When I started writing this chapter I had a brilliant idea. What if I did that thing I heard real authors do, where they write the scenes out of order? It must work, I thought, if people who have been published use it! Plus, I'd get to write the scenes I've been waiting years to write first! Genius!
Ten months later it has become apparent that my idea was not, in fact, genius. Also, FFN kept crashing when I tried to upload it. Why does this site have a need to hurt me?
Anyway, welcome back to stabby-stabby fun times, where even the coolest character needs to chill. Don't worry, he's snowbody important.
…Is it still too soon to be making ice puns? Got it. Okay. I'll make them in the chapter.
Onwards!
Part 10;
Jazz grabbed the Boo-merang and threw it as hard as she could in the direction of the Fenton's Portal. "Find Danny!"
It beeped for a second before crashing into the wall and falling to the ground.
"Let me try," Tucker said, and scooped it off the ground. "Find Ophelia!" He threw it, and once again, it failed.
"Is this really supposed to work?" Ellie asked, looking at the device which had landed beside her feet.
"It's worked before!" Sam snapped, and Ellie moved back. At this point, she was regretting not staying with Valerie and her mom. As awkward as that would be, it couldn't be any worse than this.
"We're going to find him," Jazz said, rushing to grab the device again. "We have to."
Sam snatched the Boo-merang away from her, "We wouldn't need to be looking for him if you hadn't tried to talk to her!"
"I was trying to help!"
"And would you look at how much good that did!"
Tucker stepped between them, "Girls, girls, you're both pretty." That proved to be the wrong thing to say, as he quickly became the new target of both their fury. Ellie ignored every instinct telling her to turn and run, instead moving forwards and grabbing the Boo-merang from Sam's hand.
"Please," She whispered, flipping it over. "I don't care if it's Danny, Ophelia, Infinite, or whoever- just find someone who can help us!" She threw it towards the stairs, and the device beeped. And beeped again.
The Boo-merang turned halfway through the doorway and spun past the arguing trio. It moved throughout the lab before diving into the portal, and for a second all was quiet.
"Come on!" Sam shouted, grabbing Tucker by the wrist and pulling him into the Spector Speeder. "Let's follow it!"
Ellie moved to join them, and saw Jazz do the same. Tucker pulled himself free, holding up his hands to stop them. "You girls stay here," He said, "Danny might come back or-"
"That's my brother," Jazz said, "And it's my fault. I'm coming with you!"
"So am I," Ellie said, "You can't leave us!"
Tucker ignored Ellie and pointed to Jazz, "You have a broken leg."
"I was running around town an hour ago!" Jazz spoke quickly, motioning to the stairs. "I'm fine."
"More like hobbling!" Sam called, "Tucker, let's go!"
Tucker looked over his shoulder, then back at them. "Just… stay." He rushed over to join Sam, and a second later the two were off.
Ellie turned back to Jazz, "We're not going to just sit here, are we?"
Jazz shook her head. "You tell Mom and Dad what happened. I'm going to the library." She moved as quickly as she could up the stairs, and ignored Ellie's attempts to argue.
.-.-.-.-.-.
Danny groaned and rolled awkwardly onto his side. He brought a hand up to the back of his head and winced at the ringing in his ears. "How do I not have serious brain damage?" Several minutes passed before Danny forced his eyes open, and as his vision cleared his location quickly became obvious.
It was a prison cell.
Of course it was.
He groaned again, forcing himself to sit up and look around. Ophelia had been thrown on the other side of the cell. She gave no sign that she was aware of Danny's presence, much less conscious. Danny licked his lips and tried not to focus on how still the ragged ghost was. He squashed the concern that was twisting in his gut. Why should he care about her? She'd stabbed-
Danny dug his nails into the sides of his head, trying desperately to block out the image of Isaac falling to ground. Ophelia hadn't even given him a chance to be scared.
Curling up into a tighter ball as if it would somehow protect him from the scenes inside his head, Danny found himself becoming strangely aware of how cold the ground was on his bare feet. While a voice in the back of his mind wondered where his socks had gone, another and much louder voice screamed that he couldn't really be upset about what had happened if he was worrying about his socks. Desperate to focus on anything besides the blood, Danny ran his feet over the ground and slowly lifted his head.
His socks were folded nicely, halfway between him and Ophelia with her god-awfully ugly hairclip beside them.
Danny stared at the hairclip, and came to the decision that he was done. He moved forwards, grabbed his fluffy ghost socks, and reached for her hairclip. This thing is too damn pink. I'm going to be doing the world a favor by destroying it.
Danny's fingers were an inch away from the clip when Ophelia's voice caused him to jump. "If any part of you touches that I'm going to remove it."
"Oh," Danny stared at the back of her head. Drying green ectoplasm seemed to be holding the knots in her hair together. "I didn't know you were still alive."
"Of course I'm not," The ghost said, "You bitch."
"Wow, who writes your insults, your mom?"
"I don't have a mom."
"Good- she'd probably have a heart attack if she knew she had a kid like you." Silence, and Danny was hit by an unexpected wave of guilt. I don't need this right now. Shut up, me, I can still be the good guy and hate her. She's awful. She's absolutely awful. With a sigh, he stared at the back of her head. "Listen, Ophelia-"
"Ophelia?" She cut him off and sat up quickly. "Do I look like that whore to you?!"
"Um…" Danny couldn't construct a reply, a bit too busy staring at the patches of ugly, leaking blisters which covered her arms.
