Summary: *Post PP* Danny is on the edge. With his newfound awkward popularity, onslaught of ghost attacks and crumbling relationship with Sam; Tucker suggests that the Halfa take a vacation. Where else would he go to but Clockworks to watch some other timelines? (Crossover with Justice League)
Authoress' Beginning Notes: *sigh* I've been having some trouble continuing the AT series because of the lack of feedback I'm getting. Even though yes, I do know that plenty of people have stumbled across this fanfic, I have absolutely no clue if they truly like to read it or just flip through and get put off by the long chapters that I write. I guess I'm losing my faith in what I'm writing, but I'll try finding a way to continue... Reality does bite though. This chapter dragged on a little further than I expected though it's shorter than my previous chapters. But once again, thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy the chapter =)

Phantom & Angel

Chapter 9:

Shadow of Myself (Part II)

"No… it can't be… the three of you are dead!"

At her words, the group froze in their tracks and stared incredulously at the older Valerie who held out her arm to stop her two companions from leaping at them.

"We're dead in the future? Now I'm REALLY curious to know how that happened." Brad rested his hands on his hips with a scowl on his face in a way of showing his silent disgruntled response to Tucker's flippant comment. He then smacked the back of the other boy's head with the back of his hand. "Ok, I meant that to sound serious but I guess it didn't huh?"

"No, seriously?" Danny couldn't help but mutter out sarcastically as he glared at Tucker through the barbs of the net with a scowl. He wiggled about in a vain attempt to loosen the net but to no avail. "And do you guys mind? It's a little cramp in here…"

Just as the three teens went to move towards Danny, Valerie reacted and fired three separate shots at their feet to halt their steps. Tucker didn't know whether Valerie had improved her aim or not, but her shot at his feet had actually hit his ankle. He yelped out in pain and fell onto his bottom while reaching forward to clutch the burned ankle. Brad made a soundless yelp of shock and quickly knelt at Tucker's side to pat the smoking burn.

"Did your aiming deteriorate as you grew up?" Danny snapped out, increasing his struggles against the ecto-net in his attempts to escape it. "Because it looks to me like instead of protecting anyone, you're either the cause of their injuries or soon-to-be deaths!"

"You can never win a war without casualties." There was just something about the way Hawk said it that made his skin crawl and double his efforts to tear the net apart. The former-superhero sounded much too feral and blood-thirsty, his lips spread into an almost maniacal grin that could easily rival the Joker. As Danny continued to fight with the net, he watched Valerie and her companions warily, clearly untrusting of them after what he had witnessed on the screen earlier on.

"If you were a real hero, you'd be able to find a way to win it without the casualties!" Tucker yelled, recovering from the pain of the burn on his ankle. Danny winced a little when he saw the charred flesh and wished that he had been more alert to dodge the net and avoid this confrontation.

"These things change when the situation does." Valerie snapped back, clenching her fists tightly while the large green beast beside her growled and bared its teeth. "And right now there isn't any other choice! The Master is ruthless and you fight fire with fire in these times! I was right before when I said that ghosts were the biggest menaces of all and now the world is in ruin because of them!"

"The Justice League would never swoop down to the level that you guys are in now!" Danny hurled out, trying to avert Valerie's rage from his friends to him. Better him then them because they were defenseless against Valerie and her two new and very dangerous companions. "Just because the situation changes doesn't mean you have the right to throw other people's lives away just like that!"

It worked, but way better than he had ever expected it to.

The green beast had released a deafening roar before it lunged forward at Danny, teeth bared menacingly and eyes narrowed with anger. The hybrid flinched at the sudden wave of dizziness that washed over his conscious but didn't think much of it and focused all of the power in his body to break the net apart.

The timing was crucial and the atmosphere tense as the net slowly ripped as the beast drew nearer and nearer in its leap. The net finally slid off his body and Danny quickly flitted upwards just as the beast landed and clawed the spot he had once sat on. But he was still on high alert, knowing that the beast wasn't the only one he had to worry about.

Danny quickly flipped over as Hawk came barreling over towards him in blind anger. Again he felt his stomach flip but forced the feeling down as he twisted his body and unleashed a sidekick that smacked the back of Hawk's head. That sent the former superhero slamming down hard against the pavement but not hard enough to make the concrete crack.

He quickly turned about and shot upwards as a flash of bright green zoomed past where he had once floated. The next wave of nausea was so strong that Danny felt so sick he didn't manage to evade the next blast headed his way.

"Phantom!" Sam's voice barely registered into his mind as he slammed against the concrete floor and landed in a heap. It wasn't that the pain from the blast or impact was great; the feeling of his churning stomach overwhelmed his senses, his body barely registering the pain.

Faintly he heard yells echo in the air as he tried to steady himself back up to his feet. Another wave of dizziness washed over him but Danny gritted his teeth and forced his feet to stand. He was immediately flung backwards and into the wall of a building when Hawk's fist connected with his stomach just as he had managed to gain some equilibrium back.

"What the heck is wrong with him? Why isn't he dodging them?"

"How should I know how his body works?! You are so lucky that Brad can't talk right now or he'd be… ACK! Brad! Get back here!"

At Tucker's frantic calls, Danny forced his eyes open to find out what was going on. Brad had activated the compact Ghost Gauntlets, charging them as he ran towards Hawk and plunged his fist forward that connected with the costumed hero's jaw. Danny's eyes widened when the beast raced forward and jumped onto the blond, pinning him down hard on the solid floor with his claws digging into Brad's shoulders.

The blond released a silent cry of pain as the beast roared and its claws dug through his clothes and pierced through his skin. At the first sight of the blood spilling from the blonds' shoulders, Danny reacted.

He threw all feelings of nausea away to the back of his head, focusing solely on the beast which was baring its teeth menacingly at Brad's pain scrunched face. Danny tossed the debris off him and flew forward in a blur of black and white, slamming his fists at the beast's side and throwing the beast off Brad.

Danny quickly circled his arms around Brad's waist and flew backwards with the blond in his arms, not wanting to aggravate the injury by grabbing his shoulders. He settled back with Tucker and Sam, slowly depositing Brad onto the floor before flinging up a shield. Just after he had formed the shield, a barrage of explosives rattled the earth as they slammed against the green shield and detonated.

From behind him, Danny could hear Tucker unleashing a tirade at Brad while ripping his sleeves off to serve as make-shift bandages. The blond was in too much pain to even gesture back his replies to Tucker while Sam was oddly quiet.

The smoke had yet to clear but besides Tucker's ranting, Danny could hear something else happening from beyond the shield. He couldn't make out any words, but he could hear an additional two voices in a shouting match between Valerie and her companions. Shots were heard and more shouting ensured, the thumping of feet landing hard on the concrete so audible that made Danny wonder just who else had joined the fray.

The dust began to settle down, but Danny kept the shield up, still wary of their surroundings and uncertain of what would happen if he were to let it down. He could feel the tension rising in the air as the smoke finally dispersed and allowed him vision of what was going on beyond the shield.

Danny's eyes widened when he realized that there was a blond woman wearing a black unbuttoned trench coat standing right in front of him just behind the shield. The red hooded man, who seemed to be her companion, was just behind her, staring at him through shadowed eyes. Valerie, Hawk and the beast were nowhere to be found.

He eyed the woman warily, noting the two guns in her hands, but her attention was drawn to his friends behind him. Danny could hear her suck in her breath deeply, her sapphire blue eyes staring over his shoulder intently. There was something about the woman that struck Danny as familiar, but he couldn't quite place his finger on what.

"You can't keep the shield up indefinitely."

Immediately Danny's attention focused on the red clad archer behind the woman and stared at him defiantly. The hybrid watched the duo carefully, eying the archer as he clipped his bow onto his belt while the woman shook herself slightly before looking straight into his eyes.

Yes, there was definitely something familiar about her but nothing seemed to register into his mind as to what it was.

"Your friend needs medical attention and we can provide it for you." Danny simply raised an eyebrow at the archer, as if to prompt the other to persuade him further. "I promise you, we won't be pulling any fast ones on you. We're not a part of Valerie's 'demented League' or even like her at all."

Danny took a quick glance backward to see Tucker lightly slapping Brad's cheeks while Sam hovered beside the other boy but clearly wasn't about to lend a hand. That's when he realized that Brad was unconscious; the blonds' face had turned deathly white while the puncture claw marks on his shoulders continued to bleed freely. He bit his lip, still uncertain of whether to trust the strangers' offer.

"Would it ease you if I swore on my honor as a true hero that we won't attempt to kill you or your friends?" Danny stared at the archer for a moment and then to the silent woman. He alternated his gaze between them before he found his voice to speak.

"You're trying too hard." He muttered, his eyes still shifting between the two adults. Finally, he closed his eyes for a moment in contemplation before speaking up again. "Fine. We'll accept the help, but I'll be watching you."

"Wouldn't have it any other way Phantom." A wave of familiarity washed over him when the blond woman spoke but there was something different about it as well. He wondered if he could make up his mind of whether the woman was familiar or not. It was going to give him a headache just thinking about it.

Slowly, he allowed the shield to drop, still eying the two warily before flying backwards to check up on his friends.

"He's out." Tucker muttered, as Danny knelt at Brad's other side. "The claws basically punctured holes through his shoulders and one of the holes almost hit his heart. We really don't have any choice but to go with them…"

"Why not just take off the medallions and go back to our time?" Sam snapped impatiently, keeping an eye at the two adults who were slowly making their way towards them. "We wouldn't have to deal with two strangers in a strange future!"

"If we did, we'll have to face our parents in questioning of what the hell happened to have Brad in this state!" Danny hissed, gesturing to Tucker to help him put Brad onto his back. "And frankly, I'd rather deal with strangers in a strange future than to face our parents! Mine would probably go on a ghost hunting spree and I'll have another load to worry about!"

"It's not like your parents could ever catch you, besides your dad…"

"Look Sam, just trust me! Don't underestimate my parents either. My dad's gotten way better than you realize!" Danny straightened his posture and made sure that Brad wasn't slipping off his back as the two adults reached them. "Is there something else you want to say to further assure me or something?"

"Actually, we'd…" The archer's companion jabbed her elbow roughly at his side, making the archer release a soft 'oof' of pain before correcting himself. "Ok, more of just me than her anyway. I just wanted to confirm your identities. Samantha Manson, Tucker Foley and Bradley Angeles right?"

"If you were wondering that we were the three dead kids, then yes we are."

