Chapter 10: The Danny Phantom Fanatics

Since I got some anonymous reviews that I want to answer back to, I'll do it here and now.

To bronycuddlykitte: I'm so glad you enjoy this story! I can understand why you would dislike the new Ben 10. They should have first showed Ben as he was back when he was 10, especially the part where you didn't know if he was saving people for the thrill of being a hero or because it was right, and not as some super serious leader. It was one of the things that really irked me when the new series came out. I try to keep that in mind when I'm writing Ben's character.

To michele: I'm trying to keep to a schedule, but it'll still be a while between updates. As for your question: Ben has the Omnitrix,and if people find out that he has alien powers without it, Azmuth might take it away (at least, the Slayers think so), and that would be bad because Ben is the only person ever to use the Omnitrix for good. Also, the Omnitrix is an extremely powerful device, which makes using said powers very difficult. Ben will use it eventually, but with the future chapters being what they are, that might not be for a while. Sorry 'bout that.

Evan and Newt should not have been fighting with light sabers in mid-air.

They did it anyway.

After leaving Ben's team at the hydroelectric dam, the four teens flew back to Evan's place to hang out. Newt was Evan's best guy friend, and since the blonde was leaving soon, the timing seemed perfect to try out one of Michelangelo's newest inventions: rocket-powered combat boots.

The Force lab was an extension of the Force mansion with a domed skylight to remind the scientists inside that the outside world existed. The lab was a pristine white, with white counters and desks and scientists in their crisp white lab coats. Inventions were scattered all over the place: laser hand gliders, razor sharp aerodynamically perfect Frisbees, and the newest way to play video games by being your own avatar. The last one was still a work in progress, but thanks to the brilliant minds working on it, it would eventually be ready for the market.

The teens were bored, so they had decided to be willing test subjects for some experiments. Evan had coincidentally brought his old toy light sabers and a video camera. When they saw the combat boots, they all knew what would happen next.

Sam turned on the camcorder as Newt and Evan jammed their feet into the boots. Carter handed over their light sabers and, even though the scientists said it was a bad idea, they commenced with the fight once they were in midair.

Evan swung his green light saber at his friend's head. Newt dodged and counterattacked with his own red saber. They created their own sound effects because they were awesome like that. Carter smiled and shook her head at their silliness, while Sam just recorded the entire thing.

Evan had been friends with Carter and Sam ever since they were diapers. Their families were unimaginably close due to their statuses, so it didn't come as a surprise when their kids became best friends. Evan had met Newt through Carter and had easily become best guy friends due to their similar interests in Star Trek, Star Wars, and tastes in music, anime and cartoons. It was a shame that Newt lived on the other side of the country; sure, Carter and Sam were great friends, but sometimes Evan needed some guy time. Fortunately, there was Ben now and possibly Kevin for that. Not that they could ever replace Newt.

After five minutes of playfully flying and hitting each other with plastic toys, the two boys concluded that the rocket-powered combat boots were perfectly functional, at least for immature teenage boys. They had no trouble floating down back on solid ground and shutting off the inventions. Sam shut off the camcorder and smiled.

"This is never going on YouTube."

"We can always say that it's fake," Newt pointed out. "With your camera skills, we could pull it off." Sam raised an eyebrow and smirked when Newt's shoe magically caught on fire. He shrieked as he hopped on one foot and Carter doused the flames with water. After Newt had calmed down, the three teens turned to glare at Sam, who smiled and batted her eyelashes innocently.

The scientists had all been briefed about the Force family and there, ah, irregularities. That was why no one really commented on Newt's magical flaming foot or the water that shot out of Carter's hand.

Newt knew that there was no use getting all worked up over Sam's wild temper, so he just said, "Let's go do something else." As they left the lab, they pitched ideas back and forth on what to do next.

The decision was unanimous.

"Yo, Danny Fenton, he was just fourteen/When his parents built a very strange machine," Newt rapped as Evan beat-boxed the tune. They were in Evan's bedroom, which had posters of rock and metal bands on the white walls, a bed with a Star Wars comforter draped over it, the latest computer on his old desk, a closet, a dresser that looked like a giant Rubik's cube, and a plasma screen TV, where an old episode of Danny Phantom was playing. Newt was rapping along with the opening theme.

"Designed to view a world unseen/ (he's gonna catch them all 'cause he's Danny Phantom.)" Every time Evan heard that last part, he always thought of Pokémon for some reason.

Evan loved watching these old cartoons. No one was too old to watch them, no matter what the idiots in society said. They could go back to watching Jersey Shore and their crappy MTV "reality" shows. Just because they didn't have a decent childhood to relive didn't mean they could bag on Evan's.

