Marisa's note: nothing to say about this one but it was fun (as always) to write. See ya June 16th—well, probably. It depends on how evil our finals are. Because of that you'll be able to check the status of Chapter Twelve by looking in my profile for updates. Summer is coming up, which is going to be weird since Laryna6 technically lives in a different state (woe!), but we'll figure out how to make things work when we get there.

And a single gloat and it's the Zero Virus for you...you know who you are...

…Uh, right. Enjoy the chapter, and remember to review! I can't wait to hear opinions on this chapter—I think the only time I've been more excited was when we posted Chapter One!

— — — — — —

Chapter Eleven

"I see the parade from above…all the twists and turns it might—or might not—take."

- - -

The next morning Valerie methodically ate soggy spoonfuls of cereal, Danny patiently sitting across from her at the kitchen table, reading his book again, oblivious to the world. Valerie shook her head and sighed.

Maybe I should hide that thing, she thought, slowly taking another bite. Or else leave out some books about NASA and outer space…

Danny looked up at the kitchen clock and blinked. "Um, Valerie, it's nine forty-five."

Valerie blinked. "It is? Oh." She cleared her throat, scooped up the last of her cereal, and got up from the table. "Well, I guess we should go."

Danny quickly placed a bookmark on his page, grabbed his backpack, and grinned mischievously.

"What?" Valerie asked, narrowing her eyes.

"Race ya!" he yelled as he took off, phasing through the ceiling in an instant.

"No fair!" Valerie yelled uselessly, and raced out of the house, activating her armor and charging after the ghost.

Of course, because Danny had taken the lead he got to the mall first, smirking as Valerie landed a few minutes later.

"That was not fair, Danny Fenton!" she grumbled, packing up her hoverboard and armor. Danny just grinned and pulled on his civilian clothes, looking entirely too pleased. Then the two headed to the front of the mall.

"Hey, ghost boy! Danny!" yelled Paulina, waving wildly as she nearly leaped from her father's black car. Danny sighed for a moment, conflicted. A small part of Valerie felt victorious—after all, Paulina deserved a lot more than just some uncertainly after how callous she had been about Danny's human half!

Paulina ran up and eyed Danny critically, giving a shudder.

"You have to get out of those clothes," Paulina said to Danny. "They're so, like, eighties!"

Danny frowned at the Christmas decorations surrounding them. He looked distinctively disgruntled. "Shouldn't I have something to change into first?" he said finally, looking at all the already eager shoppers entering the mall.

Paulina grinned and attached herself to Danny's arm. "Then let's go!" She dragged the boy inside, Valerie quickly following.

"Where are we going first?" she asked, feeling a little cross. Paulina still hadn't let go of Danny, and she didn't look like she was about to start.

"Maybe Bloomingsales, or Saks Sixth Avenue, or…" as Paulina prattled on Valerie smirked as Danny looked more and more annoyed at the Christmas shoppers.

"Don't like shopping, Danny?" she whispered, snickering.

"Don't like Christmas," he answered peevishly. "Are we almost there?" he asked, raising his voice so Paulina could hear him.

"Yes!" she answered cheerfully. "Welcome to Bloomingsales!"

Danny blinked and stared at the masses of shoppers running about the giant department store. "You know, I've never been in here before…"

Paulina giggled and dragged him to the men's department, now in her element. Somehow Valerie became the pack mule of the group, arms heavy with load after load of clothing while Paulina pranced about like a pony in a circus. Danny followed behind her grumpily, looking like he was fighting the urge to blow every Christmas decoration into little bits. Valerie wondered why, but decided to ask him about it later, when Paulina wasn't around.

Finally the girl shoved Danny and his clothing into a dressing room and waited as Danny pulled the first outfit over his costume.

"I am not wearing this," Danny growled from inside the room.

"Let me see first!" Paulina pouted. "Please?"

"I'm dressed like Chip Skylark! He's a boy band guy!" Valerie could hear the shudder in his voice, and valiantly tried to stifle a snicker.