She sighed, "Don't answer that." She lifted a loose piece from her tattered dress and let it fall. "God, I look disgusting."
She sounded almost pitiful. If she wasn't a murderer, Danny might've felt bad for her. Instead he made sure his tone was cold, "Fine, whatever, you just- you stay over there, okay? Stay away from me."
Not-Ophelia shrugged, "Fine, not like I have a choice. I will if you will, human."
Danny raised an eyebrow, "So you finally got it through your thick skull that my name's not Warrior Boy?"
Not-Ophelia crossed her arms and looked away, wincing as her blisters touched.
Danny rolled his eyes, moving back and putting his socks on. He took a deep breath and did his best to continue. "So, Not-Ophelia, do you have a name or should I just keep calling you that? I figured I should ask since, unlike you, I'm not an assuming asshole."
"Why would I tell you?" She looked over, towards the hairclip. "You'd use it to do human-y things."
"Wow, descriptive." He backed up until he hit the wall, and frowned as he felt his skin tingle. "Anything you'd rather I call you besides Not-Ophelia?"
She hesitated, grabbed the hairclip, and used it to keep the hair out of her eyes. "No."
Danny rolled his eyes and pulled back, leaning his head back against the wall. He didn't bother changing to his ghost form as he closed his eyes, trying to take a deep breath. Why prison? Why her? It's official; the world hates me. I'm going to punch Walker in his stupid face.
"Enjoying yourself?"
Danny's eyes snapped open and he turned his head slightly, staring at the warden on the other side of the bars. Well, I'm dead.
But Walker wasn't looking at him. Not-Ophelia crossed her arms and stared back at Walker, narrowing her eyes. "Listen here you disgusting fuck. You're going to let me go, and maybe I won't kill you."
While Danny tried to put more distance between himself and Murder Girl, Walker seemed oddly amused. "You should know by now that insults won't help you, Tardis."
Danny raised an eyebrow, "Wait, wait- what's a Tardis? Isn't that from a show? Like, 90% sure that's from Doctor Who."
Tardis, as Not-Ophelia was apparently named, glared at him. Walker gave Danny a much calmer look. "You speak Modern Ghost, boy?"
"Apparently?" Danny pulled back farther, "So, hey, now that we've settled that issue, can I go home?"
Walker laughed. "Bringing human contraband into the Ghost Zone. That's against the rules. You're evidence, boy, and I'll be using you to make sure she stays away for a long, long time."
"Evidence?" Does he not know who I am? "Why do you keep evidence with your prisoners?"
"Human blood's like acid to Timey Ghosts," He said, motioning to Tardis. "You're her anchor, boy. Keep her here, and maybe we'll see about putting you back in the Human Realm."
Danny glanced towards Tardis, who looked like she was about to try and kill him again. Joy. "And I'll be free to go? No charges?"
"You haven't committed any crimes. It isn't my place to charge the humans; if you want to stay in here, you'll have to die first."
It was at that moment that Danny remembered the natural portals sometimes went through time. He smacked his head into the wall, closed his eyes, and muttered, "Deal."
Tardis screamed insults at Walker as he left, but Danny didn't care. Eyes still closed, he tried to come up with a plan. I need to get to Clockwork, so I can get back to my proper time. But if I'm in the past, will Clockwork know it's me? Of course he will, he's Clockwork, he knows everything. Get to Clockwork, go home…
…And don't think about Isaac. Don't think about him helping you. Don't think about her hurting him. Don't think. No thinking no thinking no thinking! Sam. Tucker. Friends. Think about friends. Isaac was almost a friend. No not that friend!
"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Tardis asked, and Danny forced himself to stand. If she came towards him, he was going to kick her.
"Says the murderer," Danny replied as he moved towards the other wall and rested a hand on the bars. In the Ghost Zone, humans are the ghosts.
His hand passed easily through the bars, and Danny stepped easily through them. He focused on the feeling of the floor rooting him down to bring himself back to tangibility.
Tardis was staring at him with wide eyes and an open mouth. "How-"
"Would you look at that. I did a human-y thing," He said with a grin, and waved to his ex-cellmate. "Bye now!"
Danny left her there as he ran down the hall, his socks doing little to prevent the floor's chill from seeping into his toes.
.-.-.-.-.-.
Candice stood outside Valerie's door, trying to find the courage to knock. I have no reason to be nervous. This is my daughter! As she heard Valerie finish up her phone call, Candice took a moment to calm herself before knocking on the door. "Valerie? Can I come in?"
"Sure." It wasn't the most inviting response, but Candice would take what she could get. The door squeaked when she opened it- she'd have to fix that. Damon would appreciate it.
"How are you?" She asked, and sat down beside her daughter. Valerie shrugged, and Candice pretended not to notice how her daughter shifted away from her. "…You used to tell me everything."
"I was eight," Valerie wasn't looking at her, "Things change."
Candice didn't know what to say. What words could she possibly use? This was her daughter, the same little girl who'd asked for a lizard every Christmas since she was four, who Candice had taught to fight back since the day she could stand, and who she had kissed goodbye the morning Infinite pulled her from her time. But this wasn't her little girl anymore. Valerie had stopped being her little girl nine years ago.
"I'm sorry," Candice said, "I never should've left you two."
"It's not your fault," Valerie said softly, "I'm the one who called you."
Candice frowned. Her daughter's hands were shaking. "You were eight."
"And I was fine,"Valerie's head snapped towards her, "Don't you get it? I was fine! This was for nothing! You died for no reason!"
