Time Masters Apprentice

Chapter Eight: Little Badger

Vlad's POV

1 week later

It was a very calm day considering all of the other hectic ones that have been happening around these past few months since Daniel's disappearance. I was honestly worried for the Little Badger and hoped for his well being. I know that Daniel and I used to fight all the time, and he considered me an enemy, but all those fight were my own secret ways of training him. The boy was sadly too rash and he jumped into things without thinking them through.

At the moment, I was sitting on my desk in my private study at my castle. I had a lot of paperwork laid out in front of me, but I had no motivation to work on it at the time. My thoughts were still focused on the missing ghost hybrid. I was so worried for the boy to the point where I hadn't even bothered to put up my hair in its usual ponytail in days. Maddie and Jack were unusually quiet and seemed to be keeping to themselves right after their son's disappearance. I hadn't even seen them leave their house to fight off any ghost.

My dark navy blue eyes were staring blankly down at the stack of paperwork on the desk before me, my mind not even registering its presence. I brought my hands up and placed my elbows on the desk as they rested on either side of my head, fingers brushing through my silver hair.

I have tried EVERYTHING to find my Little Badger, and nothing has work as of yet. It was almost as if he were no longer in this world. I've even tried the Ghost Zone, but once again I came out empty handed. It was both: alarming and frustrating that I couldn't locate the boy. I've even been sending a few ghostly allies through the worlds to try and locate his whereabouts. But again, nothing!

I let out a tired sigh, as my hands rubbed gently at my tired eyes. I hadn't been sleeping much either. The dark circles under my eyes have gotten worse and my co-workers have begun to ask me if I was ill or if something was wrong. I would normally just put on a forced smile for them and waved away their concern with a simple 'fine' before heading back to my work. But I can tell they are all starting to see past that now.

I sighed again and listened to the silence of my castle, disturbed only by the sound of the occasional maid brushing past the door down the hallway.

I lifted up my head when my enhanced ghost hearing picked off a small sound coming from down stairs, in the direction of my lab. The Ghost Portal was opening. My eyebrows were creased in confusion as I sat back in my chair and looked around.

It was probably a ghost coming to give me their report on the younger hybrid's search. I wondered who is was and if it even mattered anymore. They were probably just going to tell me that they came up empty handed again.

I sensed whatever specter it was moving through the house. I could tell from the ecto-signature who it was. Skulker. I forced down another sigh as I waited for one of my most trusted allies to tell me what was going on.

I only had to wait a few extra seconds before the metal hunter phased up through my floor, looking both depressed and nervous. I raised an eyebrow at the hunter.

"Yes, Skulker? What is it you need?" I asked him calmly, even though some of my tiredness was leaking through my voice.

"Plasmius, I have some news on...Danny's whereabouts." He said slowly. Both eyebrows shoot up with surprise and curiosity when Skulker called Daniel by name instead of something like 'Whelp' or 'Halfa' like he usually did. But I felt my eyes light up with hope at what Skulker had just said to me. News about Daniel's location! Finally!

I stood up quickly and stared at Skulker excitedly. "Really? What have you found out? Where is he?" I asked.

Skulker swallowed nervously before looking at the ground. "It's not good news, sir."

I felt my eyebrows crease again as I approached the hunter. "What do you mean? What's wrong?" I demanded; worry once again etching into my heart and core.

Skulker cleared his throat before reaching behind him and pulled something off of his belt and held it out to me. A book. I stared curiously before reaching out and taking it. I flipped the book over so that I was now looking at its cover. I felt my eyes widen and my jaw drop when I read the title.

Danny Phantom's: biography

"A biography..." I whispered out, my voice almost cracking. "But why would his biography be out? I don't think Daniel would like to have his life published. I most certainly wouldn't. The only thing that comes to mind with this is if he..." I felt my throat lock up and my eyes widened with realization and dawning horror.

"...Died." Skulker finished for me softly. My eyes shot up to his solid green eyes, begging for this not to be true.