"Aw, come on out, ghost!" the ghost hunter called. "What, are you afraid?"

"I am NOT afraid!" he yelled. "I just don't want to look like a guy who sings about his teeth!"

This time Valerie didn't bother to stifle her laughter. "And how did you know about that song in the first place?" she teased. She heard Danny mutter something under his breath and he strode out of the room, still grumbling.

"Ooooh, that looks cute!" squeaked Paulina. Valerie eyed him critically.

"But that'd probably only work for Christmas season, since he has green and white coloring," she said despite herself. Though she had stopped bothering after she began ghost hunting, she still had a trained eye for fashion from when she was popular.

"It might work for now, though…" Paulina began.

"That's it, I'm taking this stuff off," Danny growled, and walked back into the dressing room. A moment later he added, "and I refuse to wear a pink hat!"

Paulina blinked. "Pink hat? I never gave him a pink hat…"

Valerie coughed. That had actually been a joke she had thrown into the pile out of boredom.

"Well, move on to the next outfit," Paulina commanded. Danny muttered something again but changed into the next set of clothes and stepped outside.

Both girls stared at him, struck dumb for a moment.

Paulina was good—very good. She had gone for a preppy theme with a long-sleeved black sweater over a white long-sleeved collared dress shirt, leaving the collar to stick out from the neck of the sweater and the tipped bottoms of the white shirt pulled out over his black jeans. Even with the white gloves and white boots, Danny looked…hot.

"What do you think?" the boy asked, turning for them. Paulina smirked as he moved, probably enjoying the view.

After a moment Valerie managed to focus.

"We'll…we'll get that," she said. Danny blinked at the reaction of the two girls, then looked at himself in the mirror, probably wondering why the new clothes had such better reactions over the ones he'd worn when he was alive.

Snap out of it, Valerie! she growled at herself. You are not attracted to a ghost! That's necrophilia!

She shook her head slightly and realized Paulina was nudging her.

"He looks dreamy, doesn't he?" she whispered longingly. Valerie found herself nodding an affirmative. However, after a moment Paulina frowned.

"That would be perfect if you could take the gloves off," she said. "And we should probably get you black shoes, too."

"Hmm." Danny paused for a moment thoughtfully. "Well, I could try something…"

He concentrated for a moment, staring at his hands, and Valerie blinked as two small white rings shot forward with a whooshing sound from his wrists, and as they passed his gloves became skin.

"When'd you learn how to do that?" she asked, surprised. Danny grinned.

"I found out a while ago I could," he answered, but didn't volunteer any more information. His boots wavered between black and white for a moment, but he shook his head and they reverted back to normal.

"I don't think I can do more than my hands right now," he explained. "It takes some power to do this, and it's the first time I've ever tried…"

Paulina grinned. "Maybe we should go shoe shopping, then!"

Danny blinked. "Uh, maybe…it'd be a bit impractical, though, wouldn't it? I mean, don't you just need one pair of shoes? And these look okay."

Paulina laughed, shaking her head. "Just like a boy to think that! C'mon, let's go to the House of Shoes store!"

"Uh, I—"

But Danny didn't get a chance to protest as Paulina grabbed his hand and flounced out, taking the tags off at the register so Danny didn't have to change out of his clothing. Valerie quickly put her father's old clothing in a shopping bag and hurried out, getting annoyed at how Paulina seemed to purposely leave her behind whenever she could, and how she was reduced to pack mule status when she managed to catch up. Danny was her friend, darn it!

…Now where had that thought come from?

Valerie shook her head a little again and chased after Paulina as the girl led Danny to the other end of the mall.

"Would you take me flying with you? Please?" Paulina was asking as Valerie caught up. Danny coughed behind his free hand and seemed suddenly very interested in his feet.

"Uh, I'm not sure," he said, blushing a little as Paulina molded her body to his. Valerie heard a female murmuring around them, and realized that now every single teenage girl around them was staring at the two, studying the couple—no, they were not a couple!—with approval.

