Welcome back, pha-
*Sees the pitchforks and torches*
Yeah, I know, it's been MONTHS since I updated the story. Long story short, online classes, finishing up college, personal stuff, work, gaming, and LOTS OF REWRITING was done. Seriously, I've been revising so much with how the story will progress that I've had to redo all the summaries. Don't worry, I'm never gonna abandon this story, but DAMN! So much work! But I've still been working on it. Hope you enjoy! And to make up for my absence, I made this episode a bit longer than usual, especially after SCRAPPING AND REWRITING THIS EPISODE OVER 6 TIMES.
Also, I will point this out now, the next update won't take as long as this one (9 months, you dumbass author). College is finally out of the way (yay, I'm a graduate… whoooooo…), but I'm still fleshing out A LOT of details to come. This has been a gigantic pain to write, but I don't want to add any details that I might end up regretting later.
Anyways, I hope you enjoy!
Uhhh… why are you guys getting closer? Look, I'm a very busy gu- oh, shit.
*Runs away like a bitch*
Ver. 1.0.0 (6/10/21)
Standard Disclaimer: *Note taped to door* I do not own Danny Phantom. Now let my imagination work in peace.
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The streets of Amity Park were teeming with the sounds of various ghost animals causing terror.
"Urrrgghh!" Phantom groaned as his back impacted the brick wall of a liquor store.
He slid down the wall a few inches before he fell to one knee on the ground. Green ectoplasm was streaked down the wall and Danny winced as pain shot from his back. He glared at the enemy before his eyes suddenly went wide and a gasp escaped from his mouth. A turquoise, black-striped ghost tiger lunged at the half-ghost, baring its teeth at him and targeted the teen's neck. Instinctually, Danny brought his hands up to shield himself from the ghost and braced for impact. The tiger unleashed a loud roar as it closed in on Phantom, but its battle cry was short-lived as a white beam shot through the air and connected with the feline ghost. Danny lowered his hands and watched as the ghost tiger was pulled into the Fenton Thermos.
"Cutting it a bit close there, aren't we?" Sam smirked as she slapped the cap on the Thermos.
"Yeah," Phantom chuckled, "Any closer and I could have gotten more cuts on my face than from shaving."
"Shave?" Sam asked, raising an eyebrow, "You? Since when?"
"Not long," Danny replied, "Been getting a bit a fuzz growing on my face, so I figured better sooner rather than later."
A thought crossed the hero's mind and his face fell.
"Hey, uh…" he began as he rubbed the back of his head, "Sorry about tonight. *Sigh* Another date down the drain."
"Danny, don't worry about it," Sam smiled as she walked up and put a hand on Danny's shoulder, "You didn't really think that I would expect our relationship to be perfect, did you?"
"Umm… well…" Danny blushed.
"Calm down, hero-boy," Sam teased before giving him a quick peck on the cheek, "I knew exactly what I was getting into when we became a thing. Besides, it's not like I'm gonna attack this time."
Phantom hardly had time to crack a smile before he and Sam were shrouded in a growing shadow behind them. The turned around just in time to see a giant ghost snake open jaw and lunge forward.
*BOOSH*
A dark green fireball blasted the ghost in the head, causing it to recoil back a few feet and shake its head. Danny and Sam looked up and saw Specter floating in the air above them, with one hand held out, covered in green flames.
"Of course my pyrokinesis works now," the young hero muttered as he pulled out his Fenton Thermos and quickly captured the reptilian ghost.
He slowly descended to the ground next to the couple.
"Sorry your guy's night was ruined," he told them, "Guess it's my fault for not telling Danielle to keep her distance when I was sick."
"It's not a problem," Danny told him before glancing back at his girlfriend, "Besides, it's not like our relationship would be without bumps in the road."
Sam just smiled and shook her head.
"How is Danielle doing?" Specter asked, "And before you say anything, one joke about my crush on her, I swear to God, I sill start breaking your fingers."
"She's fine," Danny answered, "She definitely caught your flu, but she's still pretty active."
"Well, it shouldn't be that big of a surprise," Sam stated before smirking, "After all, it was difficult just to get her away from you."
Specter's cheeks flushed as he glared at Sam, but that vanished as soon as he noticed Phantom's injuries had already healed.
"Hmm…" he pondered.
"Is something wrong?" Phantom asked.
"Huh? Oh, it's nothing," Specter replied, "Just remembered something from way back when."
"Hey, guys?" Valerie asked through the Fenton Phones, "We could use some help with this ghost buffalo."
"Bison," Tucker corrected, "It's a bison, Val."
"Val?" Danny mouthed to the others.
Sam smirked while Specter just rolled his eyes.