"SAM!" Sam simply gave Tucker a disinterested look at his outraged cry. In turn, Tucker glared her with such intense ferocity that Danny almost took a step away from him. Before an argument could spark between them, the woman interrupted them calmly.

"If you want to argue, do it somewhere else. Right now he," She pointed a slender finger at the unconscious Brad whose blood was beginning to stain Danny's jump suit. "Needs medical attention. Follow me."

"Hey! Aren't you going to tell us who you are?!" Sam shouted at the blond woman's retreating back. When she received no response, the raven haired teen snarled and crossed her arms across her chest angrily. "Humph!"

"Don't mind Ca…"

"Red Arrow! The clock is ticking!"

"Alright, alright. I won't say it!" The archer, now identified as Red Arrow, sighed and rubbed the back of his head before giving the group of teens a shrug. "Don't mind her; she's a very capable fighter, just a little standoffish, but she does have a really kind heart underneath that tough girl exterior. Come on, we'll head over to our AP base."

"AP base?" Tucker asked curiously as they fell in step with the archer, trailing behind the blond woman. "Do you think you could tell us more about this future?"

"Not here." Red Arrow replied, his tone apologetic. "The Master has eyes and ears all over the place. I'll explain more about it when we get back to the base. Come on, we can't loiter around the streets for too long; as soon as our two groups clash, he'll always send Shadow to try 'cleaning' us up."

"And we'll want to know all the details about Shadow, whom previous ghosts that came into our time have mentioned me to be him." Danny said firmly, looking straight into Red Arrow's eyes and tried to gauge his reaction. The red clad archer raised his eyebrow and his eyes widened slightly, only in mild shock. "You'll explain that fully won't you?"

"I don't have any reason to keep anything that I know from you." The archer responded evenly with a nod. "You can fire away once we get there."

"I hope he has the answers to our questions." Tucker muttered quietly under his breath. Danny was pretty sure he was the only one who heard it because Sam was too busy glaring at the blond woman's back from the distance, apparently still peeved at being ignored.

But he wholeheartedly agreed with Tucker. He really hoped Red Arrow had the answers to their imminent questions.

However, none of them realized that Red Arrow's ghost detector was beeping softly from his belt, showing a second green dot trailing just behind the group.

Lee didn't know what she was doing wandering around the streets aimlessly. Her father had nicely kicked her out of the house for fresh air, insisting that having her cooped up in the house was not good.

How he even managed to do it so nicely without a hint of maliciousness was a mystery to her.

Initially, she tried to call Brad but was perplexed to find that his number was not available. Lee calmed herself and tried calling Danny's house, only to get the answering machine which served to fuel her worry even more.

She forced her worry down, not wanting to overreact in case her brother and friends were simply immersed in their studying to answer her calls. Instead of going over to Fenton Works, Lee found herself walking through the streets trying to shake off the worry that was welling in her heart. She passed by the mall, the park and even the Amity River, but the strings of worry were still tugging at her heart.

Finally caving in to the worry, the blonds' feet began to automatically make their way towards Fenton Works. Just as she was heading past the Amity River, a voice began shouting her name from behind. Lee halted in her steps and spun her heel to see Jazz jogging up to her.

"Hi Jazz, what's up?"

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" The red-head teased lightly, brushing her bangs from her forehead with her bag tucked neatly under her arm. "How's Casse doing?"

"Not too good…" Lee sighed, shaking her head while running a hand through her blond bangs. "Dad says we'll have to admit her into the local hospital later on today if she gets worse. He hasn't told Uncle Bruce yet; we all know that he'll throw a fit and insist on bringing Pixie back to Gotham."

"And that's probably the last thing you guys want." Jazz nodded her head and patted Lee's shoulder sympathetically. "At least you know your Godfather cares right?"

"Way too much Jazz, way too much." The younger girl muttered, causing Jazz to bring a hand up to her mouth to stifle the giggles that were threatening to erupt from her lips. "Not even Alfred's that bad, or your mom for that matter. I swear that Uncle Bruce must have been a mother with plenty of kids to fret about in his previous life."

At the mental image of the playboy billionaire of Gotham in a dress and nagging at several children scattered around him, Jazz couldn't help but burst into pearls of laughter. Lee raised an enquiring eyebrow but Jazz simply shook her head, too immersed in her laughter to respond.

Once the mirth had dissipated, Jazz wiped the tears of laughter that had sprung from the corners of her eyes and straightened her posture.

"So, then how come you're not back at home? Though I have a vague feeling I do know the answer, I just want to hear it from you."

"My dad kicked me out of the house… nicely." Lee groused out, causing Jazz to giggle at the pout that had sprung from the younger girl's lips. "I mean, I don't know how he does it. He made it look so natural and not forcing at all!"

"So then I thought about calling up Dwarf and the rest of them to check how they were doing after that freak earthquake but Brad's phone is either having a flat battery or he turned it off and I get your house answering machine when I try." Jazz raised an eyebrow as Lee rattled on. "So then I thought they were probably too focused on studying so I left it as that and –"

"You're worried about them aren't you?"

"Huh? What?" Lee stopped in her rambling and turned to look at the amused Jazz. "Me? Worried? Nah, they should be fine. I mean, I don't think anything big would happen after that earthquake, right? Besides they should be studying right now and –"

"Lee." Jazz interrupted and placed her hand on the blonds' shoulder to stop her again. "Just admit it. You're worried about them."

The oldest triplet shut her mouth with her lips curling into a Casse-like pout. Now that she had a good look at Lee, Jazz marveled at how similar the triplets would look like with some expressions; the pout being one of them. It was either because they were identical (Jazz never got around to asking if they were) or they could just mimic each other's expressions very well.

"Come on, you're starting to look like Casse if you continue pouting like that." Lee rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out at Jazz. The older girl returned the action with ease. "And since you're so worried, let's walk over to my place then so that you can check up on them and finally throw all that worry away."

"You are evil Jazz, has anyone told you that?"

"Danny has on many occasions; mainly because I always stuff ice into his shirt or pants on weekend mornings."

"Just lower the damned shields Nightwing, before I get Robin to get Oracle over there to kick your ass. … I don't need to give you a goddamn reason to why I'm bringing him in." The teens watched in fascination as the blond woman snarled into the phone in her ear while Red Arrow simply sighed and shook his head in resignation. "Look dick-head, we have a casualty here and if you're not going to drop the goddamn shields now, I'll hang it over your head that you let him die!"

"She's rather loose-tongued." Tucker commented quietly, tightening the make-shift bandages around Brad's bloodied shoulders, wiping off as much blood as he could. Danny nodded in agreement, shifting slightly to get a better grip over the unconscious blond. Sam was silent, apparently still glaring at the woman who was spewing curses by the truckload into the receiver.

It had startled the teens when they realized the AP base Red Arrow had been talking about was actually the Angeles household. It wasn't terribly run down like many of the buildings they had passed by on the streets but it certainly looked like it had seen better days. But unlike the other buildings, a green ghost shield and a semi-transparent shield were surrounding the house, protecting it from meta-humans, humans and ghosts.

But it seemed as if the base member in the house was unwilling to release the shields after he was told that they were bringing in Phantom.

"For the love of god, just lower the goddamn shields! Damnit, do you want Brad to die Nightwing?!"

Just as the word 'die' left her lips, the shields were instantaneously dropped followed by a bark that echoed from the house.

"Hurry the fuck up then!"

"Son of a bitch." The woman muttered before gesturing the group to step in before the shields were activated again. Not wanting to be left out, the teenagers hurried alongside Red Arrow into the area as the shields suddenly activated. "Oi, Nightwing! Is Bee available for first aid?"

"No, Bee is not available! I just handed whoever I saw first the med duty for the day. Just leave them in med bay and get yours and Arrow's ass to main room now! The both of you are late in reporting for the past three days! Goddamnit, I should put a bloody leash on you!"

"Goddamn asshole." The woman cursed again, turning to Red Arrow. "You can take them to med bay and see who ChickenWing called to nurse duty. I'll cover your ass in the meeting."

Behind Red Arrow, Danny choked and quickly turned his head away from them to hide his laughter at the mention of chicken wings. Sam and Tucker gave him odd looks, but Danny simply shook his head, wanting to keep the joke of throwing out ideas of what the 'CW' of the medallions meant between Brad and himself.

"Please don't make any one of them call me up to split you two up if you get into another argument. The last time that happened, we almost ended up without the AP base." Red Arrow pleaded, putting his hands on his hips with an exasperated look on his face. The woman merely snorted.

"No promises. I can hardly stand his head-in-the-ass attitude after what happened to Raven and Cyborg. Starfire should be sainted; she's the only one who can stand him and still be attached to him at the same time for all these years." She folded her arms across her chest and 'hmmph-ed'. "And I'll fry his ass off, break his limbs and shoot him in the head if he tries to even break anything in the house."

"Just don't start lunging at each other's throats for the entire meeting please. Please?" The woman scowled and turned her head away from Red Arrow. The red clad archer was undeterred and side-stepped to face her and pleaded with her again. "Pretty please? Pretty, pretty please with uh… lots of pixie dust?"

"Ugh."

Danny thought that Red Arrow was doing a remarkably good job at the wounded puppy look even with a mask on. Even he could practically see the sparkles dancing out from the mask covered eyes. The hybrid heard Tucker chortling from behind him but he didn't hear any reaction from Sam.

Though he did think it was odd that Red Arrow had used pixie dust instead of the regular 'with sugar on top'. Perhaps pixie dust was an inside joke between them. Either way, it strongly reminded Danny of Casse; recalling how she had earned her nickname with her siblings.

"Oh bug off. Your puppy eyes don't beat Nath's. Now hurry up and get them to the med bay, you made a promise to them didn't you?"

Before Red Arrow could respond, she turned her heel and strode into the house without as much as a glance backward. The archer scratched the back of his head and sighed, muttering incoherently under his breath while jerking his head towards the house, gesturing for the teens to follow him in.

The interior of the house hadn't changed as much as Danny thought it would have. Despite the deep cracks in the walls and the mess of various items cluttered all over the place, the house looked the same as he remembered it from his time. The furniture was all the same, a little aged and worn, but still the same.

Red Arrow ushered them up the stairs and led them to the room that formerly belonged to Lee. Idly, Danny wondered where the future version of Lee and Casse were; since Valerie had already confirmed that Sam, Tucker and Brad were dead in this future, he couldn't help but wonder what ever happened to everyone else. What about their families? Were his parents and Jazz alive in this future?

"Alfred?" The teens paused as Red Arrow stared incredulously into the room. They each shuffled to the side of the archer and peered in to see a balding old man carrying himself with dignity looking back at them.