"If she gets any more obvious I'll hurl," she muttered to herself angrily, and shoved herself between them. Danny had a strange, mixed expression of relief and annoyance at being separated, but Valerie didn't care.

"Valerie, I was talking to the ghost boy!" Paulina growled, obviously irritated. Valerie gave a plastic smile and didn't answer.

"Hooo boy," she heard Danny mutter. "Anyway, Paulina," he said, raising his voice, "it might be too dangerous to take you flying. I mean, if a ghost attacks…"

"I'm not afraid," Paulina answered, smiling. "I know you can protect me!" Danny flushed.

"Well, yeah, but—"

They reached the center of the mall, which was filled with boxed and wrapped presents. A cameraman and reporter stood in front of the pile, getting ready to film.

"Are we good? All right, live in three, two, one…" She cleared her throat and her face went blank. "Thank you, Stephanie," she said, answering an unheard voice. "Today the annual community Christmas Toy Drive has collected a record number of gifts for the impoverished children of Amity Park this year, as you can see behind me—"

"I AM THE BOX GHOST!" yelled a voice behind her, and the reporter gasped and jumped back as the Box Ghost shot out of the pile, making each present float with a blue glow. "And once I empty these cubic containers of their useless contents, their marvelous—"

"Oh please," Danny growled, and phased out of his clothing, letting it fall into a pile. He shot forward, slammed into the Box Ghost and smashed him into the ground. The presents fell with loud thumps as the two tussled, Danny easily gaining the upper hand. Paulina cheered and ran forward, heedless of any danger (though Valerie knew there was none, which was a bit of a disappointment) and after grabbing Danny's abandoned clothes the ghost hunter followed.

"Aaah! Argh! Beware!" yelped the Box Ghost as Danny pummeled him happily, enjoying his revenge over his previous beating. Valerie wished there was a place she could safely put on her armor without being seen—she felt like venting a little frustration too!

"Danny!" she called after a few minutes, and tossed the boy the thermos. Danny let up on the Box Ghost just long enough to grab the device before sucking the ghost inside.

"Fear meeee!" the Box Ghost cried as he was sucked in, but Danny ignored him.

"Sorry about that," he said, flying into the air and landing neatly on his feet next to Paulina. "He's a real pest."

"And I thought this was going to be a boring assignment!" they heard the reporter say enthusiastically, and both ghost hunters turned, realizing the entire fight must have been caught on a live broadcast.

Paulina grabbed Danny in a close hug, knowing perfectly well all of Action News' viewers would see her do so. "Thank you for saving me," she whispered seductively into his ear. He blushed and pulled himself out of her grip.

"Uh, I didn't really do much," he said, and to Valerie's annoyance he grew redder. "It's just the Box Ghost. He's pretty harmless."

He turned around and jumped as a microphone was shoved into his face.

"Hello," said the reporter in front of him. "I'm Shelly Wakamoto with Action News. You're Danny Phantom, right?"

"Uh…yeah…" Danny looked flustered, and Valerie had a moment of pity for him, but it was overruled by excitement. If this reporter would interview him and he could clear his name…!

"You just saved Christmas for the poor people of Amity Park!" Shelly began. Danny frowned.

"I saved Christmas? Crud…um, I mean, glad to help!"

"Do you have anything you want to say?" asked Shelly, pressing her advantage. It was obvious she wanted to get an interview, but for some reason Danny wasn't giving it! Valerie knew she had to take charge.

"I do," she said, stepping forward. "Danny Phantom and Fenton Works are working together to fight ghosts and protect Amity Park. I'm Fenton Works' representative." She stared directly into the camera. "Danny's a good ghost!"

"Yeah!" Paulina added, attaching herself to Danny. "He's saved me a bunch of times!"

"Uh, Paulina, I think we're on live TV…" he mumbled, trying to push her off. Valerie twitched and pulled Danny to her side.

