, since they may hold a clue as to how to find him, "What is it really?"
Grandma Janet smiled and began to her story, "A long time ago, over half a century or so, there lived a young boy, who was half human and half ghost. He was a super hero in his hometown, and even to other nearby cities. He fought against other ghosts that would come to this world to do harm to humans. Those who knew him said he was kind, somewhat shy, and cared about everyone before himself. They say he had hair white as snow, eyes glowing green, and suit black as night."
Wow, Danny raised his eyebrows, she sure seems to know a lot.
"But there were people in the world who didn't see him as a hero. They saw him as a freak, a monster, and wanted to capture him and lock him up to study him. After many years of fighting ghosts and protecting the city, he disappeared without a trace, without a word. No one heard of his passing, he just simply vanished. But some people, the ones that still believe in him, say that to this day he still wanders the earth, under the disguise of a human, helping people when they're in danger."
The raven-haired teen just stared in awe as she finished her story, "But what about those people who were looking for him? Did they catch him?"
Grandma Janet leaned back and smiled once again, "I don't think so, otherwise they wouldn't still be looking for him."
"W-who are 'they'?"
The old woman was about to speak when the mother cut her off, "It doesn't matter. There's no such thing as ghosts, and there certainly was never a Danny Phantom."
No such thing as ghosts, Danny scoffed inwardly. He watched as Barbara's mother left the room to clean up dinner plates, then leaned in toward Grandma Janet and whispered quietly, "I believe you, I've seen him too," the old woman seemed to perk up, "Do you know how I can find him?"
Grandma Janet leaned in even closer to whisper back, "I might, why are you looking for him?"
"I … I've just been wanting to ask him something … I traveled all the way from Amity Park to meet him," as he fidgeted with his feet.
The old woman studied him a moment longer, then stood up with the help of her cane, "Come with me child," and walked toward the small hallway.
Danny hesitated momentarily, then got up from the couch, still wrapped in the blanket and followed her. She led him to a small room, presumably her bedroom, and sat down slowly in a chair in front of her dresser. Sliding one of the drawers open, she took out several faded photos, old newspaper clippings, and pages with scribbled writing and allowed Danny to look through them. He recognized himself in the photos, and read the articles about how he saved the day once again.
"I've been trying to track him down for almost seventy years to thank him for saving my life. Every time I think I'm close, he slips right between my fingers," then reached back into the drawer and pulled out a folded piece of paper, "My daughter refuses to help me continue my search, and I'm too old to go out there alone. But I believe I've tracked him around here," and unfolded the paper, which turned out to be a map, and pointed to a circled area of the city, "I don't know exactly where he is from there, but that's the closest I've gotten to him. I believe he's about one mile somewhere within this area."
Danny's eyes widened in excitement at the thought that he might actually still be able to find his future self. The old woman saw his face light up after she showed him the map, "Can I trust you to help find him for me?"
"Absolutely!" the raven-haired teen practically shouted, a wide grin painted across his face.
Grandma Janet smiled just as brightly as she carefully placed the map in his hands, and fished out several strange looking coins she'd kept safe all these years, "In the morning, take the 7:15 bus at the stop down the street. From there, get off at the sixth stop, that will drop you off right here," and pointed to an area just on the edge of the circle, "After that, you'll be on your own."
Danny couldn't believe what he was hearing; he might actually be able to find him! He threw his arms tightly around the old woman, "Thankyouthankyouthankyou! You can count on me! I'll find him!"
She returned his hug, "I know you will child, but I have one last favor to ask you."
"Anything you want!"
She laughed lightly and released him, "When you find him, can you give him this for me?" and handed him an old envelope.
"Of course!" he shook with excitement, and carefully put the map and folded paper in his pocket.
Grandma Janet laughed again, then quietly shooed him, "Now off to bed with you, you have a big day tomorrow and you need to rest up."
Danny nodded and practically skipped back to the couch, plopped himself down and closed his eyes tightly as he attempted to fall asleep. But how could he sleep? Tomorrow he was finally going to find and meet his future self!