"Certainly Master Red Arrow. Master Nightwing has entrusted me with medical duty for the day. Now, I hear that we have some injured to tend to?"

"I am going to kill that bloody bird." Red Arrow muttered, flipping his hood off his head to reveal a mess of shocking red hair. He ran a hand through the tresses of his hair and sighed. "Just don't get a heart attack when we show you who Alfred."

"I highly doubt it sir. I have witnessed many strange things in my time, this should be no different." The man replied smoothly, gesturing to one of the beds for Danny to deposit the weight off his back. The hybrid gave his friends and Red Arrow a nervous look, having already realized that this Alfred was one the same as Bruce Wayne's butler.

Hesitantly, Danny moved forward and with Tucker's help and deposited the pale blond onto the bed. If Alfred was shocked, he certainly didn't show it. Instead, he immediately set to work, stripping Brad of his shirt and began assessing the damage.

For a while, the teens simply watched Alfred work on nursing Brad's wounds without a single sound. The man did however, press a button on the wall, uttering something so soft into it that none of them could hear it before returning back to work on the claw punctures.

Moments later, a tall beautiful raven haired woman soundlessly strode into the room.

"Is it really that serious to call Arella in Alfred?" Red Arrow spoke from the corner nearest to the door, watching them from the shadows of the room. "From what we could tell, it looks like it was Beast's claws that did a number on him."

"Miss Arella needs to tend to the hole that was punctured near his heart." Alfred responded without preamble. "In addition to the loss of blood, the hole next to his heart could prove fatal and kill him since it also gives bacteria a chance to multiply in the open wound."

"And while I heal that hole, I might as well heal the rest of his injuries." The pale skinned woman spoke softly, making her hands hover above Brad's shoulders before a gentle soft glow began to emit from her palms. "It seems that Beast has become much more savage lately. We have had reports of many other civilian casualties whose injuries were caused by him."

"It looks like Valerie and her goons are more trouble than the Master you've been talking about." Sam muttered, glaring at Red Arrow from her position at the window. "Now spill. What the hell is this future?"

"Sam!" Danny and Tucker shot Sam displeased looks but the girl didn't retract or amend her words. She simply continued to glare at the red clad hero while Alfred and Arella watched silently.

"I did give my word that I would answer whatever questions you may have." Red Arrow stepped forward, grabbing a chair and sat down while resting his elbows on his thighs and his chin on his palms. "But first, I'll have to ask you guys from which day did you come from? Obviously you all came before the Explosion of NB."

"I wanted to ask what NB stands for, but I guess you'd answer it later." Tucker mused for a moment before answering Red Arrow properly. "Sunday, day before our C.A.T…"

"Shit!" The teens jumped slightly at Red Arrow's loud exclamation. Arella and Alfred continued to work on Brad's injuries quietly, unfazed by the outburst. "That's the day before the Explosion of NB!"

"Do you think you could elaborate for us on the events?" Danny forced out, both confused and strangely fascinated about learning about their future. "Starting from that Explosion of NB?"

"Alright. You all better sit down and make yourself comfortable then. This is going to be a very, very long talk."

"It all started with the Explosion of NB; NB standing for Nasty Burger. It's unclear on how and why, but nine people were caught in the explosion. Out of the nine, there was only one survivor."

Red Arrow drew in a deep breath, eying the three behind his mask as they watched him, their attention unwavering as they listened intently. Arella was still healing Brad while Alfred had taken seat on the next bed. The red head continued, ticking off the names as he rattled them off.

"Jack and Madeline Fenton, Tobias Angeles, Leonard Lancer, Jasmine Fenton, Bradley Angeles, Samantha Manson and Tucker Foley. These were the eight people who lost their lives in the Explosion of NB." Tucker went pale while Sam griped her arms tightly as their names were listed. Red Arrow then looked at the both of them sharply. "Daniel Fenton was the sole survivor of the explosion."

Danny suddenly felt his stomach churn violently, making him feel sick. So many questions were now racing in his mind. Why had that the group met up at Nasty Burger? How did the explosion occur and… why, why, why had he been the only survivor? What happened to Lee and Casse?

Suddenly, he wasn't too keen on finding out what had happened.

"The incident made world news because Tobias Angeles is one of the world's top bio-medical scientists and that he's Bruce Wayne's best friend. At the time of the incident, his youngest daughter Cassandra was in the hospital recuperating from a relapse and his eldest daughter Amilee was at home. The Nasty Burger franchise were sued penniless after the incident."

It felt so hard for him to swallow and breathe. Danny had a chilling feeling that everything was going to go downhill from there. He could feel it and he knew that Tucker and Sam felt the same.

"Since they became orphans, the Angeles girls were sent into their Godfather's care. Despite Mr. Wayne's insistence in wanting to take care of him with his Goddaughters, Daniel Fenton was sent to a close friend of his parents', Vladimir Masters."

He could have sworn that his blood had frozen solid at the mention of Vlad Masters. If the incident got him sent under Vlad's care, Danny knew that it was definitely a one-way ticket to complete hell. Suddenly, the tiniest pieces of the puzzle began connecting with each other as Red Arrow continued.

"But that was the last anyone heard of him. From then on, it was either he was good at eluding the paparazzi or Mr. Masters was locking him up in his castle in Wisconsin and not letting him out. After a few months, Mr. Masters had announced to the media that Daniel had committed suicide. The girls were devastated but most people thought that there was something off with how Mr. Masters announced Daniel's death. But even with all that, life still continued as per normal."

A 'however' or 'but' was definitely going to come up. Danny could feel it.

"Then a year after the incident, Shadow appeared. To be honest, we don't know how he came about but all we knew was that he was the former Phantom, ghost of Amity Park who had disappeared after the Explosion of NB, and that he was under the command of 'The Master'."

"He had changed, completely." Red Arrow stared at Danny with an even gaze. It wasn't malicious or full of contempt but more of wonderment. "Both Amilee and Cassandra were insistent that Phantom was under the Master's control, believing that something had happened to him in the twelve month span of when he had disappeared. But the Justice League didn't want to take any chances and it proved to be a wise choice when they labeled him a dangerous adversary. Days later after his first appearance, the Master sent a ghost army into the Real Realm and began his attack."

"Can I interrupt?" The archer watched Danny closely before nodding his head, prompting the hybrid to continue. "Who is the Master? Or have you not been able to indentify him?"

"We aren't a hundred percent sure, but Ca… uh; Angel insists that the Master is Vladimir Masters." Red Arrow's near slip-up didn't go unnoticed by the teens and they eyed him warily, but the archer continued with his talk. "Nightwing doesn't believe her though. But I'm inclined to thinking her way after I heard all her reasoning and explanations. It makes sense, but we still don't concrete evidence to show that he is but of course, also not enough evidence to show that he isn't."

"I guess that's fair enough given the circumstances." Danny sighed softly, not liking this future one bit. "So, what happened next?"

"The next big incident didn't happen until another four years later." Red Arrow continued easily, his eyes staring into space for a moment like he was lost in thought. "The Master attacked, using the ghosts' ability to overshadow a person and took control of Lex Luthor and some other villains. While the League was busy on the ground, the Master sent Luthor into a kamikaze mission by ramming a space shuttle into the Watchtower. Majority of the heroes and workers who were at the Watchtower managed to escape, but we still had seven casualties."

Red Arrow paused and stared down on the wooden planked floor, his hands clasped together tightly as he listed the names.

"Batman, Green Arrow, Mister Terrific, Bruce Wayne, Oliver Queen, Michael Holt and Amilee Angeles died that day. Lex Luthor too perished in the forced suicide mission. That incident is known as the Watchtower Tragedy which served as a turning point in the war. The Justice League was disbanded shortly after the incident. Humans began rioting and scathing towards the Justice League and the remaining originals also found themselves in disarray with the loss of Batman from their ranks. Many heroes hung up their mantles while only a handful continued their crusade. Among the seven founders, only the Flash has been known to have continued fighting, the rest are all unknown."

He could almost swear that the blood (or was it ectoplasm?) had drained from his face and nearly dropped out from his levitating position in shock. Danny stared at Red Arrow, the severity of the future finally sinking into his mind. He shivered slightly, picturing the destruction of the Watchtower and wanted to cry when he imagined Lee disappearing into the blaze of fire.

Danny wanted to, no, needed to prevent this future. There was no way he was going to let this future take place. But first he had a question that Sam unwittingly voiced out.

"Why was Lee at the Watchtower anyway?"

"When the war broke out, she got involved in the Humanitarian Pact with her sister. The two of them assisted in some of the Justice League's missions like tending to the wounded or engaging in peace talks with some ghosts who were willing to have them with humans. It seemed like not all the ghosts were under the Master's command and many were driven out of their homes in the Ghost Zone."

"Miss Amilee did miracles." Alfred murmured wistfully, catching everyone else's attention. Danny felt a fist clench his heart at the wistful fondness in Alfred's tone but stared in wonderment at the hint of pride that was laced with it. "Even though Miss Cassandra did an equally excellent job in assisting in the Humanitarian Pact, Miss Amilee threw herself into peace talks and went as far as to defend the ghosts when there were human protests on giving them leniency and shelter."

"Cassandra had been in the Watchtower on the same day." Red Arrow explained quietly. "But unlike her sister, she had been closer to the docking bay and was easily herded into one of the Javelins to escape. Amilee had been further away since she had been at Central Command at the time when the attack started."

From there, Red Arrow paused and took a moment to look at each teen to see their reactions. Tucker's face had paled so much that his dark skin looked like it had been powdered over many times over. Sam was leaning heavily against the wall, the shadows hiding her eyes but Danny could see her biting her bottom lip so hard that blood was beginning to trickle down to her chin.

Danny had the feeling that he wasn't looking any better. His stomach was tossing and turning with anxiety and self-disgust. He didn't know if his future self had been the one to overshadow Luthor and gone on the suicide mission but the thought that he might have directly caused the death of one of his friends made him feel sick.

Suddenly loud coughs were heard, making Danny spin around to see Brad trying to get into a sitting position, coughing violently.

Immediately he levitated towards the blond, patting his back gently before blinking and rubbing his eyes to see if he was hallucinating. The claw marks were gone; in the place of the puncture holes were dark red bruises. He muttered his thanks to Arella many times, though the woman frowned and looked at Brad with a perplexed expression.

"Is he suffering from anything else?"