"Fenton Works and Danny Phantom work together?" asked the reporter. "Then what about the mayor's kidnapping?"

"I was framed!" Danny said indignantly, forgetting both girls in his anger. "A ghost named Walker overshadowed the mayor and made him kidnap me! Those were his stupid goons attacking the city, too. I was trying to push the ghosts out of everyone and get Walker back into the Ghost Zone, that's all!"

"That's the first time he saved me!" Paulina interjected proudly, leaning her head on his shoulder. "He kept me from getting possessed!"

Would you stop touching him! Valerie felt like screaming, but she didn't dare. This interview was too important! Besides, if the teens of Casper High saw how much the popular girl liked Danny Phantom, they'd like him too, and that was good, right? …Right?

"But what about the robberies afterward?" the reporter pressed, probably trying to ask as many questions as possible before the ghost flew away.

"That was because of Freakshow," Danny answered hotly, moving a bit so Paulina couldn't lean on him anymore. "He had this rod that controlled ghosts, and he managed to take control of me for a while too." Danny shuddered. "I had no idea what I was doing…I managed to destroy it, though, and stopped the train so the cops could recover all the stuff he made us steal."

"Us?"

"Oh, the rest of his troupe were actually ghosts…" Danny shrugged. "They were too eager to leave to prove I was innocent."

"I knew you wouldn't do something like that!" Paulina interrupted again. Valerie felt like smacking her, but controlled herself. Paulina was helping by protesting Danny's innocence, right?

"And what about the mysterious ghost hunter in red?" the reporter pressed, professionally ignoring the popular girl.

"I'm not going to say much about her" —Danny grinned mischievously— "but I will say that she was a crazy stalker of mine. She had stuff about me all over her room, and she was always hunting me."

What! Crazy stalker? Why, when she got him alone—!

"We work together now, though," he said firmly.

Great, Valerie thought grumpily. Now I have to wait until we get home to pummel him for that stalker remark.

"Could you explain more about the ghost invasions, and how they get into our world?" the reporter continued.

"Hmm," Danny said. "That's a pretty long question…"

- - -

Vlad Plasmius flew through the Ghost Zone, heading to a lair he had only just found. Finding Clockwork had taken time, connections, and bribes, but he had done it, and now he was going to see how this ghost would defend himself against Vlad's questions.

There it is, Vlad thought as he came upon a strange, cog-covered castle. He carefully sneaked inside, floating quietly above three ghosts, two of which looked like giant green eyeballs in capes and the last a baby holding a staff.

"Clockwork, you have broken even more of the Protocol! Not only have you manipulated the boy in the primary timeline, but you allowed this other, secondary timeline to exist!"

Vlad blinked as the baby transformed into a smirking, middle-aged man. "Perhaps," the man said. "But you know as well as I do no timeline can be erased, and key moments can create different timelines. And in both the boy's evil self was eliminated."

"In the primary you violated the Protocol for Temporal Displacement and saved the boy's family, and in the secondary the boy eliminated himself! You cheated again!"

"Either way, the child's evil self is no longer a threat, so you have nothing to complain about." The man glared, suddenly growing old and withered. "Your objectives have been reached. Now, if you could observe the door."

The two eyeball ghosts glared but disappeared, leaving Vlad and presumably Clockwork alone.

Vlad's mind was awhirl. Different timelines? Primary and secondary timelines? He was from a secondary timeline?

And Maddie and Daniel are alive in the first, Vlad realized.

"Hello, Plasmius," said Clockwork, adjusting a cog on his staff.

Vlad refused to show his surprise, and instead swooped down gracefully, eyes dark and narrowed.

"You have the power to change time," he said simply. His eyes narrowed further, and his hands began to glow. "You will change our timeline to be like that other, so Maddie and Daniel will be alive."

"You heard what I said to the Observants, Plasmius," answered Clockwork, not bothering to look up. "No timeline can be destroyed, and yours has already been created."

Vlad twitched, trying to control his anger. "Then you will send me back in time and let me rescue Maddie," he ordered.

