WoM- The Second-to-the-Last Chapter! It still feels like I just started this story, too… I might do a sequel, if I can fit it in. Right now, though, a new story idea's been begging for attention, so I'm not making any promises. Oh, and Sorry for not getting this up yesterday on ff. Net Once again the site decided to spite me...
Future Valerie: You're from the past, aren't you? Almost forgot how cute you were back then. (Valerie collapses)
Danny: You thought I was cute? Wow, an older woman likes me.
Hunting for the Future
"I'M GONNA KILL YOU!" Heather squealed loudly, burying her face into Phantom's back to hide herself from the murderous ghost hunter as the ghost boy himself prevented the impending homicide.
"Dan-ny!" Heather wailed, clutching to his hazmat, "Don't let her get me!"
"What were you thinking?" Valerie snapped, ignoring the ghost and the fact that Heather was her teacher's niece. In her current mood, Valerie would've still strangled the brat even if she was royalty. "Were you thinking? Because it sure as hell doesn't look that way!"
"I couldn't just leave her!" Heather protested, hugging the Yovven kitten close. "Who knows what they would've done to her there!"
"Valerie," Phantom sighed, "Stop it. Yelling at her isn't going to change anything, and we are in our own dimension again," The ghost looked around them again, "…Well, sorta,"
"'Sorta?'" Valerie repeated, "And exactly how are we 'sorta' in the right dimension? Cause this doesn't look like home to me!" Valerie waved her arms furiously was she said this, motioning around them to the mass of ruined buildings and high-tech devices. Phantom hesitated a moment before answering.
"Well…" He said reluctantly, "…It's the right dimension… or at least, we're in Clockwork's ballpark now… only the wrong time."
"The wrong time," Valerie repeated, gaping.
"Ten years the wrong time, if you wanna get accurate," Phantom continued. Valerie gaped at him before turning a murderous glare back to Heather.
"Danny!" Heather whimpered, clutching the ghost's leg.
"Calm down, Val!" Danny said diplomatically, "It's not big deal, we'll just go to the Ghost Zone and find Clockwork. He'll straighten this whole mess out in no time!"
"Well he better!" Valerie snapped, "'Cause I've had it up to here with all of this mess! I just wanna go home, take a long, HOT bath and eat some real food before going to bed!" Heather rolled her eyes.
"like that'll help in that dump you call a home…" She muttered dryly. Before Valerie could figure out a way to get around Phantom and attack the younger girl, Heather had already turned a puzzled frown to the ghost of the group. "Hey, how did you know that this was the future, anyways?"
Valerie frowned as she also glanced at the ghost, surprised to find his face the most serious and depressed she'd ever seen it. A grim, haunted look was in his eyes, like he was trapped in memories he didn't want to have.
"I've been here before," He answered softly. Shaking his head, the ghost sighed. "Anyways, we should probably get going. The nearest working portal is in Wisconsin since the Fenton Portal was destroyed, so…"
"The Fenton Portal was destroyed?" Valerie repeated, gaping. "By what?" The ghost winced.
"Never mind," he said shortly, "Lets get going before we get into trouble…"
'What the heck is his problem?' Valerie though sullenly, glaring at the ghost as he walked a little ahead of her. 'Ah, what do I care? At least now I candela with Heather in peace…'
"What were you thinking, huh?" Valerie hissed at the little girl. "Didn't you realize that you couldn't bring that thing without something going wrong?"
"She isn't a thing!" Heather said, clearly offended. "She's cute, and really sweet, see?" Valerie jumped when Heather suddenly shoved the Yovven just inches from her face.
The Yovven blinked into Valerie's green eyes, before mewing loudly and licking her nose. The ghost hunter stiffened, her face paling rapidly as she jumped away as if she'd been burned.
"GET THAT THING AWAY FROM ME!" She screamed in her retreat, tripping over a piece of rubble and landing painfully on her butt. Heather blinked at her in surprise before grinning evilly.
"Wait," She said, clearly trying to hold back a laugh, "You're not scared of Baby… are you?"
"No I'm not scare of Baby!" Valerie snapped back. "I just…" She trailed off, staring at Heather. "Wait a second… BABY?"
"Well, yeah," Heather said defensively, "I mean, she so cute and little, just like a Baby, so I just figured…"
"Things grow, Heather," Valerie reminded her charge. "And anyways there's no way you can keep her."