"Um… he lost his voice when we got here for some reason. Maybe… he got a throat infection?" The hybrid was thankful for the distraction; he desperately wanted to take his mind off the dark future that they were in but he definitely did not want to be the one to tell Brad about the events that caused it to happen.

Brad had finally begun taking a good look at his surroundings and shot Danny an alarmed look when he realized that he was in his older sister's room… or of what looked like it. Before Danny could reply to him though, Brad had spotted Alfred and blinked rapidly while rubbing his eyes hard. That's when he realized that he was shirtless and began messing up his hair as everything hit him at one go.

"Calm down! Ok we're like, ten years into our future; yes that's Alfred over there. Yes, you're shirtless because they needed to take it off to tend to the claw marks that you got from that big beast which I have to tell you, trying to attack them was a completely stupid stunt. And finally yes, we are in your house and in Lee's room because the place is doubling as a base of operations for… whatever name the group has and her room is the med bay."

The blond gave Danny an incredulous stare when the hybrid was done spilling out answers. It was then that he realized that Arella was hovering over him, still checking him over for the reason behind the loss of his voice. He began inching away from the strange woman with a wary expression, who gave him a bemused look in return. From his seat at the next bed, Alfred chuckled quietly before getting up and silently moving over to Brad's side.

"I must say, it is good to see you again Young Master Bradley. I've almost forgotten that you never did like strangers approaching you. Unfortunately if Miss Arella is to find out what is preventing you from speaking, you must allow her to get close to you."

Brad stared at Alfred before he eyed Arella warily. After a moment, he grudgingly stopped moving away from Arella to allow her to continue to find the cause of the loss of his voice. Danny allowed an amused smile to grace his lips and received an irritated scowl from the blond in return.

The tense atmosphere was slowly easing away until a series of knocks echoed from the door.

"Arrow, you had better have finished the storytelling by now. ChickenWing wants us to go investigate Gotham City Sector Four and Amity Restricted Sector because the Master sent his army at those two areas some time ago. He thinks that the Master is up to something because the place looks untouched and we all know that if he leaves anything untouched after sending his army, he's planning something."

"GCS Four and APRS?" Red Arrow abruptly got to his feet with a frown marring his face as the blond woman strode in once the door swung open. "But GCS Four is a memorial site and APRS is frigging deserted."

"Exactly my point." Angel, as Danny recalled Red Arrow addressing her as, turned to face the archer with her arms folded across her chest. She hadn't even taken a glance in the direction of the beds to check up on the injured and was completely ignoring the teens. But then again, Danny felt relieved that she was ignoring them, she didn't look very pleased. "But the dick-head insists that we check the two sectors out and make sure both are completely clean. Says it's punishment for not reporting in earlier even if we did contact Oracle."

"Christ." Red Arrow muttered, running a hand through the tresses of his hair with an annoyed expression. "Well if it keeps him from nagging at us for the next few days, then I'll go to GCS Four. Unless you want to go there instead."

Their conversation faded in Danny's ears when he noticed Brad's incredulous stare that was trained on Angel from the corner of his eye. He had his right index finger pointing at her while his mouth opened and closed like a goldfish in water. Forgetting that he didn't have his voice, Brad began mouthing words out until he remembered that he couldn't speak.

It startled Danny when Brad suddenly grabbed his shoulders and began pointing and mouthing out his words frantically at him. Unfortunately for the blond, Danny hadn't the faintest clue of what he was trying to imply. Frustrated that he couldn't get his point across, Brad shifted about the bed, completely ignoring the chastising look Arella was giving him. He grabbed one of the metal boxes on the bedside and chucked it at Angel's head.

She reacted swiftly, turning her head to the side as she spun on her heel and grabbed the box before it reached her head. Both blonds stared at each other until Brad started pointed at her again, this time looking downright furious as he threw a silent fit.

While Danny tried to pacify Brad, Tucker hobbled over to them silently, curious to know what was making their friend pitch a fit. Just as he got to Brad's bedside, his PDA was promptly snatched out of his hand, much to his displeasure. The dark-skinned boy glared at Brad who was busily tapping the screen of the PDA to care about the stares he was getting.

"You morons, that's Pixie!"

The words that flashed on the screen of Tucker's PDA made the teens and Angel freeze. Alfred raised an eyebrow and stared at the blond woman with a stern look. Danny blinked and snatched the PDA from Brad's hands and rubbed the screen, thinking that they might have read wrongly. He got a smack on the back of his head from Brad for that action.

"Casse?!" Three voices chorused out incredulously while the older woman spun her heel to avoid looking at them. Suddenly, the pieces started to fall into place and it clicked in Tucker's head.

"So that's why Red Arrow stumbled when he was trying to address you and made it out as if you were two different people when he was explaining the situation to us." Danny nodded his head, understanding what Tucker was saying while Sam glared at the older Casse's back. Brad prodded Tucker's arm and waved a few gestures to him while pointing at the older Casse. "Oh, and Brad says, 'Turn around and look at me damnit!'"

When the older Casse refused to face them, Brad ignored the protests from Arella and Alfred and got out of the bed. He brushed off Tucker's offered hand to assist him and hobbled over to Casse; Red Arrow had wisely stepped aside and watched the impending scene from the beds.

Brad took in a deep breath and poked the older Casse's side. It was small, but it certainly invoked a squirming reaction from her. Again he poked her side, this time rapidly repeating the pokes and she definitely began to squirm. She slapped his hand away but Brad was undeterred and continued his poking on her sides. It was then that Danny realized that Brad was poking her ticklish spots.

Danny glanced over to Alfred, who looked vaguely amused as the older Casse tried side stepping away from Brad but the other stayed stubborn and followed her. The hybrid could hear Red Arrow's quiet chuckles and Sam's snort of disparagement at the childish looking scene.

"Fine! I'm looking at you already!" The harsh snap immediately caught Danny's attention and his head swiveled around to see the older woman glaring at Brad who had his arms crossed over his chest with a triumphant expression. Even though she was gritting her teeth and clenching her fists tightly, Danny could see that the older Casse wasn't terribly angry at Brad but couldn't decide whether she was keeping appearances up or if it had become a habit over the years for her to become very defensive.

They watched as the two siblings stared at each other with their arms crossed over their chests. Brad made the first move and jabbed a finger at the older Casse, his lips moving rapidly but still no sound came from his mouth. Casse blinked and stared at him.

"What's wrong with you? Did you lose your voice or something?"

Brad threw his hands up in exasperation while still trying to communicate with her. Thankfully, Tucker intervened by interpreting Brad's gestures.

"Well he's asking this: 'Why the hell are you trying to avoid me, carrying two bloody guns at your waist and while I'm at it, why are you dressed in those skimpy revealing clothes?!'"

As Brad nodded his head vigorously to Tucker's words, Casse's hands quickly flew to the zipper of the trench coat and quickly zipped it up to hide the red tube top. Danny allowed his lips to curve into a small smile. Even if they weren't from this time, Casse still took her brother's words into consideration and acted accordingly.

"Look." Casse's voice sounded strangely strangled and hollow as she spoke. "You guys have been dead for ten years. It's bad enough that I see the memorial statues on a daily basis, but to see you guys just so goddamn alive is eating at me because even though you're all here now, you aren't really here at the same time."

"They can't replace your timeline's versions of themselves." Danny agreed quietly, his eyes watching the older Casse with a soft, understanding expression. "Because you wouldn't know how they would be at your current age when given these circumstances; growing up can change a person. Because they are as how you remember them and you want to turn back time to prevent them from being killed, it hurts a lot more when you see them up front doesn't it?"

"Yes it does." She replied quietly, finally leaning backwards to slump onto the chair Red Arrow had sat on earlier. Casse buried her face in her hands, her shoulders shaking slightly as she breathed heavily to calm herself down.

It didn't really surprise Danny when Brad shook his head silently and reached over to hug her shoulders, rocking her gently. The hybrid could see the older Casse's shoulders stiffen before relaxing, leaning against her 'older' brother slightly. His heart swelled slightly at the sight and couldn't help but wish he could return to their time to prevent them from being killed and to finally snuggle up against his own sister after that was all done.

He wanted to protect them all. His family, friends, everyone. Danny promised himself that he wouldn't let them fall into this future and in the worst case scenario of them truly succumbing to that fate; he would fight to not be placed under Vlad's care.

"Pipsqueak! Arrow! What the hell are you two doing?!" The sudden bark from the medical bay (or rather Lee's room) door startled the teens. This prompted everyone to look up as the door swung open with a loud bang.

The man who had shouted was tall and broad-shouldered, wearing a black spandex suit with a blue bird insignia on his chest, shoulder length jet-black hair and a black eye mask. The beauty who had followed him in had a voluptuous body, her orange skin contrasting surprisingly well with the purple uniform that she wore. Her flaming red hair flowed listlessly behind her and her green eyes looked at them worriedly from behind the man.

"Do you mind Nightwing?" Casse snapped, gently pushing Brad away from her as she glared at the man. "We're not fucking workaholics who don't make time to eat or sleep like you. We'll leave when we will so piss off."

"The Master might be scheming to destroy the rest of Earth and we can't afford to slack off now!" Nightwing roared, glaring back at her with much ferocity. The orange skinned woman laid a gentle hand on his shoulder while he continued ranting. "For Christ sake, the Renegades went and almost killed retired heroes! We need to –"

"Master Nightwing! If I may." Nightwing stopped in mid-shout and everyone turned to look at Alfred who was giving the black clad hero a stern look. "Shouting in the infirmary is unsightly and there are still injured here; one is merely refusing to co-operate by not resting like he should."

That's when Nightwing finally took a good look around the room and spotted the teens. Danny felt a shiver run down his spine when the black clad hero glared venomously at him before his eyes fell onto the shirtless Brad. Nightwing's eyes narrowed from behind the mask as he strode over to the blond and grabbed his shoulders.

Brad released a soft hiss of pain at the sudden contact, making Casse abruptly get to her feet to slap Nightwing's hands off him. Brad's eyes shifted uncomfortably between Nightwing and Casse, the two adults glaring at each other while having a hand resting on each side of Brad's shoulders. It would have been amusing if it weren't for the fact that the two adults looked like they wanted to tear each other's throats apart.

"Just hurry up." Nightwing snarled, taking his hand off Brad's shoulders. "And take them with you, we can't house civilians here and you'd better find a way to return them back to wherever they came from."

"We're not animals." Sam snapped angrily, matching Nightwing's glare. She never got a chance to throw any scathing remarks when he ignored her and spun his heel and out of the room. A moment later, a shirt that was similar to what Brad had been wearing earlier was tossed at the teen.