Candice reached out to pull her daughter close, but Valerie shook her head and leaned away.
"It doesn't matter," Her voice was quiet, "Infinite's going to take you back there soon. It doesn't matter. Whatever happens, you're still dead. You're still going to leave me and Dad."
Infinite. Suddenly Candice understood why her daughter had been so distant and rude. Soon she would be pulled back into the past, leaving her family alone. Valerie couldn't afford to care, not when it would hurt so much more to lose her mom a second time.
"No," Candice said.
Valerie frowned, confused.
"I'm not leaving you," She wrapped her arms around Valerie and squeezed her tightly. "I'm never leaving you two again."
And Candice meant it.
Whatever Infinite was, whatever he could do, she was not abandoning her family again.
.-.-.-.-.-.
Jazz had wanted to look into Hafia. Whoever she was, she knew Infinite, and quite likely she knew what was going on. Unfortunately, everywhere she had looked so far had proven to be extremely unhelpful. Currently she was in the Skulk and Lurk, looking through their occult section. Most of it was ridiculous- vampires certainly were not real- but Jazz was hoping that somewhere she'd find the one piece of information which would crack this mystery wide open and save Danny.
She wasn't having much success.
Jazz reached over to grab another book, only for her hand to land on top of someone else's. She looked over to see a tall woman with curly bobbed black hair pull her hand away from Jazz's before sitting down in the chair beside her.
"Can I help you?" Jazz asked.
The woman snapped her fingers, "You were at New Years, weren't you? Jazz, right? I'm Ruby." She held out her hand for a shake. Jazz hesitantly grabbed it, and Ruby held onto her hand for an awkwardly long time.
"I think I remember you," Jazz said, pulling her hand away, "Did you find your brother?"
"He walked into the hospital an hour after that… ghost," She seemed to get stuck on the word, "Dropped us there. Said he'd saw a kid explode and flopped facedown on the ground without bothering to explain."
Jazz raised an eyebrow. "Well… my family got out perfectly fine too, if that's what you were wondering."
"Oh, that's good!" Ruby looked honestly relieved. "So, Jazz, how long have you lived in Amity Park?"
"My whole life?"
Ruby smiled, "Oh, excellent! I was hoping you could answer a question I have about this town. Are you busy? Do you mind?"
Yes. "No, of course not," Jazz said perfectly pleasantly, "Ask away."
"Have the ghosts ever killed anyone before New Years?" She'd started to sound nervous. "Like, I know there was that whole thing with the kid who everyone thought had been killed by ghosts but came back almost perfectly healed, but besides him."
Jazz gave the woman a concerned look. Ruby had been trying to save people on that disastrous night; she must be traumatized. "No," Jazz said, "Nothing like New Years has ever happened before. I suppose the closest would be Pariah Dark, but I don't think anyone died." Danny's voice echoed in the back of her mind, about the ghost he'd been fighting earlier; she stabbed Isaac just because he was there. Jazz dismissed the thought.
Ruby stared blankly at her. "I'm sorry… who is that? I just moved here around Christmas. Is Pariah Dark one of the ghosts?"
"Oh." New Years had probably been her introduction to Amity's ghost problem. Jazz gave an awkward smile and launched into the story of the time the ghost king had attacked the town. She stressed how Danny had saved them- after what had happened earlier, he'd surely be back in the public eye- and made sure Ruby knew that this was an exception. The ghosts, when they appeared, were annoyances who caused property damage. People didn't die.
Ruby nodded along with her words, and when Jazz finished let out a short laugh. "Sorry, sorry- I'm stuck on the fact his name is functionally Outcast Night. Anyway, the dead used to have a monarchy. That's so weird."
"There are pocket realms that still have one, actually." Jazz replied, "My parents research the Ghost Zone. I can promise everything I've told you are the facts." Even though most of it had come from her brother's ghost files and not her parents. Eh, both her statements were still true.
Ruby narrowed her eyes and looked thoughtful. "Parents who research ghosts, little brother named Danny… hold on, is your brother the one the news kept screaming about in November? The miracle child who came back from the dead?!"
Jazz blinked. "I didn't know anyone was still using that name."
"That's me, Miss Outdated," Ruby waved a hand, "My brother used to go on so many rants about him. No offense or anything, but he hated your brother from the second he heard that news story- he even got our little sister, Lucy, in on it. Of course, she'd follow him into the pits of hell if he said it was a good idea." Jazz grinned, and Ruby chuckled. "Something changed after New Years, though. I'm not sure why, but he got really invested in that story afterwards. I convinced him to do this dumb thing our dad used to where he'd take over a wall with facts about something and try to fill in the blanks. We've probably learned a creepy amount of information about your family by now." Her face flushed, "Sorry."
"Oh, it's fine! I wonder if Danny would benefit from that?" Jazz wondered, "Him and his friends have been looking into this ghost called Infinite. Although, Danny seems to be losing interest…"
Something flickered in Ruby's eyes. "Is Infinite the ghost who hurt him?"
"Oh, no!" Jazz said quickly, "That ghost has been eliminated. No, I'm not sure who he is or why they're interested. He might be a time traveler? Danny knows something about him that he refuses to share."
"Time travel?" Ruby repeated, "Oh, Isaac is going to be pissed." At Jazz's looked, she continued. "Oh, Isaac is my brother's name! He hates time travel, won't even watch movies about it. Hold on, I have a picture of him that I took a week ago." She pulled her phone from her pocket, tapped the screen twice, and handed it over. A young girl with her hair dyed pink was standing next to a brown-haired boy, the wall behind them covered in newspaper articles and red string. They were both pointing towards it with finger guns.