*Cue Intro*
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Danny Phantom in: Ashes and Ashes (Episode 67)
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It was unusually vacant down in the Fenton Works' Lab. Usually when they weren't out on patrol with their son and his friends, Jack and Maddie Fenton would be working diligently to come up with new ghost hunting equipment.
"Aaah-CHOOO!"
However, due to a certain half-ghost's recent actions, she's found herself bedridden by her foster parents.
"Danielle," Maddie said sternly, "you have to stay in bed."
"I'm fine!" Danielle protested, "It's just a sneeze."
"You are not going anywhere, young lady," Jack ordered as he and his wife continued to battle with the rebellious young girl, "You are sick with the flu and we will not allow you to go out on patrol until you have gotten better!"
"Oh, yeah?" Danielle challenged as a white ring appeared around her body.
The rings went up and down her body, replacing her periwinkle pajamas with her black and white shirt-and-pants set. She then turned intangible and floated away from Jack and Maddie.
"*Cough-cough-ack! COUGH COUGH*"
A sudden coughing fit stopped Dani in her tracks as her lungs try to expel irritants and mucus. In combination with general fatigue and sleepiness, she slowly lowered to the ground just as the white ring appeared around her waist again and she reverted back to human.
"Danielle, please," Maddie asked politely as she walked up to the sick girl, "I understand you want to be out there with Danny and protect everyone… just like him."
"But you need rest," Jack continued putting a hand on Danielle's back once she had calmed down, "If you push yourself, you might end up hurting yourself. Like me this morning, when I tried running down the stairs before my morning coffee."
"Uh, dad? You do that every day," Danielle pointed out as she climbed back into bed.
"Exactly!" Jack said proudly, "And if you don't want to hurt yourself every day you are sick, you must rest."
As Jack stood stoically in the middle of the bedroom, Danielle and Maddie were confused and blinked.
"What your father is trying to say is," Maddie explained, "you can't push yourself too hard without risk of hurting yourself. If you don't rest, you'll only get worse, and it could take much longer for you to recover."
"Fine," Danielle sulked and crossed her arms.
"Besides," Jack added, "if you didn't spend so much time taking care of Trevor when he was sick, you wouldn't be stuck in bed."
"Uuggghhh…" the girl moaned in embarrassment as she hid her rosy cheeks under the covers.
With the two Fentons preoccupied with Danielle's flu, no one would know that the Fenton Ghost Portal had activated from the inside. The doors briefly opened and slammed shut, but not before a rock star ghost stood within the lab.
"Guess he made good on his word," Ember muttered, not expecting to be out of the Ghost Zone, "Time to rock out, I guess."
She turned intangible and flew out of the Fenton Works. A moment later, a pair of ghostly hands slipped between the Portal doors and forced it open.
"Yay! I'm free!" Klemper gleefully exclaimed.
Not far, a ghost bison slumped to the ground just before it was captured and sealed in a Fenton Thermos.
"Phew," the Red Huntress sighed as she capped the Thermos, "Thanks for the help, Phantom."
"No problem, Valerie," Phantom replied, "You and Tucker almost didn't need me."
"I'm not sure if that was a compliment or an insult," Tucker said with suspicion.
"Insult?" Phantom asked, "What do you- huh?"
His eyes caught sight of Ember flying off into the distance.
"Hey, isn't that…?" Sam asked.
"Ember?" Tucker asked, "How'd she get out of the Ghost Zone?"
"If I had to guess, Jack and Maddie were too preoccupied with nursing Danielle to work in the lab and possibly watch the Portal," Specter replied on the Fenton Phone, "Kial mi ne miras? I'll handle this."
(Why am I not surprised?)
"Nah, I'll get her," Phantom smirked as his took to the air and his legs morphed into a tail.
"Phantom, I'm closer," Specter told him, "I'll handle her."
"Alright, alright," the half-ghost conceded, "Sheesh."
"I'll deal with her, then deal with another matter," Specter told him, "Meet up with you guys in a couple of hours."
Danny watched as Ember vanished into the distance and a blue light follow her.
"Hmm…"
Down below, Sam had pulled up with the Fenton RV and joined Tucker, who was calibrating his drone, and the Red Huntress as Danny joined them.
"He's up to something," Danny told them.
"What makes you say that?" Valerie asked, "He's always doing something without us."
"Yeah, but this one feels… different," Danny said as he looked over his shoulder.
"What are you thinking, Danny?" Tucker asked.
"I'm not sure…" he replied as he approached the Fenton RV, "But I'm gonna find out."
"~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~"
A few minutes later, the gang was all piled into the Fenton RV and had just driven passed the city limits. Without the city lights, the only light came from the headlights and various spotlights form the RV.
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Sam asked, briefly glancing off the road towards Danny, "I know since the incident with Plague, Trevor's been-"
"Suspicious?" Valerie interrupted, no longer in her suit.