"Starfire, let's go." They stared at Nightwing's retreating back as he disappeared down the stairs. Starfire bowed to them politely before hurrying off after him, closing the door with a gentle click.

"Stupid dick-head." Casse cursed, scowling at the closed door while Brad slipped the shirt over his head and checked the portable Ghost Gauntlets on his hands. "He's the former Robin if you guys were wondering."

"Did Batman's death affect him that much?" Tucker questioned as he watched Brad test the Gauntlets before letting them slide back to compact size. "The last I knew, they were on bad terms and that's why Robin went to head the Teen Titans in Jump City?"

"It affected him more than you think." Red Arrow answered, checking over his bow and counting the arrows in his barrel. "Robin admires and respects all that Batman had done and when he was killed in the Watchtower Tragedy, the realization hit him hard that he no longer had his mentor around to guide him."

"You're no different though Red Arrow." The archer turned and raised an enquiring eyebrow at Danny. "I mean, you're the former Speedy aren't you? And Green Arrow was your mentor too wasn't he? Robin should understand that he's not the only one who lost his mentor."

"That's why he changed his name to Red Arrow, to honor Green Arrow." Alfred smiled, beaming at the red faced archer who scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "He refused to take the title of Green Arrow, stating during the memorial that 'there will only be one Green Arrow in the world'."

"Better than ChickenWing that's for sure." Danny couldn't help but cover his mouth to hide his laughter while Brad turned his face away, his shoulders shaking in mirth. Their actions received raised eyebrows. "What's so funny?"

"It's a private joke." Danny giggled, sniggering behind his hand before straightening up and attempting to look serious. The grin on his face however, showed the failure in that attempt. "So, looks like we're all stuck with you two to scout those areas until we get back to our time huh?"

"Or we could just take them off now and just go!" Sam sniped, obviously not enjoying her stay in their morbid future. "We've found out enough already and we all know that we need to just avoid the Nasty Burger."

"That's not true; we don't know why the Fentons, Mr. Lancer and Mr. Angeles were there." Danny pointed out, wanting to make sure he could get as many facts as he could before returning back to prevent the disaster. "I would like to find out more about it and was hoping Casse and Red Arrow could enlighten us when we're out with them."

Brad sent a shrug in his direction but nodded his head, not completely sure of everything but Casse placed a hand on his shoulder and promised that she would fill him in. The blond teen just sent her a look which read 'you'd better tell me every single detail' and Casse just scowled back at him.

"At least let us check you all over for any minor injuries to treat. It seems that Mr. Foley is in need of medical attention with that burn on his ankle. Miss Cassandra and Red Arrow must recharge and replenish their weaponry before heading out as well; you might not know which enemies will lurk when you reach the sectors."

"Thanks for the reminder Alfred. You might want to give Brad some painkillers though. Even if Arella healed the puncture marks, I don't think it means that it doesn't hurt anymore." Casse's lips curved into a wry smile as Alfred responded with a curt nod. "I suppose we'll meet you guys at the front door then."

"I hope you know what you're doing Danny." Sam hissed as Tucker allowed Arella and Alfred to check him over. The raven haired girl was displeased that Danny hadn't agreed with her on anything. "Because this isn't one of your brightest ideas."

"Yes Sam, I love you too." Danny muttered sarcastically, not noticing the blush that streaked across Sam's face as she turned her head away from him. His ears picked up Casse and Red Arrow's conversation as they went through their devices.

"Arrow, is your detector glitched or something? Mine doesn't show any other ghost in the vicinity other than Phantom. Yours is showing one more in the room."

"Huh? That's weird." Red Arrow scratched the back of his head, his eyes wide in puzzlement. "It says the ghost is right by Phantom, but how come yours isn't picking up anything?"

"Beats me. Guess we need Oracle to take a look at it once we're done scouting, we don't have any time right now to contact her to get a replacement."

Danny's brows furrowed as they left the room. Another ghost next to him? He would be able to sense the ghost if that were the case so… was it really a glitch in Red Arrow's detector?

Lancer didn't want to believe it, something was terribly wrong with this picture yet somehow everything seemed to fit.

The answers to the C.A.T had gone missing and coincidentally, Dashiel Baxter had come to him, claiming to have seen Daniel Fenton with the answer envelope. The balding teacher sighed and leaned back against his chair. He was having a hard time believing that Danny would even think of cheating for this test; sure his current results were far from excellent but he had determination and a group of supportive friends.

So why did he change to swoop this low? Lancer couldn't find the answer no matter how hard he tried.

Lancer stared at the ceiling, his hands clasped together resting on his lap as he thought of the various scenarios. If Danny did cheat, there was enough reason to expel him from school; the lightest punishment was a warning and a month suspension. But having the answer booklet itself was already questionable and could get Danny scrutinized. His parents would be notified and Lancer was pretty sure that they too would be wondering if they had done anything wrong in raising him.

Despite his dislike for the Fentons eccentricity and strange devices, Lancer knew that Jack and Maddie Fenton loved their children dearly and put their family and friends before anything else. He respected them for that.

Leonard Lancer closed his eyes and released another sigh from his lips. It seemed that there was going to be a painful meeting with the Fentons after the examination tomorrow. He simply wished that it was all a horrible prank.

The APRS turned out to be the area where the Nasty Burger had once stood. The ground was littered with debris and blackened by what Danny thought could have been the explosion. It was as if the town has simply left the area as it was, shaken by memories that didn't allow them to forget and to move on.

Tilted buildings and abandoned homes surrounded the site, like a true ghost town where no one else dared to live. Danny watched his friends from the rear; Brad listening to what Casse was telling him while Red Arrow and Tucker conversed lightly. Sam was just in front of him, but wasn't close enough to talk to him or to join in the other two conversations.

Her attitude was puzzling him greatly. It seemed as if that if anyone disagreed with her, her mood would turn black and that's when everything would go horribly wrong afterwards. Danny didn't like the feeling of foreboding that was creeping through his body but he quickly shoved it away and concentrated on the more pressing matters at hand.

"Do you think we should split up and cover more ground Casse?" The group had stopped just some ways away from the large black crater which Danny assumed to be the remains of the Nasty Burger. "We can check out GCS Four afterwards and head over to Oracle to check what's wrong with this piece of junk?"

"Hold on Arrow. I don't like this." The teens watched the older Casse curiously as she eyed their surroundings warily. "There's something off around here; I don't know if it's a ghost or if the Master has gotten himself new allies but I think it would be better to stick together."

"You're the boss lady." The archer chirped cheerfully, receiving a glare and a smack on the shoulder from the woman. Brad raised an eyebrow at their exchange, crossing his arms over his chest and tapped his foot while shifting his eyes between the two adults. Danny blinked as Tucker began to chuckle quietly and raised an enquiring eyebrow at his best friend.

"Brad's overprotective older brother side is coming out." Danny blinked as Tucker enlightened him further. "It's because he thinks that Red Arrow is hitting on Casse."

Danny choked and quickly covered his mouth to stifle his laughter. The adults raised eyebrows at them while Brad continued to stare at Red Arrow with much scrutiny. Sam simply ignored the conversation, staring off into space with a bored expression on her face.

"Well, just stick close together. Stay sharp and don't let anything out of the ordinary escape."

"Yes madam."

"Arrow, you'd better stop doing that before I make sure you will not have any Father's Day in the future."

"I think Brad would probably maul and kill him first." Tucker piped up idly, causing Danny to snort and cover his smile. Casse blinked and cocked her head to one side to look at her brother. Brad did look a little murderous while glaring at Red Arrow and Tucker and Danny were finding it difficult to hold back their laughter. The archer had thrown both his hands up in a surrendering gesture, blinking rapidly as Brad continued to glare daggers at him.

Before anyone could say anything else, Brad had marched forward and began pushing Red Arrow roughly into one direction, far away from Casse. Tucker and Danny succumbed to the mirth and fell into pearls of laughter at the look of incredulity on Casse's face.

Danny turned his head to Tucker and jerked his head in the direction where Brad had pushed Red Arrow into, gesturing that he wanted to talk to Casse alone. Catching onto what Danny was thinking, Tucker nodded and grabbed Sam's wrist and began dragging the protesting girl in the same direction Red Arrow and Brad had taken off into.

"Smart. But you do know that it'll be disadvantageous to us because Arrow might not be able to protect all three of them right?"

"Brad can take care of himself pretty well with the portable Ghost Gauntlets; don't underestimate him." Danny grinned, following Casse's lead as they scouted the area. "So, do you have an answer to what I asked earlier? Arrow didn't have the answer but I thought you might."

"About why the parents were meeting at the Nasty Burger that night?" Danny nodded his head and waited patiently for Casse to reply to him. His eyes slid across the scene before him and tried to spot anything that didn't seem right until Casse spoke up.

"There was a rumor about it, but I'm not sure how accurate it is though." The hybrid simply gave her a look that prompted the older woman to continue. "Well, they were saying that the C.A.T answers that Lancer had been keeping were stolen by Danny. The rumor went on to saying that Danny had cheated in the C.A.T and Lancer wanted to talk to his parents at the Nasty Burger since the school grounds were closed after the exams."

Danny managed to catch himself before he dropped out of the air in shock. The C.A.T answers? The only time he had been close to Lancer during the weekend was when Box Lunch had attacked the Nasty Burger and he definitely did not steal the answers then! Brad could definitely vouch for him at that time!

"I'm… not sure about the rest, but it seemed that Jazz, Sam, Tucker and Brad had gone to the Nasty Burger to defend Danny. Dad apparently had been looking for Brad and followed him to the Nasty Burger when… it happened."

Realization hit Danny hard when he quickly went through his thoughts and stopped at the particular one when Box Lunch had attacked the Nasty Burger. Didn't she mess up some of the equipment when she went rampaging there? Could that have been the cause of the explosion?

The pieces had finally fallen into place and even though the puzzle had been solved, the sense of foreboding was still creeping through his veins.

A sudden series of loud beeps from Casse's detector sprung them to attention and the two narrowly dodged the ten sharp claws that came diving down at them. Immediately, Casse had unbuckled the guns at her waist and fired a few shots in the direction where the claws had come. Danny stayed on high alert, charging his ecto-energy in his hands in case he needed to form a shield in an instant.

Casse quickly tapped the earpiece and barked into it while dodging another set of claws that came her way. "Arrow! Shadow's appeared at the right side of the crater!"

"We're on the way!"