"Says who?" Heather asked defiantly, glaring at Valerie. Valerie gave the younger girl a dry look.
"Heather," she said in exasperation, "Don't you think you're Uncle's gonna notice how your new pet looks a little weird?" Heather flinched at that.
"Didn't think of that…" She muttered, frowning down at the Yovven in her arms. Her confidence growing from that reaction alone, Valerie continued pressing the point home.
"And don't you think you're mom's gonna find it weird when you go back?" She asked, "You can't tell anyone how you got her without breaking your promise and there's no way you can make up a believable excuse with how she looks." Heather sighed.
"Fine!" She snapped, "But we can't send her back to her own dimension now anyways, so what am I supposed to do with her?" Valerie was a little startled by the question.
"I don't know!" she said, frowning, "Ask Phantom to take care of her, I guess. He'll know what to do,"
"I guess…" Heather said sullenly, pouting down at Baby. The Yovven purred, rubbing it's head again the little girl's shirt and Valerie made a face.
'Man that thing's creepy…' She thought, giving the kitten a wary look. That's when a noise caught her attention.
"What was that?" She asked, glaring around in sharp suspicion.
"What?" Heather asked, alert. Ignoring the girl, Valerie listened closer, tensing at the sound of rapidly approaching motors. "I don't hear-!"
"Get down!" Valerie hissed, pushing the girl down to hide her beneath some rubble. Startled, Heather relinquished her grip on the Yovven kitten, who scampered out into the open.
"Ba-!" Heather started to call before Valerie pressed a hand firmly over her mouth, hearing the motors get even closer. Heather tensed, her eyed wide as she finally hear it too.
"Are you sure, Dad?" A semi-familiar voice said somewhere above Valerie, making the ghost hunter frown in confusion. "I don't see anything…" There was a reply that Valerie didn't quite catch, but there was definitely something even more familiar about that voice then the one above her.
'I know I've heard her somewhere before…' Valerie mused to herself, 'But where…?'
"Mew!" Valerie and Heather both jumped as Baby cried out loudly.
"What the-?" The voice above them said, the sound of motors humming again. Now Valerie's eyes narrowed suspiciously.
'That sounds like my jet sled!' She thought furiously.
"What the hell is THAT?" The voice exclaimed loudly, "Man! How creepy it that thing… Well, not much longer, I guess…" Valerie's jaw dropped as she heard another familiar sound; the sound of a charging ecto-gun. In her shock, the ghost hunter's firm grip on her charge relaxed, something Heather took advantage of in an instant.
"BABY!" she cried out, running out to scoop the kitten up.
"HEATHER!" Valerie growled, running after the girl to haul her (And Baby) out of the way just before the discharged blast hit where they'd been standing. "You're trying to get yourself killed, aren't you?" Valerie snapped accusingly at the younger girl. Heather didn't respond, too busy staring dumbly at something above them.
Frowning, Valerie turned to see what had captured the girl's attention so successfully, only to drop her charge when she saw for herself, her eyes widening to the size of saucers and her jaw dropping in almost perfect imitation of the face she was staring into.
"Valerie?" Phantom called out, coming back around a bend with concern clear in his voice, "Heather? Are you two okay? I hear a- Oh, Hell…"
The ghost hunter barely heard her rival, never taking her eyes off that face of the girl in front of her.
HER face.
"Valerie?" Damon's concerned voice came over the device on the older ghost hunter's wrist, "Are you alright? What was that screaming I heard?"
"Dad," Older Valerie said, her tone dumb with shock, "I'm gonna have to call you back…"
"So let me get this straight," Older Valerie sighed, rubbing her temples as she paced in front of Phantom, Heather and… well… Valerie, all of which were sitting on the ground in front of her. "You're ALL from the past?"
"Right," Heather nodded.
"But not the past of this future, since you altered the timeline for yours?" As she said this, Older Valerie shot Phantom a pointed look, a frown on her face.
"Yep," Phantom said with a meek smile.
"Any you're all here because you got sucked into an alternate dimension and when you jumped to come back to this one, everything got screwed up because of that… thing?" This time the look turned to Baby, and it was a little wary.
"Pretty much," Valerie admitted.
"Baby's NOT a thing…" Heather sulked, glaring at Older Valerie who paid her no mind, still rubbing her temples.