"No... Daniel... he can't be..." I whispered out, feeling myself stumble a few steps back, and dropping down into my chair. The book was clenched firmly in my hands resting over my lap. My eyes stared down at the book, reading the title over and over again, not able to believe any of this. My strong, brave, loyal Little Badger couldn't be...dead...it just didn't seem possible.

I closed my eyes and took a deep shuddering breath.

"The biography has been out for about a week now...as soon as I finished it, I rushed over here." Skulker told me softly. I know that Skulker's a bit depressed in his own way, because his favorite toy for target practice was now gone. "Along the way, I stopped by the library to get you one too, because I had a feeling that you would wish to read it as well."

I looked sadly up at Skulker and nodded my head slowly. "T-thank you Skulker." I flipped the book over to read who the editor was. It said Ghostwriter, but there was also a small 'Thank you' note on the back of it. I read that part with curiosity.

I wish to give full credit of this story to Clockwork and Timegear. The final chapter of this story was written by Timegear himself, giving all of us the detail of the Ghost and Human Hybrid's final moments in existence. The Master of Time and his Apprentice honored me with the privilege of publishing Danny Phantoms life story into this Autobiography. And for that, I'll be forever grateful.

Sincerely,

Ghostwriter.

I blinked in slight confusion before looking up at Skulker. "Timegear? Who is that?"

Skulker looked at me in surprise. "You don't know? He's been the Master of Time's apprentice for little over 6 months now. He is very popular through the Zone for his knowledge and advice. Some say his wisdom is almost on a par with Clockwork's." He told me with a smile as I arched an eyebrow at his reaction to this 'Timegear' character. He seemed to have gained the full trust and respect of the Spectral Hunter, and —according to Skulker's tale— from the Ghost Zone's inhabitants too. An Interesting feat I must admit.

"What does Timegear look like? I don't think I have ever met him before." I asked, curious to know more about the Time Apprentice.

Skulker simply shrugged and shook his head.

"No one knows what he looks like. He always wears the hood of his cloak up so we can't see much of his face. But he wears a long Black cloak with a gear clasp on the shoulder. The inside of his cloak is white along with his white studded belt. He wears black jeans and a black shirt with a white hourglass symbol in front of a gear on it. His skin seems very pale, almost chalk white. He looks to be around fourteen or fifteen human years old. Very young for a ghost." Skulker told me. "But other than that, there isn't much else to tell about him."

I nodded my head slowly and looked down at the book that lay in my lap sadly. "Thank you Skulker." I sighed quietly before looking back up to him. "I honestly have no idea what I would do without you."

Skulker seemed to get flustered and stuttered slightly. "N-no Plasmius. It's honestly no big deal." He sighed softly. "I'm gonna miss hunting the ghost child. He was always so much fun to hunt...until the part where he destroys my battle suit, of course." He finished with a slight scowl almost causing me to chuckle.

I gave him a sad smile. "Yes, Daniel was a very interesting boy, wasn't he?" I sighed looking out my study's window into the blue sky. " I'm going to miss him as well." I closed my eyes and gave a groan of despair. "Oh, what am I going to tell Maddie and his friends? I couldn't bear to tell..." I said closing my eyes and burying my face in my hands. "But I'm going to have to...someday." I said softly. "But not right now. I...I wish to read the story first." I said looking at the book in my lap with a defeated expression. I was now starting to feel the tears in the corner of my eyes.

I held them back and looked up at my dear employee. "If you don't mind, Skulker, I would like to go ahead and start reading this book. Thank you very much for bring it to me." I gave him a half hearted smile to which he answered with a nod.

"Of course, Plasmius. Have a...umm...never mind." Skulker said, his expression turning a bit bitter at what he was about to say. There was no way in hell this was going to be a 'good day.'

I felt a dry smile appear on my own face. "I know what you meant, Skulker. And again, thank you."