Danny quickly flung up a shield as another few sets of claws came his way. He grunted as each set flew in continuously until he came face to face with his future self. Danny stared into the blank blue eyes of his future counterpart who slammed a fist on the shield, shattering it upon impact before it connected with his chest.

He flew back several feet and crashed into the hard concrete floor. Danny coughed at the dust that settled around him and spat out green blood, wiping his chin of the dribbling blood as he stared at Shadow.

The older ghost stared back at him blankly before cocking his head to one side and jumping nimbly away as two bright green shots were fired at the spot he once stood. As he landed, the nails extended once again to long bright green claws and he stood there, poised and ready to attack them again.

"Phantom, are you ok?"

"I've felt better." He replied hoarsely, struggling back up to his feet. He wiped his chin with the back of his hand and grimaced when it came out sticky with green. "Any weakness of my future self that I should know of?"

"He doesn't have any as far as we know." Casse shouted back, shooting a barrage of shots at Shadow who simply weaved his body around the shots and jumped backwards, as if gauging of when he should attack them. "The only times he's ever faltered was when Lee was around."

"Incoming!" Danny quickly ducked down as did Casse at the shout. A volley of arrows came raining from the sky at Shadow, who simply extended his claws out longer and slashed the arrows to pieces. Red Arrow stood just some ways from Danny with Brad, Tucker and Sam quickly making their way towards him from the rear.

For a moment, Danny swore he saw a flicker of emotion in those blank eyes at the sight of them. But it was gone as soon as it came. Without warning, he shot forward with his claw outstretched and aimed straight for Red Arrow.

The archer quickly notched his arrows and let them slice through the air as Shadow approached him. Only at the very last minute did Red Arrow flee from the spot as Shadow's claws plunged forward and dug into the concrete. But he had unwittingly left the three teens wide open and vulnerable to Shadow's impending attacks.

Danny cursed colorfully as he shot forward and quickly threw up another shield as Shadow dug his claws out and slashed forward at his friends.

"What are you guys doing?!" He grunted; beads of sweat dribbling down the sides of his face as the claws began to crack the shield. "RUN!"

Tucker quickly grabbed both Sam and Brad's arms and pulled them away just as the shield gave way. Danny was sent kissing the concrete once again but was saved from being pummeled further into the ground by Casse and Red Arrow.

After making sure that the other three were out of harms way, Danny shot forward and delivered a punch to Shadow's gut. The punch didn't seem to phase the older hybrid as he grabbed Danny's arm and tossed him over his shoulder without a second glance. Danny gritted his teeth and planted his feet firmly on the wall of the building he was thrown into. Cracks formed at the point of impact but thankfully, the building didn't crumble.

Only Red Arrow and Casse were nimble enough to dodge Shadow's relentless attacks and attack him at the same time. Danny felt useless because his power was only a small fraction of Shadow's power, feeling the big gap of experience and power between himself and his older, darker self.

"Stay behind us." Casse ordered, aiming a few more shots at Shadow as Red Arrow used a variety of different arrows to distract the other hybrid. "It's obvious that you can't match up to him because of the power difference and believe me, the last thing I want is for you to get pulverized now and not prevent this future from happening."

"That's a really painful 'duh'." Danny wheezed out, feeling the pain of the bruises overcome his senses for a moment before he jerked himself back to the present. Nevertheless he complied with Casse's order and began drifting backwards from the main battle and closer to his hiding friends.

But he didn't expect to find a large black and purple flamed horseman, definitely not the Headless Horseman that he knew of, hovering menacingly behind him. Danny could hear yells and shouts around him, but they all faded when the horseman drove a sharp punch to his gut, knocking the wind out of him and sent him flying straight into a building.

"Shit, it's the Fright Knight!" Casse cursed, quickly grabbing something from her belt as Red Arrow took one of his special arrows from his barrel. "This was a fucking set up! Stupid son of a bitch, I'm going to kill that assed bird!"

"What do you want Fright Knight?" Red Arrow snarled, his eyes quickly darting around to find if the ghost army was around them. "What does the Master want now?"

Danny wheezed at the weight of the debris that was sitting on his stomach and quickly turned intangible to fly out of the rubble. Just as he had gotten out of the crumbled building, a firm hand seized his throat and began choking him. His bright green eyes widened as his older counterpart stared at him blankly while tightening his hold on his neck.

"It's simple. My Master wants them dead." The purple flamed horseman, now identified as the Fright Knight, pointed a finger to the struggling Danny and raised his sword to point at Brad, Tucker and Sam who had been chased out of their hiding spot by some other ghosts. "The future will not change, we will make this future happen! The future is inevitable!"

"In your fucking dreams I'll let it happen!" Casse snapped, cocking out the energy cartridges of the guns and quickly replaced them. "Go crawling back to your Master and tell him that his reign of tyranny will never reach other timelines!"

"Insolent insects!" Danny gasped for breath as the hand around his throat tightened its grip. He tried turning intangible to escape but still his older counterpart kept a firm hold on his throat. From the corner of his eye, he could see Brad clenching his fists and moved to activate the compact Ghost Gauntlets, only to be stopped by Tucker. "The Master will reign supreme in any timeline as he so desires! There is nothing our Master cannot overcome!"

The grip around his neck loosened slightly, allowing Danny to quickly gulp in the necessary air he needed. But he froze as he watched helplessly as the Fright Knight's sword crackled with energy and shot devastating beams of purple at Tucker, Sam and Brad. Casse and Red Arrow tried to move forward to intercept the beams but were too late.

The force of the explosion blew them off their feet and Danny squeezed his eyes shut as the dust particles collided with his skin. Once his eyes were open again, he immediately tried locating any one of them. Casse was hurling numerous curses at the Fright Knight and shooting blindly at him while Red Arrow punched the ground with a frustrated cry.

It then sank into his mind but his heart refused to believe that it was true. Desperately, he tried searching for Tucker, Sam and Brad, wanting to find any clues that might have allowed them to escape. Then he saw the three twinkling medallions winking up at him from the ground where they had once stood and almost cried with relief. They went back to their time. He didn't even think of how they could have reacted fast enough to take the medallions off. They were safe and that's what mattered the most.

Now it was his turn to get back to their time.

As he struggled to pull the medallion off his neck, he swore he could hear something echoing from Shadow's ear, a commanding voice that sounded sinisterly familiar. And the command itself was enough to make him terrified out of his wits.

"Force the medallion into his body Shadow."

He flailed his limbs, trying to desperately get loose as Shadow's free hand extending its claws and inched closer towards him. The claw grasped the CW medallion tightly before the sharp claws pierced through Danny's chest. The hybrid released a scream of agony as the claws went through his skin and forced the medallion into his chest.

Danny could feel his eyes rolling to the back of his head as the pain seared through his body. His throat felt choked up and breathing seemed like the biggest chore that he had to do to survive. His hands griped the claw that was wrapped around his neck tightly and tried to squirm away weakly, but his body felt heavy and stiff. No matter how much he tried, he could not summon the strength to struggle anymore.

He could only vaguely hear Casse and Red Arrow's shouts as his body slammed against the concrete ground for what seemed to be the hundredth time of the day. But the pain seemed like millions of miles away as his vision began to darken. As Danny's mind began to shut down, he swore he could hear his own voice whispering into his ear.

"Hold on Danny… just hold on…"

"Wow, it looks like someone really did a huge number on the Nasty Burger yesterday." Lee commented as she and Jazz passed by the closed restaurant. The windows were shattered and plenty of chairs and tables were hanging off from the ceiling and walls of the building. "I know Dwarf said something about it getting trashed by the ghost that appeared in our house but, geez."

"Wait, a ghost appeared at your house?" A tinge of worry spiked Jazz's heart as she watched the younger girl. "What happened? Did the ghost do anything?"

"If you mean scare the crap out of me and smack my dad with a wooden chopping board… then yes, the ghost did do something." Lee responded with a note of sarcasm and a shrug to Jazz. "Good thing Pixie wasn't downstairs too, I'd pitch a fit if she got hurt in the state she's in now."

"I can imagine." Jazz sighed, giving Lee a quick glance through and deciding that the other girl was fine. "I'd be doing the same if that ever happened to Danny too."

"The curse of being the older sister." Both girls chorused at the same time, exchanging grins with each other before continuing down the road. Just as they were four streets down from Fenton Works, they heard loud crashes and yells from one of the alleyways. Startled, they exchanged a wary look with each other before cautiously moving towards the alleyway.

"How the heck did we… Sam, will you get off my leg please?"

"Only if you get dimwit to get off my arm! Ow! Stop hitting me you moron!"

There was plenty of scuffling happening but the voices were definitely familiar. As Jazz and Lee peered into the alleyway, they saw Brad, Tucker and Sam in a tangle of limbs with Sam glaring daggers at Brad who was trying to get himself disentangled with her arm.

"Uh… guys? What are you doing here?" All three of them froze at the sound of Jazz's voice. They looked up to see both Jazz and Lee hovering at the entrance to the alleyway before striding in to help disentangle them.

"So, could you guys tell us why you were all in the alleyway and look as if you went through a hurricane?" Jazz asked stiffly, worried that she couldn't see Danny among them. Lee was busily fussing over her brother while Tucker and Sam were patting the dust off their clothes. "And where's Danny?"

"Danny should still be at home, or he could have gone out since we left some time ago." Tucker quickly spat out the first excuse that came to mind, feeling worried that Danny hadn't followed them in returning to their time. The bespectacled teen was still confused as to how their medallions had come off at the same time, without their knowledge, to allow them back to their time. "He should be fine. The earthquake just rocked your house a little."

"If you're sure about that…"

"Dwarf, what's wrong with your throat?" All eyes turned to the two blonds to see Brad trying to gesture to Lee to explain about his predicament but to no avail. Tucker quickly intervened as Brad's expression grew incensed when he failed to communicate with Lee.

"He lost his voice. Brad started coughing a lot just now and he can't use his voice anymore for some reason."

"What?!" Brad took a step back as Lee started to check his throat area. "Dang, a throat infection? We'd have to take you to the doctors if it's made you lose your voice completely!"

Brad began waving his hands about, shaking his head furiously at the mention of being sent to the doctors. Tucker couldn't help but feel a little sympathetic towards him because not only could he not speak; he couldn't get his point across when he tried either.

"He doesn't want to go to the doctors. Maybe it'll just pass after a while Lee. Don't worry about it too much." Brad nodded his head furiously at Tucker's words, a look of gratitude sent in the bespectacled boy's direction.