"…I need an Aspirin." She sighed, sitting down on a piece of rubble. "Maybe Dad was right about my life getting too interesting…"
"Welcome to my world…" The hunters younger counterpart said pointedly.
"I've been in your world," Older Valerie reminded her with a dry glare. "So now you guys need to get to the Ghost Zone and find this Clockwork person to get back to your home time… dimension… place?"
"And the only working Ghost Portal belongs to Vlad," Phantom said, making a face.
"Of course," Older Valerie said dryly. The younger Valerie blinked.
'What was that about?' She wondered, 'Did I have a fight with Mr. Masters or something?'
"Okay then," Older Valerie said, standing, "It's a good seven hour flight to Wisconsin so we might as well get started now. You two are coming with me on the Jet Sled. Dan- Phantom, you're gonna need to stay invisible until I give the all clear." Phantom, Heather and Valerie all stared at Older Valerie in shock.
"Wait," Phantom said, blinking as he pointed at Older Valerie, "You're going to help us?"
"What do you think?" Older Valerie asked absently, pressing a few buttons on her watch. "Like I'm really gonna let YOU fly unsupervised to visit a hermit in Wisconsin?"
'Hermit?' Valerie repeated mentally, 'Mr. Masters?' Valerie looked around her again.
"What HAPPENED here?" She asked her older self. Older Valerie stopped her actions to look at Phantom, a strange look on her face. Phantom on his part suddenly wasn't meeting anyone's eyes.
"…A ghost attacked," Older Valerie said vaguely, turning to complete her work.
"Really?" Heather asked absently, oblivious to the tense air as she played with Baby. "Must've been powerful to do this kind of damage."
Valerie didn't miss the wince that chased across Phantom's face.
"Well," Older Valerie responded, "I think he finally got what was coming to him," She seemed to finish whatever she was doing, as she was now addressing her watch instead of the group, "Dad? I've got something I need to take care of right now. Think you can keep the shields up until I come back?"
"Roger that," Damon responded, "Be careful, Valerie,"
"Aren't I always?" Older Valerie shot back.
"Don't answer that," Younger Valerie said absently, shaking her head.
"Anyways, I'll be back by nightfall," Older Valerie said, grinning slightly at the younger version of herself. "Bye Dad!" turning off the watch, Older Valerie jumped back up onto her jet sled. "Come on, you two, get on. And remember what I said, Danny-!"
"Stay invisible," Phantom sighed, "Right," And without any further warning, the ghost disappeared. Shaking her head, Valerie got onto the jet sled after her older counterpart, Heather and Baby following a bit more hesitantly.
"Everybody ready?" Older Valerie asked.
"Hold on!" Heather cried out, "I need to hold onto Baby!" Valerie growled.
"Do you have to bring that thing with us?" She snapped.
"Baby isn't a thing!" Heather shouted, "And how bout we leave you behind, huh? At least Baby doesn't complain as much as you do!"
"What was that, you little-?"
"Have they been doing this the whole time?" Older Valerie asked dryly.
"Longer," An invisible Phantom responded, laughing.
"Hey!" Valerie and Heather protested as one.
'We haven't been fighting that much…' the ghost hunter added sullenly in her mind.
"This is SO creepy…"
"Tell me about it." Older Valerie muttered. Shaking her head, Valerie looked over to where Phantom was flying alongside them, Heather on his back and Baby in his hands.
He'd volunteered to take the two of them after Older Valerie grew impatient with the fighting (5 ½ hours earlier, after just a half hour of flying) and threatened to shove all of them off the jet sled mid-air, the consequences be damned.
"So, you're really an older version of me, huh?" Valerie asked.
"Watch it," Her counterpart glared, "Just because you're ten years younger then me doesn't mean you can make me feel older then I am." Then the older ghost hunter sighed. "Well, guess you've got questions for me, huh?"
"A few," Younger Valerie said dryly, "Like 'what were you thinking when you cut our hair like that?'" Older Valerie looked startled for a second before she glared.
"Hey this happens to be very stylish, okay?" she snapped. "Not to mention a lot more efficient then the curly mess you've got going on,"
"You've got a problem with my hair?" Valerie asked, glaring right back at her older self. Older Valerie sighed.
"This is so stupid…" she muttered before glancing over at Phantom. Younger Valerie frowned.