Then again, Evan's childhood wasn't always the best. Since he was the heir to a technological fortune, he had to be tutored in all subjects concerning business and machines. Cartoons, science fiction, and the occasional Bleach episode were escapes from the torture. At least he liked science and math in general or Evan would have done a Sam and re-created the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, only with a lot less cannibalism and a lot more murder.

At least Evan's dad was pretty lenient when it really came down to it. Otherwise his son would have missed out on a lot of things, like Sumo Slammer video games, killing criminals, and skydiving. As long as Evan brought home all A's all the time, he could do whatever the hell he wanted.

Including beat-boxing.

"He's here to fight for me and you!"

Ben was lying on his bed, the black feather in between his fingers. He had kept the feathers he had picked up at the hydroelectric dam. The feather was incredibly soft and tickled his fingers. The others were on his desk, but he had picked the black feather out of all of them. Ben could feel wave after wave of nostalgia rolling through him, but he had no idea why it was so familiar.

Ben closed his eyes, and the vision began.

Ten year old Ben was in the middle of town, just outside Mr. Daniels band studio. He had his guitar strapped to his back and his drumsticks were in his back pocket. He tapped the sidewalk with his foot in an impatient manner. Where was his mother? She should have been here ten minutes ago. Sandra was actually stuck in traffic, but Ben wouldn't know that until later.

The monster attacked in the town square. Screams could be heard to Ben's right and, abandoning his guitar inside the studio, he ran towards the screams, hand on his Omnitrix.

The monster was actually a robot, slim and shiny-looking and humanoid. What creeped Ben out the most was that it didn't have any eyes, just a smooth, blank face, like Slenderman. It surveyed the crowd, who were taking pictures of the creature instead of running away, like they were supposed to.

The robot, which somehow had a mouth, opened it and screamed a horrible wail that shattered the glass of all the surrounding buildings. People started running away then, leaving a ten year old boy to deal with the creature. "You need to calm down!" Ben yelled, slamming down the dial on Four Arms. He got Diamondhead instead. "This thing really stinks sometimes," he complained as he shot rock-hard diamonds at the robot.

The alien robot dodged the attacks easily and turned its empty gaze on Diamondhead. He ran towards the robot and shot even more diamonds at it, but the robot shot a laser out of its hand and destroyed them all. Before Ben could retaliate, he saw a flash of black fly towards the robot.

It was a girl around Ben's age, and she had a Grim Reaper-like scythe in her hands. She sliced once at the robot, and its arm fell off. Wires fell out of the stump, but the robot was unfazed by the amputation. It began to scream again, and the girl sliced its head off. Ben couldn't believe how merciless this ten year old was. It was like she had been trained to kill without hesitation. It was so wrong, yet kind of cool.

The headless robot staid standing for a second before it began to glow red. "You! Diamondhead!" the girl yelled at Ben. Ben pointed at himself in a 'who, me?' gesture, and the girl ran towards him. "Create a shield around us, you idiot!" she was screaming at him. Ben looked at the robot and immediately understood. Just as the girl was next to him, he created a giant shield of diamond surrounding them just as the robot exploded.

The explosion wasn't very big. Ben could see that it only left a small crater in the middle of the road that didn't even touch the buildings. Ben looked back at the girl next to him. The scythe was gone and she was staring back at him. Her black hair was covering the left side of her face so only one brilliant gray eye was looking at him. She was wearing: a long-sleeved black shirt paired with a black t-shirt with a large white cross graphic on the front. The cross was a simple design, without the dead Messiah on it. She was wearing black jeans and combat boots.

"Who are you?" Ben asked in Diamondhead's voice.

"That depends on who you are," the pretty girl said curtly.

This wasn't going to be easy. "Well, I'm ten year old kid," Ben started, only to be cut off by a snort from the girl.

"Yeah, and I'm Zeus," she said with a smirk on her face.

"Are you going to let me talk?"

"I seriously doubt it."

Five minutes must have passed by then, because the Omnitrix began to beep and glow red. In a matter of seconds, Diamondhead had turned back into Ben. The girl stared at him for a minute before closing her eyes and holding a finger to her temple, like she was trying to stop her brain from short-circuiting.

"There are so many things I want to ask you right now, but let's start with something basic: who are you?" the girl asked when she opened her eyes.

"I'm Ben Tennyson," Ben answered slowly so as not to get tongue-tied around her. She was really pretty, even prettier than Kai… Ben glowered at that.

