Chapter 3

Over the next few weeks we hung out with Karenna more than ever. She was feisty and fun. But one thing still nagged in the back of my mind, and I knew Danny was thinking about it too: What had Karenna come to warn us about?

Sure, we asked her many, many times, until she was pretty annoyed at us. But she refused to tell us. All she would say was "The time is not right. You will know when the time comes."

The weather seemed to go Goth on us as the weeks went on. By that, I mean it became increasingly cloudy and gloomy. A chilly mist lingered over Amity Park, and there was no sign of it lifting soon. When I commented on this to Karenna, she had a knowing smile on her face, like she knew the cause of this weather, but didn't want to disclose it.

"That's it!" Danny screamed in frustration one day as he slammed his books down on our usual lunch table. "I've got tests in every subject this week, yet I still have mounds of homework to do, and I haven't had time to have any fun at all lately! I barely have time to breathe, for god's sake!"

"Come to think of it, I've been feeling the same way lately." I mused. Tucker looked up from his PDA.

"Yeah, me too! I haven't even had the energy to download new programs onto my PDA!" We all stared at him. Tucker, not feeling up to downloading? Something was definitely wrong. I looked around the cafeteria. Everybody seemed tired and lethargic. Even the most active and energetic kids were picking half-heartedly at their mystery meat. Even Karenna seemed to have lost the usual sparkle in her eyes. But she had that knowing smile on her face again. Danny noticed this too.

"Karenna Amethyst Clockwork!" he said, using Karenna's middle name. "You know what's going on, don't you? Tell me, and tell me NOW!"

Karenna sighed. "All right. The time has come. The Darkness is coming." I raised an eyebrow. Danny looked puzzled.

"What's the Darkness?" I asked. Karenna's face darkened.

"The Darkness is a monstrous dark. Created by Dark Danny before he was vanquished by my father, the Darkness creates misery and woe to all whom it touches. Eventually it creates enough sadness so that people start to do horrible things...and twist their futures into something evil and horrible. The Darkness then feeds on the fear and the sadness. As the Darkness grows bigger, Dark Danny becomes more and more powerful. Once the Darkness covers the country, Dark Danny will be able to break free of his prison and wreak havoc on the future once again. And when the Darkness covers the whole world, Dark Danny will have ultimate power. And only you, Danny Phantom, Dark Danny's younger self, have the power to defeat him...before it's too late."

We all stared at Karenna for a moment, then finally Danny spoke.

"But...how do I defeat him?" Karenna was silent, and then at last, she said

"Defeat the Darkness. The Darkness is the source of Dark Danny's power. If you defeat the Darkness...you defeat Dark Danny. He will become so weakened that it will be easy to capture him once again."

We were all very quiet for the rest of the day, thinking about Karenna's prediction. It was only later that something occurred to me.

"Hey, Karenna?" I cornered her by her locker later that day. She looked up.

"Yeah, Sam?" I took a deep breath.

"Karenna...your prediction before-about the Darkness...was that what you were sent here to warn us about?" Karenna slowly nodded.

"Yes." she said quietly. "And I have faith in Danny that he will vanquish his evil self...once and for all."

The image froze and Clockwork smiled. "Yes, my sweet Karenna. You have warned him. But he must act soon...or else there will no one who can stop Dark Danny. The fate of the future has shifted. It is in Danny's hands now."

A/N: How'd you like it? Don't you think I came up w/ a great middle name for Karenna? Karenna Amethyst Clockwork. I love it. All right, now REVIEW!