Clockwork shifted into baby form, and he gave an infuriating, angelic baby smile.

"No."

"No? If you don't—" Vlad raised a hand threateningly, but Clockwork merely shifted to his middle-age form and smirked.

"Then the boy hasn't told you of how easily I defeated him when he attempted to fight."

"Daniel is nowhere near to my level."

And with that Vlad shot forward, shooting powerful ghost rays to hit Clockwork dead on. Clockwork pressed the button on the top of his staff, which pinged loudly.

—and Vlad shot forward, shooting powerful ghost rays—

Ping!

—and Vlad shot forward, shooting powerful ghost rays—

"Time out."

And suddenly everything stopped for a moment, as Clockwork moved to the right smugly.

"Time in."

—and Vlad shot forward and smashed into a giant bell where Clockwork used to be, dizzy and confused. Clockwork pressed down the button again.

—and Vlad shot forward and smashed into a giant bell—

Ping!

—and Vlad shot forward and smashed into a giant bell—

Ping!

—and Vlad shot forward and smashed into a giant bell—

Ping!

"I could do this all day," Clockwork said, pressing the button again, smirking. He sounded like he had said it before. "But I do have a schedule to keep."

And with that Vlad smashed into the bell one last time and reeled, trying to get his bearings.

Think, Vlad! he ordered himself furiously. Think with your brain, not your emotions! That's what Daniel does!

"Why won't you let me rescue Maddie?" Vlad finally growled, gingerly rubbing his pounding head.

"Because there are three timelines, Plasmius," said Clockwork matter-of-factly. "One where I never interfered" —a wavering image of an annihilated landscape appeared in Clockwork's viewing portal— "one where I interfered once" —now the image of Daniel talking to a reporter, Valerie at his side, appeared— "and one where I interfered twice." The final image rested on Daniel eating a dinner with his family, oblivious to his observers.

Clockwork stared directly into Vlad's eyes. "You need to be in your timeline, and the woman needs to be in the other."

"Then send me to that other!" Vlad roared, splitting himself into four doppelgangers, all charging for Clockwork. The mere thought of Maddie alive somewhere was enough to destroy any reasoning he had.

"I don't think your alternate would much appreciate that," Clockwork said, amused. He formed a shield around himself as he shifted into an old man, seeming to prefer merely defending himself rather than smashing Vlad into large, blunt objects.

"I don't care about him!" all four Vlads roared, and dove towards the ghost—

"Time out."

Clockwork moved himself out of the way and smirked as he pressed the button again.

"Time in."

—and the four Vlads smashed into each other, three disappearing into the fourth as he tried to gather his bearings and strength once again.

"You are needed here, in your timeline," Clockwork said pitilessly as he shifted back to childhood. "The boy needs you."

"The boy needs his mother!" His eyes locked on the Maddie in the portal, serving food to her family, the Daniel at the table eating happily. "You-will-give-me-back-Maddie!"

Clockwork sighed. "She belongs in her timeline, and you belong in yours. Now, I have a schedule to keep, so I will bid you adieu."

Vlad charged, hands firing yet more ghost rays from sheer fury—

"Time out."

—there was a brief feel of movement—

"Time in."

—and he was back in his own lab, as though he had never left.

Vlad fired several ghost rays in frustration, annihilating a few tables in the process. Now he knew there was another Maddie out there, and by God he would…

…he would leave Daniel to rot.

He had at first seen Daniel as an extension of Maddie. The son they should have had, powerful, even if he had inherited Jack's lack of intelligence. But that was the problem—Daniel was really Maddie's son.

Vlad stared at the smoking table for a long time. Then he turned to the large, framed portrait of Maddie he had had made years ago.

"You wouldn't want me to leave him alone, would you?" he asked heavily. The artist had been very good—the Maddie in the painting looked almost alive. "Nor would your alternate…she would hate me for it."

He stared at the portrait's image for a while longer, and ran his hands over his face.

He left the lab.