"You're Ben Tennyson?" the girl asked incredulously. "I heard a kid had the Omnitrix, but I never thought it was true."

"I get that a lot," Ben mumbled.

"I'm Carter Valentine," the girl said finally, smiling for the first time. Her face instantly lit up, and she no longer looked cold and mean. But then she frowned like she remembered something bad. "I have to go."

"Wait, what?" Ben reached out to grab her arm, but she was too quick. She ran past the shield and jumped. Black wings sprouted from her back, but they were weird: one was a black demon wing with its edges outlined in blue, while the other was a black angel wing, with the tip of its feathers dipped blue as well. With a flap of her weird wings and a gust of wind, she flew up into the sky, leaving Ben dumbfounded on the ground.

Ben opened his eyes. He was standing straight up, and he was no longer in his room. He didn't even know where he was; all he knew was that it was dark and creepy.

"Not bad, Ben," said a familiar strong voice from behind. Ben whirled around. It was Ventus, in human form. He was around Kevin's height like this.

"What did that vision mean?" Ben asked the god. "And what is this place?"

Ventus picked at his blue toga. "I'm not sure what this place is," he admitted. I think this is in your dreams, where we can actually talk face to face."

"So I'm asleep?"

Ventus shrugged his shoulders. "But that vision is just the beginning. In time, you will learn the truth of your missing memories. But it's best not to push it."

"Why? Will something bad happen?" Ben scoffed, crossing his arms.

"Well, yes, usually." Ventus cocked an eyebrow. They stayed at the stalemate for a moment before Ben sighed.

"So, I can't ask Carter about this?" Ben asked finally. Ventus thought a moment before answering.

"You can, but she'll probably try to change the subject. She thinks that if you try to remember too much too soon, it'll have disastrous consequences."

"For what, the High Breed invasion?" Ben asked.

Ventus's expression darkened. "Not just that."

"What?" Ben tried to say more, but then his eyes opened for real this time. He shot up in his bed, breathing heavily. He looked at his alarm clock; it was still an acceptable hour to call Carter's cell. Ben grabbed his phone off his desk and dialed Carter's number as quickly as he could.

"Hello, Ben?" Carter asked when she answered. It sounded like she had to leave a particularly noisy place to hear him. It was silent now.

"Uh, did I call at a bad time?" Ben asked hesitantly.

"Oh, no, it's just Newt and Evan raising hell with Sam leading the charge." Carter sighed audibly. Ben had to smile at the idea of Evan being noisy. He was always kind of loud, but he was always an easy-going guy. At least, until today.

"Do you remember what Evan was talking about earlier?" Ben started. "About being a good leader?"

"Oh, yeah, that," Carter mumbled. "Evan's the vessel of the king of the gods. He's been trained to be a good leader. I think he was trying to tell you that."

"More like yelling."

"You were being stubborn. Not his fault."

"If he's so good at it, why doesn't he take charge?" Ben asked in a rather whiny voice.

"Because your grandfather chose you," Carter said quietly. "I may not know him, but I don't think he would have handed you this mission if he didn't think you could handle it." That put Ben in his place.

"And besides, it's fun watching you learn and grow into a real hero," Carter continued, her voice soft. Ben preened at the word hero, even though there was no way she could see him. "Of course, if you do make a mistake, you have to fix it," Carter admonished. Ben's ego deflated a bit at that.

Then he remembered the reason why he called her in the first place. "Carter, when was the first time we met?"

"At the soccer game," she answered without hesitation.

That made Ben suspicious. "Are you sure we haven't met before then?"

"I'm sure." She didn't sound so sure now.

"Really? Because I just had a vision, and I distinctly remember meeting you back when I was ten!" Ben didn't know why he raised his voice, it just happened that way. Carter didn't answer for a beat.

Then she said, "There are some things you don't need to remember."

"Like what?" Ben's voice was quieter now, and taking on a more desperate tone. "Carter, what happened to me?"

Again, she didn't answer right away. "You got mixed up in something really bad, and the Slayers had to erase your memories."

"Did it involve you?"

"…It involved the Pride."

"Are you ever going to tell me anything else?" Ben was angry again.

"Are you ever going to call me for anything besides Plumber or Slayer stuff?" Carter matched his angry tone.

Ben was puzzled. "What are you talking about?"

"Figure it out!" Carter hung up, leaving Ben even more confused than ever.

Carter sighed as she put away her cell phone into her little black purse. That had not gone well at all. Still, she put on an indifferent face as she went back to Evan's room.

The episode was paused at the part where Danny Phantom was facing off against Dark Danny, his evil alter ego from ten years into the future. It was always hard to pull off time travel, but Butch Hartman somehow made it work.