Jazz's gut twisted as she recognized the boy who Danny had given his boots too.
"He's a very logical person- he gets that from our mom- and very passionate- that part comes from Dad. He thinks time travel is, well, dumb. That's not an exact quote, but I don't want to repeat the words he actually used." Ruby was still talking. "Actually, I have a favour to ask… I told you how he's really interested in what happened to your brother, right? Well, in August, we lost our Dad. Isaac was with him when it happened." She licked her lips, "I think our brothers should meet. It'd be good for them, to meet someone else coping with a traumatic experience. What do you say?"
"You should call your brother."
Ruby frowned, "I'm sorry?"
Jazz tapped the phone's screen. "There was a kid who looked like that out at Starbucks today. Him and Danny had a short conversation before a ghost appeared; and afterwards Danny said someone named Isaac had gotten hurt."
Ruby shook her head, "Oh, no- that can't be my brother. He had a fight with mom last night. If he's doing anything it's hiding in his room with the dogs. He's fine." She started to dial a number, "Look, I'll even put him on speaker phone; he's fine, really."
The phone rang for a long minute without reply.
"Damn you, Isaac…" Ruby muttered, and dialed another number. "Come on, pick up!"
Still on speaker phone, a feminine voice on the other end said "Hello?"
"Lucy, thank god!" Ruby sighed, "Go get Isaac, would you? He's not answering his phone."
Lucy groaned, "I have Doug on my lap, can it wait?"
"Move the damn cat and go get our brother."
There was a loud meow of protest and another groan, but after a moment Jazz could faintly hear knocking. "Isaac! Answer your phone!" A pause, "Isaac!" There was a much longer pause, "Ruby we have a problem."
Jazz saw the woman across from her pale. "What kind of problem?"
"Uh, you know how in some old stories they tie blankets together and climb out the window? He tested that."
"Is he okay?!"
"He's gone."
Ruby hung up her phone and started to dial again. "Isaac, please…"
"Danny said he got stabbed," Jazz said, "I wasn't there. He might not be okay."
"You said ghosts don't kill people," Ruby hissed, "My brother is fine. He's fine!"
Jazz's phone vibrated in her pocket. She pulled it out, and stared at the message from an unknown number.
'South Mercy, second floor, Room 245.'
Jazz stared at it. "Excuse me, Ruby?"
"He's fine!" She snapped.
"No, that's not what I was going to say." Jazz covered Ruby's phone and showed her the message. "I just got this."
Ruby stared at the message. "You said that Infinite guy might be a time traveler?"
Jazz frowned.
"My dad was looking into him," Ruby said, "When he died, his body had been covered in burns; the same burns I saw covering people during New Years." She shoved her phone in her pocket. "I still have his notes. I'll get you them. If your brother knows anything about who the hell that thing was then you have to promise that you'll tell me."
Jazz grabbed her arms, "Where is this coming from? I thought you said you'd just moved here."
"I'm not going to pretend I understand how these dead people work," Ruby replied, "But that was my brother's phone that texted you. Even if he had your number and time traveling dead people weren't something we had to deal with, Isaac never texts people." She pulled her arms free, "I have to go."
"Are you okay?" Jazz asked.
"Hell no," She answered, "But I'll be damned if I let anyone take away my little brother."
Jazz moved to her feet only a second after Ruby did. "I'll give you a ride to the hospital."
.-.-.-.-.-.
Danny wasn't sure what he hated more; being outside of his time with no current way to go home, or Walker's prison.
Both were awful, and as his escape attempt continued to be uneventful, Danny struggled to decide which one was the current king of awful.
On one hand; Walker. On the other, being outside of his time gave Danny the feeling of pins in his skin. It was kind of cool, but not really something he wanted to experience again.
Danny froze mid-step, the feeling of pins still prickling through his socks. Had he felt like this when he's used his power to travel through time? Or Clockwork's? Or the Infi Map's?
I don't think I did. He frowned, rubbed his arms, and started walking again. Okay, that's a point for Walker then.
Looking over the prison's metal walls, Danny's mind wandered farther. If the future isn't set in stone, which one is actually mine? Whoa, poetic. I should write that down; Sam might like it. Back on track.
Working for the Guys in White and that terrible future are out of the question. I'm not letting those ones happen. The future I want… kids. Definitely want the kids. And… I wouldn't mind being a doctor. If I can stop freaking out around blood, I'll make a pretty good doctor. Yes; doctor, children, house with a huge backyard and a treehouse because that will look super cool. That's the future I want. "With Sam," He muttered, "I want it with Sam." I never did take her out on a date…
The prickling feeling seemed to intensify, and Danny sped up. "Escape time," He said as the main door came into sight. "Time to-"
A jolt of electricity rocked Danny's body and he fell, landing roughly on his back. It took several moments before the pain died away enough that he could think again. Quickly, one thought was present in his mind; Dammit, Walker.
He shifted onto his knees, reaching forward and poking the area that had shocked him. It didn't feel any different; maybe it would only hurt him if it came in contact with his ghost core? Do I even have that in this form? You know what, I don't want to know.
Danny stood again, very much aware of the prickling in his socks, and turned around.
Fine. You know what? Fine! I'll kick Walker's butt and then go home. I don't care anymore.
.-.-.-.-.-.