"I'm with Danny and Valerie on this one, Sam," Tucker added, "Trevor's said he would tell us stuff when he felt ready, but this is something else entirely."
"Actually, I was referring to the fact that we left no one to protect Amity Park," Sam pointed out as she steered the RV around a wide, cliff-side bend.
"This shouldn't take long," Phantom pointed out as he kept his eyes on the radar that pinged two targets, "If he's doing what he's supposed to, then we'll leave him to it. If not…"
Sam sighed.
"I'm not saying you guys are wrong," she told them, "I just hope we aren't making a mistake."
"Look!" Tucker exclaimed, leaning forward in his seat and pointing up in the air, "There's Ember!"
The rockin' ghost appeared to be alone; Specter was nowhere in sight. Just around the bend, a figure stood in the middle of the road. It was at the last possible moment that Phantom noticed the figure when the headlights illuminated them.
"SAM, LOOK OUT!" he shouted.
*SKREEEEEEEETCH*
Sam had slammed on the brakes just in time and the Fenton RV skidded to a halt just inches away from the very irritated individual. The gang peered below the windshield and saw Trevor standing there, arms crossed and eyes burning blue.
"Trevor!?" the gang exclaimed, "What are you doing!?"
"I could be asking you idiots the same thing," he growled as he went ghost.
Danny looked up and watched as Ember glanced back, smirked over her shoulder, and vanish into the night.
"You let her escape!" he yelled at Specter.
"And how did you know we were coming?" Valerie asked.
"First, I was following her to see what she was doing," Specter explained, "Second, I can see your ecto-energy aura. The RV doesn't shield you form my enhanced senses, Phantom."
"Darn it," the halfa muttered, "I should have remembered that."
"Oh, really, ya think?" Tucker smirked.
"You still haven't explained why you are here," Specter snapped as he tapped his foot impatiently.
"Uh, well, we… wanted to give you-" Sam began.
"Shut up, Manson," Specter sighed, "Backup? Really? If you're gonna lie, at least do a decent job at it. I'm not oblivious, I know why you are here."
He uncrossed his arms and floated up to meet them at eye level.
"You're here because you suspect I'm up to something."
"What!?" Phantom exclaimed, "Pffft, no! Really, we were-WHOA!"
Specter turned his right arm intangible, grabbed Phantom by the collar, and pulled him against the windshield.
"Phantom, I'm in no mood for this crap," Specter stated calmly, "I understand you all have suspicions about me, and rightfully so. I would be too in your position. But this is not the time for it. If you don't trust me, which I know you guys don't, then say so."
He released Danny, causing him to fly back into his seat.
"Look, just leave Ember to me and I'll answer one question from each of you, including your parents, Danny, as well as Danielle," Specter offered, "Please, trust me. And do not follow us."
"Us?" Danny asked.
"He means me," Dust said as ecto-energy flowed from underneath Specter's scarf and morphed into a ghost raven on his shoulder, "I'm not sure if my word means anything, but just give us a couple of hours, okay?"
"Hmmm…" Danny pondered, "Any questions at all?"
"Yes," Logan replied.
"Any limits?" Tucker asked.
"Aside from anything involving your futures, no," Dust answered.
"Nothing personal will be held back when asked?" Sam asked.
"Open book," Specter groaned.
"And you swear you will not back out of this deal?" Valerie asked, raising an eyebrow.
"To the day I die," Specter swore, "Now, please, go back and protect Amity Park."
The young halfa's back was barely toward the team for a couple of seconds before he raised a glowing blue hand.
"Sorry," he said before electricity sparked around his fingers.
Phantom raised an eyebrow before he looked down and saw the RV radar was beginning to spark. A small cloud of smoke erupted from the damaged tech, filling the RV and making the gang suffocate a bit.
"What was that for!?" Sam exclaimed as she and Danny rolled down the windows.
"It's not that I don't trust you guys," Specter sighed as he glanced away, "I just don't want you guys getting the urge to go back on the deal. Stay safe."
With that, Specter and Dust flew off into the distance after Ember.
"Valerie?" Danny asked as a white ring appeared around his waist and he turned back into a human, "Did you get a lock on him?"
Valerie smirked and raised her right arm up, revealing a small portion of her suit covering it. Her radar was following a pair of pings that were getting further away from them.
"Yup," she replied, "Specter doesn't even know."
"~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~"
Some time later, Ember was standing outside a music venue, pacing back and forth impatiently.
"What's taking him so long?" she muttered, "I don't even know why I agreed to this stupid idea. Makes me hate him more than dipstick."
"If you think that's something," said a voice behind her, "you should hear yourself in the future."
"Well, it's about time you showed up," said Ember as Specter landed a few feet away, "You ready?"