"How can I not worry?!" The girl shouted; border-lining hysterics at this point, waving her hands in the air in exasperation. "Casse needs to be sent to the hospital later on because she's getting worse and now Brad's gotten a throat infection that's made him lose his voice completely?!"

Immediately, Brad grabbed Lee's shoulders and began mouthing his words, his expression frantic at the mention of their younger sister's condition worsening. Tucker, while he was just as worried about Casse, gently pried Brad off Lee to give her some space to explain.

"Her fever hasn't broken yet; she's starting to get violent fits and now she can't even swallow any food! The next person to tell me not to worry about anything concerning my family, I swear I'll strangle them!"

The blond began to rant excessively on just about everything while the rest blinked at her as she continued her tirade. Sam was just about to shoot a scathing remark in her direction but Jazz had gone forward to calm Lee down before she could do so. The Goth glared at their motley crew but inside there was a hurricane of worry sweeping through her veins, wondering why Danny had yet to appear.

"Well I guess we'd all better head back to check the damage to our homes after that earthquake… Hey wait a minute, where are all your bags?" A note of suspicion crept into Jazz's voice as she eyed the three younger teens warily, suddenly having a sinking feeling that her brother was in danger.

"Um well… they're right there?" Tucker thanked their lucky stars that they had landed back in the same area they had left their bags in or they might not be able to lie to Jazz or Lee very well. He could only hope to distract Jazz long enough for her to not realize that Danny wasn't exactly in the same timeline as they were in.

The older Fenton eyed them suspiciously but decided to let it go. Lee began to push Brad in the direction of their home while Tucker and Sam went their separate ways, albeit reluctantly. But Jazz caught sight of the worry that was palpable in Tucker's eyes as he left and couldn't help but urge her feet to walk home faster.

She just hoped that Danny was at home like Tucker said he would be.

As Jazz walked away, a green portal appeared in the dark corner of the alleyway. It rippled slightly, like a gentle touch on the water's surface but nothing seemed to have appeared to have emerged from the portal. The swirl of green closed and a pair of green eyes flashed momentarily before it vanished as quickly as soon as it came.

Hushed voices invaded his ears as consciousness returned to him. How long he had been out or where he was, Danny didn't know. He grunted softly, a sudden searing pain coursing through his veins as he tried to get up.

"Stop moving. You'll only make it worse." His eyes shot open and his body instantly jerked into a sitting position. The pain from his chest intensified tenfold and he bit his lip to prevent himself from screaming out in pain. A pair of slender black gloved hands grasped his shoulders and gently pushed him back down on where he was lying.

"What did she tell you about moving dip-stick?" This voice was familiar and there was no mistaking the drawl and nickname that came along with it. Staring down at him was an older looking Ember McLain with another female face he couldn't recognize. "Looks like Shadow did a number on you."

"Ember, be nice." The green haired ghost chided, checking over Danny's chest. "Red Arrow and Angel will happy to know that you're up, they brought you here after the ambush and are talking with Technus now."

"Wh… Who are you?" Danny managed to wheeze out as the pain increase its pressure on his chest. "Where am I?"

"Calm down dip-stick. You're still in the future if that's what you were wondering." Danny shot Ember a dirty look but grimaced as the pain shot through his body again. The green haired ghost on Ember's side made a disapproving noise and shook her head. "What? Ok, I couldn't resist. It's been frigging years since I could last tease the dip-stick without getting my ass handed to me Kitty."

"Well do it after he heals." The ghost, identified as Kitty, shot back. She turned to look at Danny with a kind smile. "Stay here, we'll get Angel and Red Arrow to come over."

"… You don't hate me?" Kitty blinked and turned her head back to look at him curiously.

"Why should I? All the ghosts know that Shadow, the future you here, is being controlled by the Master." The look in her eyes turned soft and she shook her head sadly. "I don't hate you. I … sympathize with you because you lost your free will."

"You're too kind Kitty! Too bloody kind!" Ember shouted at Kitty's retreating back before turning back to level a glare at Danny. The hybrid winced at the harshness of the glare but didn't want to try moving his body again because of the pain. He closed his eyes and concentrated on his breathing until a sigh invaded his ears.

"When I look at you, I keep on thinking how you'd turn out to be if you weren't under the Master's control." Danny opened his eyes and slowly turned his head to look at the ghost rocker. While her attire and overall attitude hadn't changed, she seemed a lot softer than her younger self. "If you weren't under his control, the Ghost Zone wouldn't be under his reign and we'd all still have our homes."

"… I guess I'm that terrible in the future huh." He could actually have decent conversation with the future Ember without her throwing a tantrum. Even if she still called him dip-stick. "Maybe the Box Lunch and Skulker had the right idea of wanting to destroy me back in the past."

"That's not true." Danny didn't expect her to reply so sharply to his statement. He looked up to see her eyes harden. "If you were destroyed in the past, it could have an adverse effect on the future. We don't know if destroying you would save us years of suffering or make it ten times worse. If anything, the best shot is to just warn you and hope for the best that you change whatever it is that is needed to change the future."

"And I've given both Skulker and Box Lunch a good dressing down about it." Danny flexed his fingers for a moment before pushing himself up into a sitting position. Ember gave him a disapproving look but nevertheless, helped him into position. Danny muttered a quiet thanks to her before looking up to see Technus, not as eccentric looking as he did in the past but more business-like and commanding.

Danny also noted that the large robotic body was nowhere to be found and wondered what exactly Technus had done with Skulker.

"The wounds might have healed, but you'll be in pain for a while." He only trusted himself to nod his head at Technus' statement, grimacing as another flash of pain stabbed at his chest. "And we have to find a way to remove the medallion in your chest if you are going to return to your time."

"We've got no idea how Shadow did it." Danny's eyes slid to the side to see Red Arrow and Casse, both bandaged and bruised but looking absolutely perplexed. "His claws went straight into you and just pushed the medallion into your chest! We've never seen him do anything like that before!"

"Wait. How did you –"

"I told them about the medallions." Technus interrupted, holding up a hand to halt the chatter. "I recognized the medallions that Angel and Red Arrow had given us to look at as the same medallion Skulker had received when we were taken to the past. If I am correct, if the medallions are taken off when you are in a timeline that is not your own, you will be transported back to your proper time."

"Yea, that's the gist of it." Danny wheezed out, rubbing his chest a little to soothe the pain that was burning in his ribs. "Brad and I figured that out when Box Lunch rampaged around and messed up the Nasty Burger."

"We have to find a way to get it out of you." Casse muttered darkly, rubbing her bandaged arms. "For all we know, the Master might have done this on purpose and is planning something even bigger. From what I've gotten from the Fright Knight, I think the Master is going try to make this future become your reality."

"The question is: how is he going to do that?" Danny's eyes slid from ghost to ghost that were surrounding him. Technus and Ember were the only two ghosts he knew from his time. Kitty was leaning against a taller, broad shouldered male ghost with a dark shadow looming behind him while the ghost that had spoken up was a large white beast-like creature with his right arm completely carved of ice.

Murmurs erupted from the rest of the ghosts, all trying to exchange ideas of how the Master could do so. Technus however, already caught onto the idea.

"Wait; there is a way the Master is able to do this." The murmurs quieted down and all eyes were trained on the technology savvy ghost. Casse and Red Arrow had stridden over to Danny's bed side and waited for Technus to continue. "He'll use Shadow to take on his former appearance to do the act. By using Shadow like a puppet as he has always been used as, he'll be able make him almost mirror his former self."

The murmurs kicked up again and a feeling of dread sunk into the pits of Danny's stomach. He had no idea if his friends would be able to differentiate him from his darker counterpart if the Master did send Shadow back into the past. The thought of his friends not being able to tell the difference made him feel nauseous and it doubled with the pain that was still searing in his chest.

Casse started to gently rub his back in soothing circles when she first noticed the slight green hue in his cheeks. Red Arrow had placed his hand on his other shoulder, giving it a comforting squeeze. Danny appreciated their concern and understanding, but it didn't alleviate the worry that was welling up in his heart.

"Silence!" The murmurs ceased at Technus' bellow. "For now, we'll continue on as before. But I'll be trying to find a way to remove the medallion from Phantom but until then, there is nothing else we can do."

"Great, another waiting game." Ember scowled, flopping back against a chair with her arms folded across her chest. Red Arrow lifted his head up to look at Technus with a grim expression.

"I think you might have to think and act fast Technus; they came from the day before the Explosion of NB. We can't waste any time."

"I will work my best and if Skulker behaves, we'll be twice as efficient." Technus promised. "But until then, please take Phantom with you. I cannot guarantee that the other ghosts are as understanding as most of us are on his predicament. Box Lunch is one of them."

"Noted." Casse replied curtly, her hand moving up from Danny's back to rest on his shoulder. "We need to head over to Gotham City, open a portal to Sector 3 and we'll walk to Sector 4 from there."

"You can find Wulf near the old Prison." Kitty piped up, snuggled in the arms of the blond ghost. "He's been clearing it out and making it more comfortable for other ghosts to live in."

"Thanks Kitty." Casse's face turned to look at Danny's downcast one. "Think you can walk or levitate at least?"

Silently, Danny gently pushed Casse and Red Arrow's hands off his shoulders and slowly shifted his legs to dangle at the side of the bed. Without warning, he hopped off the bed and hissed softly as the pain built up in his chest burned against his ribs. He wobbled as his knees started to give way, only to have Red Arrow grab his arm to support him as he tried to regain his equilibrium.

When Danny didn't manage to find his center, Red Arrow casually brought both his arms over his shoulders and hoisted the hybrid onto his back in a piggy back ride. Danny glared as the archer chuckled cheerfully and gave him a grin from behind his hood.

"I give you credit for trying, but bull headedness is not going to get you anywhere here." Danny noticed the amused smiles the ghosts seemed to be giving him while Casse sent them a wry smile. "Now, let's go find Wulf, finish scouting GCS Four and then we can roast the chicken when we get back to AP base."

"You sound awfully cheerful about it." The hybrid muttered as he rested his chin comfortably on Red Arrow's shoulder while the archer walked. Casse strode forward and walked by Red Arrow's side as they headed towards the 'Prison'.

"Well, he did send us into a bloody ambush. I'd say it's quite lenient that we're only roasting his ass in return." Now Red Arrow was beginning to sound much too cheerful for Danny's liking. "Say Casse, you like barbeque chicken don't you?"

"Don't ruin my taste buds with his tainted meat." She shot back easily, not looking the slightest bit uncomfortable at Red Arrow's sudden sadistic mood. "If anyone gets first shot at him, it'll be me."

