Chapter 5
"He's breathing." Danny said in relief some hours later.
We had taken Tucker to the nearest hospital, and although we were a little worried what they might do to him while under the effects of the Darkness, they seemed to be doing a good job. At least, they had him breathing again. However, Tucker was still in a deep coma.
The three of us sat in the hospital waiting room, in a somewhat shocked state. Danny and I clung to each other closely. Karenna had only known Tucker for a few months. Danny and me, we'd known him for almost our entire lives.
I guess we were in such a state of shock that we didn't notice when Karenna went missing. All I know is that after a few hours, Danny looked around the room and said
"Hey, has anybody seen Karenna?" I sat up and looked around. Sure enough, Karenna was nowhere in sight.
"She was here a few minutes ago..." I remembered. Just then, Danny's ghost sense went off and Clockwork appeared out of nowhere.
"You must listen to me, there isn't much time!" he said quickly. He looked very distressed. "Dark Danny has kidnapped Karenna and taken her a year into the past. I need you to go into the past and find her. Please...I need you to save her. She's my only daughter...my baby." Tears were now rolling down Clockwork's cheeks. I hadn't realized that ghosts could cry.
Danny stood up. "We'll do it, Clockwork!" he said firmly. I agreed. Karenna had become one of our best friends. We couldn't not save her.
"Very well then." Clockwork reached into the folds of his robes and pulled out three time medals on dark blue ribbons. He handed two to Danny and one to me.
"Give the third medal to Karenna when you find her. Good luck." And with a swish of his cloak, Clockwork was gone. Danny put his medal on, then helped me put mine on. And then...we were in the past.
We were in Clockwork's lab. Clockwork's lab a year ago looked much the same as his present-day lab, with the absence of a few objects. Clockwork was in the corner, watching something on his screen, while the past Karenna was fiddling with something. I gaped at the past Karenna.
She was hovering a few feet above the ground. Long brown hair tumbled down her back, and she had the traditional green ghostly outline. I had become so used to Karenna's wheelchair and human form that I'd kind of forgotten she hadn't always been that way. This must have been before the attack, I thought.
Just then a time porthole opened up, and the present-day, wheelchair-bound Karenna appeared in the room. Danny grabbed the back of my shirt and pulled me back, indicating that now wouldn't exactly be the best time for us to barge in and take Karenna back to the future.
The past Karenna looked and saw her future self. Clockwork said and did nothing, but I saw a hint of a smile on his face, like he knew that this was going to happen.
The past and future Karenna stared at each other for a minute, then finally the past Karenna spoke.
"Is that...are you...me?" The future Karenna nodded slowly.
"You...a year into the future." she said softly. This time it was awhile before the past Karenna spoke again. When she did, she spoke quietly, like she was a little afraid of what the answer might be.
"What the hell happened to me?" The future Karenna was silent for several minutes, obviously trying to figure out how to say this to her.
"A few months from now, you will be searching through your-or maybe I should say my-father's things and will accidentally release Dark Danny from his prison. Angry at being captured, he will attack you, leaving you paralyzed from the waist down, and in a permanent human form." Silent tears started flowing down both girls' faces, the past Karenna obviously scared of what she would very soon become, and the future Karenna in agony at seeing her pre-attack self.
"But I'm still you." said the future Karenna. "I still love to help Daddy in his work, I still love to explore and try new things...I'm still Karenna Clockwork. Just...a little different.
"Why didn't Daddy change my past so that the attack never happened?" The past Karenna whispered.
"The Observants wouldn't let him." replied the future Karenna. "They said it was against the rules to change his own daughter's past, even to prevent a horrible attack."
The future Karenna then caught sight of Danny and me, hidden in the corner. "I have to go." she said quietly. She came over to us and I helped her put the medal on. Just before she vanished into her own time, she said loudly and clearly
"Goodbye, past Karenna. We'll meet again...in time." Then she was gone. It was time for Danny and me to go back, too. I unclasped my medal, and Danny, his. Then, quite suddenly, we were in a dark, cool, quiet place. There was almost no noise, except the soft whispering of Clockwork, who was apparently in front of us.
"Thank you for saving my daughter. But now you must return to your original task. You must save the world from Dark Danny once again. And you must hurry, there isn't much time. The Darkness is creeping around the world. Very soon, it will cover the globe, and then it will be too late. You must discover the way to vanquish the Darkness.
"What is this place?" Danny asked.
"It is called the In-Between Place. It is the place in between the past and future, where all time-travelers must pass through before getting to another time. Now go, return to your own time. You must hurry, before Dark Danny takes over the world."
And then we were back in the hospital waiting room, our shoulders heavy with the task placed upon them.
A/N: Wow, that was a long chapter, almost two full pages. So what'd you think? Review plz!