Evan, who had the remote, looked at her. "Something up?" he asked.

"Just had a call from Ben," Carter said lightly.

"And…" Newt prompted, making the 'get on with it' hand gesture.

"He apparently had a vision from his past."

Carter's friends looked at one another, the TV forgotten. "Did it involve you?" Sam asked slowly.

"It was actually when we met for the first time, the real first time," Carter corrected, sitting down on the couch.

"And he wanted to know more," Newt continued for her. Evan, who was sitting next to Carter, put an arm around her. Sam got up and poured a soda.

Newt stayed standing behind the couch, one arm hanging loosely around his cousin's neck. "I didn't say anything, of course," Carter continued quietly. She accepted the drink Sam was holding out to her. "I was able to change the subject before I hung up though."

"To what?" Sam inquired. Carter didn't say anything. If Sam didn't know any better, she would say that her best friend was blushing.

"Holy crap, you're blushing!" Next exclaimed. Okay, so I was right about that, Sam thought as she sat down on Carter's other side.

"What was it?" Evan prodded jokingly, poking Carter's side. She squirmed, a little smile spreading on her lips.

"Come on," Newt goaded as Sam grinned evilly. "If you don't, you'll know what'll happen."

"All right!" Carter threw up her hands. She really did not want to be tickled to near death right now. "I asked him if he was ever going to call me for anything other than Slayer and/or Plumber stuff." Carter took a sip of Sprite as the others digested this.

"Someone's got a crush of Ben!" Evan sang as Sam burst out laughing. Even Newt couldn't suppress a chuckle at this.

"S-shut up!" Carter cried her face a ripe tomato red.

"D-dude, are you freaking serious?" Sam said in between laughing. "You could do so much better."

That was true; Carter was a very pretty girl. She had inherited Cordelia's looks, for crying out loud! Thanks to that, Carter had an array of high-class boys who were just dying to get a single date with her. But all those boys were stuck-up and kind of vain; they only knew a life of luxury, and they were completely oblivious to the real world, how it could easily chew them up, spit them out, and leave them for dead without giving a damn who they thought they were.

But Ben was different. He still hadn't lost that arrogance or childlike immaturity, but he still had a heart of gold. Unlike the boys at that stupid country club the Valentine's went to, Ben was used to criticism, having taking plenty from Gwen when they were younger. He at least knew some of his weaknesses and chose to improve on them, not leaving it all up to luck like some people Carter could mention.

Ben was real, and that was a rarity in the first-class world, where lying and back stabbing was pretty commonplace. All those books revolving around rich people had some truth to them.

"A shame Ben's pretty clueless when it comes to females," Evan said with a loud sigh.

"You mean like the entire male population?" Sam joked.

"Hey, I think I know enough about girls to go out with them long-term," Evan defended. Newt just stood there, resting his chin on the top of Carter's head as she calmed down. All Newt really hoped was that Ben would spend some time with the present Carter so when he remembered what happened back when he was ten, he wouldn't hate her.

If Ben did end up hating Carter, who knew what would happen?

"Did she seriously say that?" Gwen asked over the phone. After that little spat with Carter, Ben had immediately called Gwen. Normally, he wouldn't have even considered it, but times were changing. Gwen and Ben more or less got along now.

"Yeah, what does that mean?" Ben asked. "I mean, I know she was trying to change the subject, but…"

Gwen sighed, her frustration obvious. "Has it ever occurred to you that maybe Carter wants you to call her for something else?"

"Yes…"

"And you still have no idea what?"

"Yes…"

"Then do exactly what she told you and figure it out!" Gwen hung up the phone with a loud snap. She was lying on her bed now, already in her pajamas. After the whole Michael thing, she just wanted to rest and forget it ever happened. The guys seemed to understand that, though Kevin said it was "better to move on then to forget it happened." Which was actually good advice, now that Gwen thought about it.

Gwen looked at her pink cell phone, still thinking about what Ben said. Gwen had no idea what to make about Carter. She didn't know her well enough to give her approval, and if what Ben said was true, then Carter had too many secrets that could really hurt her cousin. Though from what Gwen gathered, it sounded more like she was trying to protect him, if not herself.

Then there was Evan, who acted different from her cousin despite the physical similarities. He seemed like a smart guy, if a little goofy. It was kind of hard to believe he was a killer. And finally, there was Sam, who could do what Gwen couldn't: take Kevin's heart for her own. Gwen's heart squeezed at the thought. There she was, pitying herself just because some other girl stole her crush. And it wasn't like Sam was rubbing it in her face; in fact, they seemed to be in some sort of dating limbo.