They followed the Boo-merang using the Specter Speeder's radar, and caught up to it rather easily. It took several hours before it led them to an island, coated in purple rocks and blue shrubs. Sam landed the Speeder when the device disappeared from the radar, and grabbed a large ectogun from between the seats.
"You think it's Infinite?" Tucker asked.
"I don't think it's Danny." She threw the weapon to Tucker, "And I don't want either of us to get hurt." Ignoring her friend's annoyed mutters about having to hold such a large gun, Sam pointed between two navy blue rocks. "That's about where the signal was last. Come on."
As they approached the rocks, Sam could feel the Ghost Zone get colder. As they passed them, she could see a sheet of ice spread out across the ground. In the middle was the Boo-merang, frozen atop a pillar of ice. On the other end was Infinite Hour, curled up beside a bush with his face hidden under his hood.
Sam raised her weapon and screamed his name. Infinite gave no sign that he heard, or that he cared.
Motioning for Tucker to follow, she led her way around the ice field and towards Infinite. Once they had reached him, Sam held her weapon up to his face. "Where is he?" She growled.
A hand coated in black lines rose from the cloak Infinite was hiding under, pushed Sam's gun to the side so that it was no longer aimed at him, and sunk back in.
Behind her, Tucker snorted.
Thrown off, Sam stared at Infinite for a second before kicking him. Hard.
"Please no," His voice was muffled as he tried to make himself smaller.
"Where is Danny?" Sam repeated, getting her weapon ready. "Where is he?!"
Infinite let out a noise that might've been a laugh, or it might've been a sob. It was hard to tell.
"I don't think he's okay," Tucker said, motioning towards the ghost with his weapon.
Sam dropped down to her knees, still aiming her gun and staring at the ghost. "Where is my friend?"
"Hell if I know," Infinite muttered.
"You've known where he is before. Where is he now?"
"Wait, what?" He raised his head, and Sam pulled back.
Curled patterns of black scars covered his exposed skin, and his left arm was in a bent, purple cast supported by a foam sling. His hair was a loose mess, and dark bags hung under his eyes.
"What happened to you?" Sam whispered. And as she stared at his face, she was once again reminded of Danny. This Infinite was young, only a few years older than she was, and probably the same one from the New Years attack.
"Do you want a list?" He muttered, using his right hand to pull down his hood and hide his face. "It's not as bad as it looks." A pause, "It's worse." He let out a short, pathetic laugh.
Tucker knelt down beside her, and something incredibly Danny flickered in Infinite's eyes. "So you don't know where Danny Fenton is?"
"No," Infinite said, sinking back into his cloak.
"Wait," Sam held out her hand, "You said no. Double negative. So you do know where he is?"
"I don't know where yours is," Infinite muttered, "The where depends on the when, and I don't know when or where I am. Time travel fucks with you like that."
Sam and Tucker exchanged a look. He mouthed Danny's name and nodded towards Infinite, while Sam nodded.
"Well, what are you doing here?" Sam asked.
"Suffering," Infinite replied, "You just missed my mental breakdown." He waved his right hand and behind them, the boo-merang fell to the ground. "Sorry about giving it such a cold welcome, I'm actually a pretty cool guy."
Sam and Tucker exchanged another look. "Infinite," Sam asked, "Why are you making ice puns when you were just having a mental breakdown?"
"Either I make puns or I deal with my problems, so naturally, I'm always making puns. It's like my eternal punishment for calling the Observants shitdicks that one time."
Sam's eyes widened, "It's eternal because you've been making them since you were thirteen and you called them that when you were seventeen." This was the Infinite from New Years!
Infinite shot upright, his hood falling back. "Oh hell no that happened here? I- I'm-" He sunk back down, "Oh my god I am so sorry. I should've saved them. I should've done something more to help you guys. So many people, and I- I should've done so much more I'm so sorry."
"Those three," Tucker said quickly, "Are they what happened to you?"
Infinite pulled his hood down to cover his face, which gave a clear view of the pattern covering his right hand, but nodded.
Sam pulled back, sitting down and crossing her legs. Tucker copied her, and again, the two noted the similarities between the being in front of them and Danny.
"Are those scars?" Sam asked, pointing to the black marks on his hand.
"Did you know life cores can torture people?" Infinite said instead, "I didn't. Hurts more than when a death core does it, too, since they're basically compacting your flesh." He took a shaking breath in, "At least it looks nice. Plus side to torture; cool arm art. I always wanted a tattoo, except for all those times I didn't. Which were most of them."
Tucker adjusted his glasses. "Infinite," He said unsurely, stopping whatever tangent Infinite was about to go off on. "You saved my life. If you hadn't gotten rid of those ghosts, I wouldn't have been able to get to a hospital, and I would've died. We all would've."
Infinite shook his head, and for several long moments there was only an uncomfortable silence. Sam and Tucker didn't want to leave; not when there was a chance this was Danny. But neither knew what to say.
"You said I knew where he was before," Infinite said slowly, "So… you've met me before the New Years thing?"
"Several times," Sam said, "I think all of us have."
"You overshadowed me once," Tucker said, and Infinite snapped to attention.
"That dickhead did what?" He rose to his feet, cracking the knuckles of his right hand against the cast wrapped around those on his left. "Oh screw the laws of time, he dies for this."
Sam moved back, holding her gun tightly as she stood too. "We were talking about you."
"But I haven't done it!" Infinite placed a hand on his chest as Tucker joined them, "Granted, time travel is really unorderly, but I wouldn't! I have standards! So that leaves," He looked murderous, "Future me."
"Future you?" Tucker raised an eyebrow.