"He did it, didn't he?" she asked softly, "He's the one who did all that damage back there." The older ghost hunter didn't respond at first before sighing heavily.
"It's complicated, alright?" She said in a tired tone. "Don't ask me to explain it to you, I'm still trying to catch up with what's going on now without dragging the past up."
"It's not my past, remember?" Valerie reminded her sharply. "And if you tell me what went on here-!"
"Did you take the C.A.T?" Older Valerie cut her off shortly.
"What?" Valerie said, blinking in confusion. "What does that have to do with-?"
"Did you take it or not?" Older Valerie snapped.
"Yeah," Valerie sighed, "I just barely passed too. All that ghost hunting-!"
"-Kept you from studying, I know," Older Valerie finished for her, "It was the same for me. But Sam and Tucker are still alive right? And all the Fentons?"
"Yeah, of course!" Valerie said, surprised at the question, "Why wouldn't they-?" Valerie stopped, paling, "You mean… here they're… oh my God!"
"Yeah," Older Valerie said solemnly. "There was an explosion at the Nasty Burger. No one was expecting it."
"Oh my God!" Valerie repeated. "What about Danny, was he-?" Older Valerie got a strange look on her face for a moment.
"Danny…" She started before she sighed. "Danny died a few days later." Valerie swallowed hard, unsure of what to say.
"He must've been heartbroken," She said at last, her voice soft and her tone sad, "I mean, I couldn't imagine what I'd do if I lost Dad…" she turned back to her older counterpart, frowning. "How did he die?"
"…He was killed," Older Valerie said softly, a sad look on her face. "I don't really know too much about the details, but I do know Mr. Masters was involved somehow."
"That's why you didn't want to see him," Valerie realized, "But Danny is the son of his two best friends! Why would Mr. Masters…?"
"I don't know, okay?" Older Valerie sighed. "I never asked. Anyways, there's the mansion. What's left of it at any rate…" Valerie peered around her older self, her eyes widening at the sight of the ruined mansion.
'What's left of it is right…' She mused, her confusion growing. What had happened in this world…?
"One last thing," Older Valerie told her seriously, "I don't know if I should be telling you this, but…" Valerie looked over at Phantom, lowering her voice, "Valerie, whatever you do… when Danny tells you his secret… don't hate him!"
"Huh?" Valerie said, her eyes widening, "Why would I hate Danny?"
"Because I did, and it's part of the reason all of this happened," Older Valerie said seriously, "Remember that, okay?" Valerie frowned at her before sighing.
"I will," She promised as Older Valerie landed.
"You guys take care of what you need to do," She told them all. "I'm going back home. Good luck,"
"Thanks," Valerie said, watched her older self go with a strange look on her face, thinking about what the girl had told her.
"So," Phantom said in a would-be casual tone, "What were you two talking about?" Valerie raised an eyebrow at the ghost boy's tone and posture, noticing how nervous he was acting.
"Relax, Phantom," she said, "It didn't have anything to do with you," Phantom visibly relaxed before sighing and turning to the ruined castle.
"Well," He said, holding out a hand to Valerie, "It's now or never," Valerie sighed.
'Then I guess it's now,' She mused, taking his hand, 'Thank god we're almost out of here for good…'
WoM- 'sweatdropping' That was a fun chapter to write! Stay tuned for the last Chapter next week!
Thanks to;
Petitio Principii, epobbp, littlekittykat, Light Dragon SunsSong, Evilevergreen, Samantha-Girl Scout, dramaqueen07, ur1crazedupfruitloop, Verna, SilverstarsEbonyskies, Titan6, IwuvMyKenshyPoo, Mistress of Darkness, Anne Camp aka Obi-quiet, Gmasangel, hikari lady, Punker88, Lumias, the sleep warrior, Darth Frodo, Ghost Writer's Assistant, conan98002, Firefury, A. Nonymous, Fire Forever, KatrinaKaiba, phantomshadowdragon, Sqweakie the Wonder Mouse, Firehedgehog, Kitty Kyinsky, Denise, AirGirl Phantom, The Great Susinko, BratCat, Mizuki hikari, Hafae a.k.a. Hufflepuffer242, Horselvr4evr123, Goofn1, BlackDecember, Inumaru12, JPElles, The Unknown Alias, animegurl088, shadow, WolfDaughter, GoGoJirachi
FINAL CHAPTER; February 27th
See you then!