But no matter. If Kevin didn't want her, not even after Michael, then Gwen would move on. She was too young to be hung up over some guy for very long. No more feeling sorry for herself; starting tomorrow she would go after some other guy.

Gwen slept happily that night.

It was Sunday now, and normally Ben would be doing homework in his room where his parents couldn't watch over him like a hawk. But then he got a call from Sam. That was a first.

"You wanna come over to do homework?" She asked after saying hi.

"Where, to your house?" Ben asked curiously. He did wonder what her house looked like after seeing Evan's place.

"No, to Carter's place. She would have called you, but something happened to Newt and Evan," Sam quickly explained.

"What happened to them?" Ben inquired.

"I think they were trying to do the Kamehameha attack from Dragon Ball Z," Sam said. "I'm pretty sure they broke something too."

Ben decided not to comment. "Where is it?"

"Do you remember where Evan's place is?"

"Yes."

"It's actually near there. Just look for a French chateau-slash-castle." Sam hung up before Ben could ask how he was supposed to get there.

After lying to his parents, Ben turned into Jetray and flew to Sterling Hills, almost instantly seeing Evan's house. A castle type house was not too far away from it, along with some giant, old-fashioned Japanese-styled mansion. Ben assumed this was what Sam was talking about earlier on the phone.

After landing and turning back to human form, Ben ringed the doorbell and hoisted his backpack on his back. After a few minutes, Carter answered the door, a big smile on her face. "Come on in!" She gestured inside.

It seemed that Carter was willing to forget about last night.

"We're hanging in my room," she continued, leading Ben up the dark stairs. Seriously, there was barely any light filtering into the house.

"Why is your house so dark?" Ben asked as he followed Carter.

"I think it's to protect the artwork." She pointed to the walls, and Ben noticed the priceless works covering it. "Either that, or my grandparents just like it like this."

"Where are your parents?" Ben asked without thinking. But Carter didn't even stop walking.

"Oh, they're both dead."

Ben stopped in his tracks. "Kevin's right. I am a jerk!" Carter turned around and smiled at him.

"No, you're not. Well, at least not now, anyway. Besides, the only reason you asked was because you were curious. Nothing wrong with that."

Ben just followed Carter up to her room.

"KAAAAAAAMMMMMEEEEEEEEEE-" someone shouted. It sounded like Evan.

"Or for the love of-" Carter swore under her breath as she finally opened her bedroom door.

"HAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMEEEEEEE-" Evan's face was beet red and sweaty, his voice straining. He was standing in the middle of the room, screaming his head off. Sam was videotaping this, while Newt just watched in anticipation.

"KNOCK IT OFF!" yelled Carter, making Evan lose his concentration.

"BITCH, I WAS ALMOST THERE!"

"I DON'T CARE! YOU'RE IN MY HOUSE, SO WHEN I SAY KNOCK IT OFF, YOU KNOCK IT OFF!" Evan glowered and sat back down on the couch. Sam shut off the camera, while Newt busied himself with a drink.

"This is awkward," Ben said out loud, since he had to say something to fill the silence.

"Okay, so who here actually wants to do homework?" Newt asked, also wanting to fill the silence. Not even Ben raised his hand.

"I still have to do it," he pointed out.

"Why didn't you do it on Friday?" Evan asked like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Who does homework on Fridays?" Everyone except Ben raised their hands.

"What do you have for homework?" Evan asked.

Just physics." Ben took off his backpack and started getting out the book.

Evan held out his hand. "Give it here, I'll do it for you."

Ben looked up. "Seriously?"

"Yeah. I'll even make the answers sound like yours." Ben handed over the work, not even caring that he was technically cheating. Everyone did that when it came to schoolwork.

Carter put a hand in his shoulder. "Come on, we have to let Evan finish in peace." She started for the door.

"Why?" Ben asked, but then he looked over his shoulder. Evan's pencil was flying over the paper, going at a rate that probably wasn't humanly possible.

Sam and Newt led Ben out the room and closed the door. "He'll join us in a few minutes. He wouldn't want to miss this."

"Why, what's going on?" Ben inquired, wary.

Carter shrugged. "Nothing. We're just going underground."

"Congratulations, Ben!" Newt proclaimed before Ben could ask any more stupid questions. "You are now about to see the hidden world of the Slayers!"

...And Ben gets a vision from the past. Don't ask me why Ben would hate Carter; I may have the general outline of this story mapped out in my mind, but it could still change at a moment's notice.

Now, would you please review? I enjoy hearing what others think of my story.