"Future me." His eyes glowed a little brighter, "Your friend Danny, he's got an evil future self doesn't he? Dan?"
"Not anymore," Sam said, "Danny won't turn into that."
"We'll make sure of it," Tucker added.
Infinite hesitated, "What would you do if one day, he looked like Dan? He spoke like him, and acted like him in all these little ways, but swore up and down that he wasn't him? What would you do? Would you believe him, and take the chance that he was lying, or would you destroy him before someone got hurt? Would you choose the possibility of saving your friend, or the certainty of saving the world?"
Sam and Tucker exchanged a look again. That sounded a lot like something Danny would worry about.
"You know what? Never mind." Infinite shook his head, "That's not important. My point is, future Infinite's like that. He tried to kill me and one of my friends. Or maybe only one of us. We never really figured out what was going on there, and we were dressed as each other… anyway, tangent, sorry. I do that a lot. Also dramatic monologues that piss off my friends. Don't trust him. You will die, and everyone you love will triple-die."
Triple die? Sam stepped closer to him, "Why should we trust you, then?"
Infinite's smile didn't reach his eyes. "Good. You're learning." He dropped the smile, "What's the time and date today?"
Tucker checked his phone. "January 13, 2014. It's about 4:30."
"Oh," Infinite made a face, "Shit. So, anyway, I have to go, because the Universe is about to get a giant hole in it and I don't want to stick around for that."
Sam reached out and grabbed his wrist. "What do you mean a giant hole?"
Infinite made no move to snatch his wrist away. "It's called a rip. This one in particular connects our universe with another. So, multiverse theory to the extreme. Since that's definitely what we need in our lives, more parallel worlds…" He shook his head. "Look, facts; multiverse theory is real. Getting that out of the way now. Every choice you make and don't has the potential to split off and create a new Timeline, but we usually don't let it. By we I mean Clockwork. There was a time when he couldn't work for a few months because of the multiple beings trying to murder him and we accidentally created so many more Timelines-" He stopped rambling and phased his wrist away. "Um… I'm going to go before I reveal anything else I shouldn't."
"Someone's trying to kill Clockwork?!" Tucker shouted, "How the hell can they do that? He's the Master of Time!"
Infinite hummed, "It's quite easy, just endanger the beings he cares about and he'll do whatever he can to keep them safe. No matter how stupid it is." He let out a short laugh at some joke he didn't share, "And besides, Pariah cut the last Master of Time in half so it's not like having Timey Powers actually makes you invincible or any- hey! Stop distracting me!"
"What about Isaac?" Sam asked quickly, "I heard him talking to you and Valerie's mom earlier. He said Infinite had something called a Mini Me named Isaac!"
Infinite had pulled his phone from his pocket. Tucker narrowed his eyes as the ghost tapped the screen. "That's his fault, completely and entirely."
Sam and Tucker exchanged a look.
"Anyway," Infinite tossed his phone from hand to hand. "Unless you want me to cause a collapse point by creating a paradox- which would eat a chuck of your Timeline, by the way, and weaken the fabric of the Universe- I'm gonna head out." He grinned, "You guys want to see something cool?"
"Danny, wait!" Tucker called, and black energy followed the scars up Infinite's arms. It curled around him, wrapping him up in the sparking tendrils.
A blast of wind pushed Sam's hair out of her face, and Infinite was gone.
"He didn't deny it," Tucker said. "Sam, he didn't deny he was Danny. He basically admitted he was talking to Valerie's mom!"
Sam turned on her heel and ran back to the Specter Speeder.
"Sam!" Tucker ran after her, pausing only a second to grab the Boomerang before joining her.
"Isaac knows something," She hissed, "I should have guessed. He even has the same damn initials as Infinite!"
"But that wasn't Infinite," Tucker said, "That was Danny!"
"Does it matter anymore?" She snapped, and started the vehicle, "Danny was covered in that same black energy on New Years. Isaac saw it and he started asking me questions about what Danny was. He knows something."
"Can we focus on the fact that Infinite just confirmed he was Danny?!"
"Danny's not going to be that!" Sam's knuckles turned white as she gripped the wheel, "That's still his future. We stopped him from having one evil future, we can stop this one too. If Isaac is Infinite's Mini Me or whatever, and he knows something, then we're going to figure out what that is."
"I don't think he's evil," Tucker said, "An ass, maybe, but he's not going to triple kill us."
"I'm not risking it," Sam replied, "There has to be a good reason our Danny and that one hate him. He has to have done something horrible. Isaac probably knows."
"Sam," Tucker spoke slowly, "You heard Danny before he fell in the portal. Isaac got stabbed. I don't think we can talk to him."
"Maybe not now," She replied, "But the portals here go through time, and the Infi Map can lead us to one from right after New Years."
"This is crazy," Tucker said.
"Yeah," Sam agreed, "…I'll take you home, if you want."
"Hell no," Tucker held his weapon in his lap, "I'm not abandoning Danny again."
Sam smiled, and they set off for the Far Frozen.
.-.-.-.-.-.
Candice's husband and daughter had gone to bed. She didn't have that luxury.
The two days Infinite had promised her had technically passed this afternoon. He'd be coming to get her soon. Candice wasn't entirely sure how the laws of time travel worked, but there was one thing she was certain of.
She was not going back to the past to die.
Candice saw the air shift from the corner of her eye and was on her feet within seconds. Infinite appeared, stretching his arms above his head. "Did you miss me-" He was cut off when Candice threw her fist into his face.