"You two creep me out…"

The walk was short, but it was long enough for Danny to recover some of his strength to move on his own instead of hitching a ride on Red Arrow's back. But it didn't seem to shock him too much when they reached the 'Prison', which turned out to be the remains of Walker's Prison.

The hallways were empty and the rooms were all bare. The bars of the 'cages' had been torn out and replaced with doors and windows were made by slicing large square holes through the thick walls. At the end of the familiar corridor and into a familiar but not as dark room, Danny spotted a black furred wolf arranging furniture in the brightly lit room.

"Hey Wulf." He could hear a note of gentleness in Casse's voice as she strode forward to scratch behind the ears of the great big wolf. Wulf grinned and nuzzled his muzzle against her hand, sighing in contentment as she scratched behind his ears. "Could you open a portal to GCS Three for us?"

"Si amiko." The green clothed wolf smiled, nudging Casse's palm with his wet nose before shuffling to the side, raising his claw. With a great big swipe, he clawed the air and ripped a hole out of nowhere. "Wulf say good luck. Come again!"

"We'll try to visit you again Wulf." Red Arrow promised, petting Wulf's head gently before scratching the back of his ears. The ghost wolf grinned and gave Red Arrow's face a hearty lick, making the archer grimace at the green slobber that dribbled down his cheek. "Except that you could minus the licking part. Yuck."

"Come on Phantom. We'd better move." Awkwardly, Danny faced Wulf, having only heard of the great big ghost wolf but never having seen him in person. Slowly he brought his hand out and slowly scratched Wulf's chin, a small grin forming on his lips as he noticed the ghost wolf's tail wag about happily.

"Go, amiko." Wulf smiled, nudging Danny towards the portal where Casse and Red Arrow had gone through. "Good luck."

"Thank you Wulf." The wolf only grinned at him as he floated into the portal, his vision replaced with swirls of green before the scene of streets and buildings and a waiting Casse and Red Arrow returned to his sight.

Danny just prayed that the Master hadn't sent his ruthless future counterpart to the past yet and that he wouldn't be too late to save his family and friends.

"Excellent. Everything is going according to plan." Shadow watched his Master from the shadows, his eyes glowing with a mixture of blue and green in the darkness. The Fright Knight was kneeling on the floor with his head bowed, waiting for their Master to continue. "Well done Fright Knight. Even though you've failed to kill the children, you've made the distraction long enough for Shadow to keep the little nuisance from returning to his time."

"Master, forgive me for my failure!" The Fright Knight bowed his head lower in shame. "I assure you; I shall not fail again!"

"At ease Fright Knight, at ease. I will give you another chance to redeem yourself."

"Master, what are your plans now that you have trapped the child in our time?" From his seat on the chair, the Master's mouth curved into a sinister smile, the top half of his face hidden in the shadows.

"It's rather simple Fright Knight." The Master made no movement, simply tapping his fingers together with his lips still curled in that sinister smile. "With my control over Shadow, he will take the place of his younger self and force this future upon that timeline. There will be no escape for any timeline within my reach to fall under my control."

"And you my dear Fright Knight." A shiver ran down the Fright Knight's spine as his Master continued to speak. "To redeem yourself, kill the child and those other two meddlesome heroes with him. They've been a thorn on my side for far too long; especially that wretched Angel."

"Yes Master! With your command, I shall slay them all! There will be no one to oppose you!"

"Leave me now Fright Knight; I must prepare Shadow to infiltrate the past to make this future come to pass." The Fright Knight bowed his head once more and swiftly exited the room without another sound. The Master raised his hand and beckoned to Shadow. "Come to me my pet."

Obediently, the hybrid levitated to the Master and knelt on the floor when he reached the chair. The Master idly tapped his black gloved fingers on the arm rest of the chair, his greenish blue chin resting on the palm of his other hand with his smirk still evident in the light.

"Return to your human self." At the command, two rings of light swept across Shadow to reveal a haggard raven haired young man in worn tattered clothes with a shining spike collar adorning his neck. His skin was too pale to be considered healthy and his baby blue eyes remained blank. "Now, your age. Turn back to fourteen my pet."

Suddenly, Shadow's body stiffened and jerked awkwardly. His fist started clenching tightly and his eyes began flickering wildly with emotion. The Master calmly raised his hand and chanted something in a foreign language. The spike collar glowed a deadly dark pink that spread across the young man's body and all his movement stopped.

"Let's try that again; turn back into your fourteen year old body my pet." The glow dissipated and another two rings of light swept across Shadow's body and when the light dimmed, a fourteen year old Danny Fenton was kneeling in his place. "Excellent work my pet. Stand."

The Master's red eyes gleamed in the shadows wickedly as Shadow obediently got to his feet. He pointed his hand at Shadow, his smirk growing wider as he spoke. "You will go to the past and make sure that this future comes to pass. If it doesn't, kill them all."

A stiffening of Shadow's shoulders made the Master flick his hand and the collar glowed dark pink again, Shadow's shoulders immediately slumping back into a relaxed position. The Master leaned back against his chair, his fingers intertwining with each other as he made a thoughtful sounding noise.

"But I suppose you could spare your mother… after all, a king needs a queen to rule by his side…" A flicker of emotion flashed in Shadow's eyes but it vanished as soon as it came. "And of course, that girl you've kept close to your heart. Ah, that girl who gave you all the comfort you wanted and needed after the incident… too bad she fell in the Watchtower Tragedy."

The Master smirked as another flash of emotion danced in Shadow's eyes. "Now go my pet. I'll be watching you. You cannot escape my control and be careful; I might just change my mind and kill her there and then."

A bright green portal formed at Shadow's side, glowing with a strange hint of pink Shadow looked at the Master before turning his heel and entering the portal without a single sound. The Master smirked as the portal winked out of sight, the light in the room shifting slightly to shine on his face.

Revealed from the shadows was the smirking face of an older Vladimir Plasmius, staring at the spot where Shadow had once stood before he got to his feet. He lazily strode over to the side table of his 'throne room' and glanced at the picture that sat snugly on top of the table, hidden by the shadows.

He picked up the photograph, idly caressing the frame and smirked at the picture. Grinning faces, eyes filled with happiness and the atmosphere of innocence, they were no more. When he heard the news of Maddie's demise, he cursed the boy for not saving her, vowing to make his life completely miserable for ruining his chances of ever wooing her back to him.

He took everything from him; all the memories that he held so dear, the remaining friends he loved, whatever he wanted to protect, everything. If he could not have what he wanted, Vlad was not going to let Danny get what he wanted.

"Too bad I won't really give you the chance to get your precious back little badger… too bad at all…"

Jazz felt a shiver run down her spine as she reached for the key to Fenton Works. She rubbed her arms furiously to quell the goosebumps that had formed on her skin and shook her body for a moment. With a click, she swung the door open, greeted by the sight of their house in complete disarray.

"Danny?" Cautiously, she stepped over the fallen items that were littered on the ground, calling out for her brother. "Danny, are you here?"

As Jazz went to check the kitchen, she didn't notice a flash of green light emit from the basement. 'Danny' slowly walked up the stairs as she entered the living room, wanting to head to the laboratory to find him. Jazz almost fell over in shock when she bumped into him and quickly grabbed his arm to prevent him from falling backwards.

"Danny!" Relief crept into her voice as she checked her 'brother' over, not quite fully believing that Danny hadn't gotten into trouble after the earthquake. "Are you alright? I tried calling you but you never answered!"

"… I'm… fine." Jazz was startled at 'Danny's' soft reply, almost needing to strain her ears to hear him. "Just… tired."

"… Are you sure?" There was something about her 'brother' that screamed that there was something wrong. It didn't feel like him, he seemed too distant and unfeeling for some reason that she couldn't understand. "You seem a little…"

"Just tired." Though he sounded firm, his blank eyes were starting to worry Jazz even more. "Going to… lie down."

He gently shrugged her hands off his shoulders and slowly walked out of the room. Jazz folded her arms across her chest as she watched his retreating back, suspicion beginning to crawl under her skin. Her eyes narrowed slightly, her hand cupping her chin as she immersed herself in her thoughts once he was out of sight.

She couldn't explain it, but even though he looked like Danny, she couldn't… feel that it was him. There was too much of a drastic change; only a few hours prior he had been cheerful, albeit exasperated at his friends but nonetheless he had been cheerful and his eyes had definitely not been so horribly blank.

'It's not Danny… but where is he? Who's this imposter trying to take his place?' The questions whirled in Jazz's mind, her worry increasing with each question raised. 'Should I approach him? But that would mean I'd have to reveal to him that I know about his dual identity… if it really is him in the first place. Maybe I should ask for another opinion…'

The phone began to ring, breaking Jazz out of her reverie. She quietly strode out of the room and reached over to grab the phone when their answering machine picked the call instead. Jazz allowed her hand to drop to her side as she let the machine pick up the call.

'*Beep* Hey Danny, Jazz. It's Lee. I just called to tell you guys that if you wanted to get a hold of any one of us, you'll have to call our cell phones and not our house. We're going to admit Casse into the hospital now and hopefully find out just what Brad's suffering from that made him lose his voice. I'm staying overnight but Brad will be going home to get some rest and will still be going to school tomorrow to take the C.A.T. So… yea. Take care guys.'

As the message finished, Jazz allowed her body to lean against the wall heavily. Her second opinion was going to be much too busy worrying about her own family and Jazz didn't want to give Lee more worry that she already had. She tilted her head upwards to stare at the top of the stairs where 'Danny' was supposed to be.

'I guess I would have to do it sooner or later, telling him that I know about his dual identities… But is this really the time?'

-

TBC in Chapter 10…

Authoress' Ending Notes:

1) Um yes, it's dragged on longer than I expected because I wanted to explain exactly how that future came about with a lot more twists and turns. Hopefully, it isn't confusing! By the next chapter, everything should be resolved and there's a small little hint that's floating around this chapter about something that might be explained in the next chapter =D
2) Thank you to Anthiena and Enchanting Elf for reviewing the previous chapter(s) =)
3) Sadly, I've decided to discontinue my 2nd AT project, because I particularly disliked how I went about with it. I'm either scrapping it or will try doing heavy revision of whatever I've done so far.
4) Well it's December so I might as well say: Merry Christmas in advance to all and have a Happy New Year =)
5) Please review if you have the time to do so, I do like reading through constructive comments and I hope that I have improved in my writing thus far (You'll need to poke me if there are any mistakes ^^; )
6) Thanks for reading (if you have read the whole thing)

Cheeri!
Kenzy-Chan/ K.C