Skulker nodded his head before phasing down through the floor and back towards my lab. Once he was gone, I looked at the book in my lap with a defeated expression. "Oh, Daniel..." I whispered softly to myself. "What did you get yourself into?"

I gave a glare to all the paperwork that sat tauntingly on my desk, willing it to burn to itself to the deepest pits of hell, before I turned away from it and opened the first page of the book. As much as I would love to just read the final chapter and find out how Daniel...died...I still had this old habit of starting books from the very beginning. So, I began reading from page one. I quickly found out that it started with his 'accident' that gave him his ghost powers.

I ended up staying up all night, reading Daniel's journal and learning many things about the young hybrid that I never knew. Daniel was honestly a very fast learner, and from what I was reading, he was trying his hardest to learn how to control his power so that he could prove to both, himself and me, that he didn't need my help learning to master his abilities. I was somewhat proud of him for that. It showed that he had strength and determination.

When I reached the final chapter, I felt tears leaking into the corner of my eyes as I read it.

It was completely unexpected.

Danny Phantom was doing his usual nightly round of Amity Park checking to make sure that his town was ghost free so that he could go to bed for the night and get home before his ten o'clock curfew that his parents had set for him several years ago. Danny was rarely home on time due to his ghost fighting, so he wanted to try and make it on time at least once. He was only a few blocks away from his home and could see the top of his house from where he was flying. So, convinced that he would be on time, he —for the first time in a long while— allowed himself to lower his defenses and enjoy of the peaceful nighttime.

But, Danny Phantom was unaware that he was being targeted by some unknown person or group that apparently did not like of him. And, just as he was flying home, he was shot in the chest by a 9mm bullet. The bullet ripped through his body and pierced all the way through to his ghostly core. He died before he even hit the ground, dissipating into thin air.

The killer(s) are still unknown.

Danny Phantom/Fenton died in October 12, 2010 at 9:36pm.

I reread the final entry over and over again, just to make sure I had read it right. When I realized that what I had read was not a hallucination from my sleep deprived mind, I sat back in my chair staring at the pages with shocked and horrified eyes.

Daniel had been shot. Daniel, MY Daniel, had been killed by a simple bullet.

I closed my eyes, fighting back the tears once again and shut the book gently, placing it on my desk in front of me to keep from accidentally turning it to dust. I buried by face in my hands, too numb to do anything else. I didn't know what to do or what to think from all this information. What should I tell his parents and friends? Should I even tell them? What do I do now?

Sighing I opened my eyes and looked at the book, sitting innocently on my desk, amongst all my forgotten paperwork. I looked at the back and my eyes landed on the name 'Timegear' again. I felt my eyebrows crease with confusion. From what Skulker told me, Timegear showed up around the same time Daniel 'died'. Also this mysterious Timegear is said to be about the same age as Daniel too.

I narrowed my eyes in thought as I stared at the book. Things just didn't quite add up. Daniel was only half ghost, so that meant if one side of him dies, the other will still live on...or non-live on if it's the ghost half. It's only a theory, not a proven fact, but it's the most logical possibility out there.

Could it be possible that Daniel wasn't 'gone', just a full ghost now? If so, then why did human Danny go missing when it was Phantom that got shot? It should have been Phantom that died instead of Daniel. Unless...

Unless he wasn't hit with a ghost weapon. He was hit with a human bullet instead. The book did say that it was a 9 mm bullet that struck him, but it didn't say if it was anti-ghost or not.

Things didn't quite add up. Something seemed fishy about all of this. Daniel going missing and the sudden appearance of a new mysterious ghost in the zone. Then again, it could be a coincidence.

Bad thing is: I hate coincidences.

Looking up when I heard the chiming of the clock on the wall, I saw that it was 5 am in the morning. I sighed and stood up, deciding that it was best if I slept on the possibilities. Good thing I have today off so that I have all day to sleep and think.

Hopefully when I wake up I'll have more answers than questions.