Literally, her fist was in his face.
"Intangibility," Infinite said, and Candice pulled her fist back. It was tingling and cold. "So aside from punching the people who try to talk to you, been up to anything cool lately? Made any new friends? Tried any new iPhones?"
Candice didn't bother to banter with him. "You're not taking me back there to die."
Infinite blinked. "Uh… what? Sorry, I was not paying attention. There's a puppy in your neighbor's window, and I've named him Fluffers. Anyway, you were saying?"
Strongly considering trying to punch him again, Candice stepped back. "I'm not going back to the past to die."
"Technically, for you, it's the present and this is the future-"
"Look at me. I don't care." Candice stared at the ghost, "I'm not going to go back there. I'm not dying, you hear me? You can't make me. I'll fight you every step of the way."
"Yeah, that definitely worked well for you last time." Infinite rolled his eyes, "And didn't we establish that I'm the good guy here? I'm trying to help the world, not commit murder. That'd just be gross." He made a face, "Human bodies are gross."
Candice rolled her eyes, "Get to the point!"
"Hold your horses, I'm getting there." Infinite grinned, "You want to live, even if it's outside of your proper time? You don't want to go back to die, even though your presence could potentially help out someone important to you? Well, guess what?" His grin grew, "So do I."
Candice raised an eyebrow.
"I didn't expect this," Infinite continued, "But that's mostly because I really don't understand people. Honestly, you're all super confusing. I repeat; people skills of a wet noodle."
Candice looked him over curiously, "You know, you and Isaac are the only ones who I've ever heard say anything like that."
Infinite frowned. "I- who? He can't be important, otherwise I'd recognize the name… should I know who that is?"
"Considering that you have what you call a Mini Me with the same name, I would think so."
"Wha- no. No, I don't." Infinite looked honestly confused, "You've met my Mini Me. His name isn't Isaac. If it is, then I'm calling shenanigans. I don't even know anyone named Isaac. And that shit stole my noodle thing?" He crossed his arms and started to grumpily mutter to himself. It was childish and incredibly annoying.
"Get over yourself," Candice said.
"But he stole my noodle line!"
"Nobody cares about your damn noodles!"
"I thought we were," He pointed a pair of finger guns at her, "Pasta these ridiculous arguments?"
She didn't laugh.
"Tough crowd, tough crowd…" Infinite cleared his throat, "That was actually a really good pun, too."
"Whatever," Candice said, "He might be dead now, so you don't have to worry about him stealing any of your other lines."
"Technically that means I have to worry about it more but, y'know, whatever. You're not wise in the ways of ghosts." He clapped his hands together, "That's going to bother me now. I'm going to fight this kid for noodle supremacy."
Candice rolled her eyes, "Don't ever say that again."
"I might just to bother you," He shrugged, "Probably won't, since I'm the good guy here, but I'll consider it."
She scoffed, "You're the good guy?"
"Well, I'm going to let you stay here, aren't I?" Candice's eyes widened and Infinite smiled, "I told you; you're like me. I don't want to die, either. So yeah, sure, you can stay. I was going to propose you stay for longer anyway- I'm not a monster, I'm not going to send you to your death. Quit looking at me like that. But you're going to be fighting to change the past for me, got it? If your daughter's life went awful after all the work we put in to keep it good, well, that'd suck for everyone here."
Candice stared at him, searching for any trace of a lie. "You're really going to let me stay?"
"Again; not a monster, pretty decent guy, just trying to stop people from trying to kill me and everyone I know." He shrugged, "I'm just bad at peopling. And checkers. That game does not make sense."
Candice didn't comment. She didn't want to ruin this. "Thank you."
"No problem," Infinite replied, "I'm going to hang out in this time for a bit longer before I head home. I'll be checking in later, if that's okay?"
"I suppose," She moved away from him, "But I'm not going back."
"I'm not going to make you; we've covered this." Infinite floated up off the ground, "I'm going to go find my noodle twin and make a macaroni portrait of us sharing spaghetti. Also have a fettuccine battle to determine the penne alpha. Until then!" He pointed a pair of finger guns at her and disappeared in an ectoplasmic twist.
Candice was left standing in her living room. Still in the future, and still alive.
She ran to her husband's room and pulled the still-awake man into a tight hug.
"Candice?!" He sounded surprised when he shouted her name, and Candice held him tighter. "What is the world are you-"
"Dad?" Valerie's voice rang through the room as the door squeaked open. "What's going on?" She looked over at Candice, obviously confused.
Candice separated herself from her husband and rushed to Valerie's side. Her little girl was nearly the same height she was. "I'm staying," She told them, "Infinite let me stay."
Damon moved off his bed and towards them, while Valerie frowned. "For how long?"
"Forever," Candice held her arms out, "I'm not going back there. I'm not leaving you ever again."
Valerie's eyes grew wide and she rushed at Candice and threw her arms around her mom. Damon joined in a second later.
It wasn't perfect, but Candice didn't care. She wasn't going anywhere. Nothing- human, ghost, or whatever else there was out there would take her from her family again.
.-.-.-.-.-.
He could hear screaming.
"It's always the screaming," Danny muttered, weaving through the halls to find Walker's office. "Just once, I want to go into enemy territory and hear like, a rollercoaster or something." He paused, considering the incident with Freakshow and the Reality Gauntlet. "Actually, never mind. There'd still be screaming." Who am I even talking to? He shook his head and kept running.
Danny flattened himself against a wall, staying solid as he leaned against it. Taking a deep breath, he allowed himself to go through it.
And of course, found Walker on the other side.
I hate my life.
The Warden wasn't facing him, so Danny moved quickly across the room. He dove behind a shelf and flattened himself against a wall, trying to calm his pounding heart. He needed a plan. What plan would work? I should've thought of that on the way here.
There was a high-pitched hiss, and Walker made a frustrated noise. "Who," There was another hiss, "Is she?"
"Fuck you," Was the reply, and Danny tensed. He threw himself out from behind the shelf and stared at what Walker had done. Frozen. Terrified. That could've been me.
Ectoplasm leaked from wounds on Tardis' arms and face, and Walker held up a red-hot knife. "Swearing at your jailer," He said, "That's against the rules."
"Like I give a shit about your rules," Tardis said. Ectoplasm dripped down over one of her eyes, and she wouldn't stop shaking. "I don't even know who you're talking about."
The knife moved down, and Tardis hissed again. "Lose your smart mouth."
"You-" Her voice shook with obvious exhaustion, "You don't scare me. This is nothing compared to what I've gone through."
"You will crack," Walker grabbed her neck, "I will do this for as long as it takes. This time, nobody's coming to save you."
Danny ripped his hands away from his left side and shot Walker with the strongest ectoblast he could manage.
The Warden was thrown across the room, and Danny rushed to the chair Tardis was in. Her wrists and ankles were chained up, and ectoplasm drenched her dress. She blinked at him slowly, and Danny saw that her knotted hair was held together by more clumps of semi-dried ectoplasm. He nearly collapsed. This was disgusting and it was wrong. Even after everything she had done to him, and to Isaac, she didn't deserve this. Nobody deserved to be tortured.
"You came back?" Tardis whispered, and Danny shook his head. Stop thinking, Fenton, deep breaths.
"This changes nothing," He said, trying not to look at the ectoplasm covering her. It was too easy to imagine it as his blood, as he laid on his bedroom floor knowing that nobody was coming…
An ectoblast knocked him out of the memories and into a wall.
"Who do you think you are?" Walker drawled, and Danny jumped back to his feet.
"Not Warrior Boy," He said, looking pointedly at Tardis, "That's for sure."
She balled her hands into fists and didn't look up at him.
Walker charged at him and Danny focused on his humanity. Walker ran right through him. Danny turned around, became solid again, and kicked him in the face.
"Y'know, I don't exactly like her either," Danny said, pointing over his shoulder at Tardis, "But I've got a strict don't torture people policy in my personal rulebook. That, and you said nobody was coming to save her. Don't tempt fate, dude. That's like rule number one."
Walker pulled himself up and shot an ectoblast at Danny. With more than a little help from his ghost powers, Danny replied by back flipping out of the way and landing back at Tardis' side. Ice helped break the chains holding her down, and another gooier ectoblast helped stop Walker from coming after them.
"I never thought he'd be this much of a jerk," Danny muttered, mostly to himself. "Torture. Actual, honest torture. This… this goes so far beyond what I know how to deal with. Miss Murder Hands, you owe me big time."
"Why?" Tardis whispered as Danny broke the chains around her ankles. "I hurt your friend."
"Oh, I'm sorry, do you not want me to save your life?" Danny said as he pulled her out of the chair. "Because I can put you back right now if that's what you want." She didn't reply, and so Danny attempted to throw one of her arms over his shoulder. Instead she jabbed him with her elbow. Danny stumbled back, clutching his side, and looked back just in time to see ectoplasmic goop wrap around Tardis' wrists and knock her to the floor. Walker had found a weapon.
She just saved me. Huh. Still hate her.
Danny didn't bother to switch to his ghost form, but threw up a shield anyway. As Walker stood back up, he rushed to Tardis' side.
She'd hit the back of her head on the chair, and barely seemed aware of anything. Danny pulled his phone from his pocket and shoved it into her hands. "Hey," He snapped his fingers in front of her face, "Hey! Look at me!" He grabbed her face, "I hate you, you hate me, but we're getting out of here."
Bits of blue energy shot off Tardis' finger tips.
Danny couldn't resist. Holding tightly onto her wrists, he turned towards Walker and grinned. "Hey, Warden! Since you asked so nicely, the name's Daniel James Fenton." He gave a two-fingered salute, "Tell your friends!"
Tardis' energy threw them both through time before Walker could even hope to reach them.
Ah yes, the future doctor is traveling through time via a Tardis. How original.
I'm sorry, I've been waiting three years to make that joke. Seriously though, Tardis is a jerk. Danny, if you're going to travel through time with someone, please find someone better. Like the real Ophelia! Or Past Infinite! Nothing could go wrong there!
So! A long time ago, back in September of 2013 when I had published chapter 2 and still didn't know if this would be a full fic, a person with the username Linzerj made the joke that Danny's powers were "like Doctor Who in an uncontrolled setting." Small me had not watched Doctor Who, but had a friend who had. And this friend had made an OC for my steadily growing Timeline Theory named Tardis. I couldn't wait, and soon ended up throwing her in my plot. But I thought her name was a bit dumb, so I had Sam misspeak when trying to describe her. Thus, the misunderstanding of Ophelia!
I have been waiting to write these next couple chapters for three years. And just when I thought I had them all figured out, my plot changed on me! Sam and Tucker using the Infi Map to find out more about Infinite? That plot point didn't exist until a week ago. But man, I am excited for how it will turn out!
Alright, that's all for now! I'll see you guys at Christmas! Until then, thoughts?