"Yeah," Specter replied as he pulled out his drumsticks, "Let's get this over with. I've got a bad feeling that my 'offer' fell on deaf ears."
"Great…" Ember hissed as her guitar appeared in her hands.
"Ember! Ember! Ember!"
The siren smiled with pride as her ponytail flames slightly grew.
"It doesn't get any better than this," she sighed, "Look alive, poser! It's showtime. And you owe me."
"'Hmph. Poser', huh?" Specter scoffed as he followed Ember onstage, "Let's get this over with."
"~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~"
The Fenton RV pulled into the parking lot just outside the venue. Ember's name could be heard being chanted.
"That's not good," Sam noted as they all climbed out of the RV.
"If Specter hasn't dealt with her already, then something's wrong," Danny said before he held his arms up, "I'm going ghost!"
"Whoa-whoa-whoa, hold on, dude," Tucker told him, stopping him from transforming, "You know what happened back on the road. If you go ghost, Specter will see you coming. If he's okay."
"Then we'll have to sneak in the old fashion way," Danny sighed, "Valerie, you and Tucker give us cover from the top while Sam and I sneak in from the back."
Your heart, your heart has rendered
Your loss, now bear the shame
Like dead leaves, in cold December
Nothing but ashes remain
"We need to hurry," Danny told the others, "Come on, let's hurry before she becomes too powerful!"
Back on stage, Ember was getting stronger as she wrapped up her song and her ponytail continued to grow. Danny and Sam slowly snuck around the hypnotized guards and made their way backstage. They poked their heads around the corner and were shocked to see Specter performing in Ember's band.
You will remember my name
Yeah! You will remember my name
"WHO DO YOU LOVE!?" Ember shouted into the microphone.
"Ember! Ember! Ember!" the crowd chanted.
"This is really not good," said Danny.
"She must have hypnotized Specter like she did to you when you first fought her," said Sam, "What do we do?"
"It looks like Ember is about to perform another song," Danny observed before glancing up to see Tucker standing behind the Red Huntress on her hoverboard, "No one has noticed us yet. So, we have the element of surprise."
"WHO'S READY FOR SOME MORE!?" Ember shouted.
"We're not!"
"Huh?" Ember exclaimed just as she turned and saw a ghost ray nail her in the face.
"What!?" Specter exclaimed before turning to Phantom and Sam, who lowered her Wrist Ray, "What the hell are you guys doing here!?"
Phantom and Sam didn't respond, and the half-ghost went straight for Ember. Specter glanced up and watched as Tucker's drone and the Red Huntress fire upon the rest of the band. In just a couple of seconds, the bassist ghost and the keyboard ghost vanished in a puff of smoke.
"Stop!" Specter ordered as he pulled out his time medallion, "Dust, stop Sam!"
"On it," Dust replied as she materialized and flew straight at Sam.
Ember shook off the shock and glared at Phantom.
"So, you lied to me, poser!?" she screamed, "First Skulker's been a pain in my butt, now this!? I'll deal with dipstick first."
"Ember, that's not true!" Specter replied as his holographic drums vanished and he stored his drumsticks away, "Phantom, stand down!"
"I won't let you keep control over him!" Danny shouted at Ember, ignoring Specter's words.
"ENOUGH!" Logan shouted as he floated up and telekinetically grabbed Phantom and Ember.
The two foes glared at one another and struggled in the restraints.
"All of you need to stand down!" Specter ordered.
Suddenly, a barrage of blasts from the drone and the Huntress' wrist cannon caused the younger half-ghost to lose concentration, freeing Phantom and Ember. Dust was dodging Sam's blasts from her wrist ray when she saw Specter being pinned down. She turned her attention to Tucker and the Huntress and flew up to engage them.
"Tucker! Valerie! Look out!" Sam shouted and fired her wrist ray at Dust.
Dust didn't even see the attack coming until she was blasted out of the air and fell to the ground.
"Dust!" Specter exclaimed as he fought through the attack.
He pulled out his medallion once more and held it out.
"Dust! Get back in here!" he told her.
Ember was unleashing multiple blasts from her guitar, trying to hit the elusive teen.
"Give it up, Ember," said Phantom, "Your days of singing that garbage are over!"
"Is that so?" Ember smirked, "Then let's see how your vocals are compared to my…
She leaned her head back for a moment for leaning forward.
"SCRRREEEAAAAMMMMM!"
A stream of pink ecto-energy erupted from Ember's mouth, similar to that of Danny's Ghostly Wail. Though not as strong, the attack was enough to stun Phantom and make him cover his ears.
"What is this? Some sort of new attack?" he wondered out loud.
Tucker, Sam, Valerie, and Specter had to cover their ears as well. No one noticed that above Specter, Ember's scream had caused the nuts and bolts of the steel truss to come loose and a large piece of metal with floodlights came down on top of him. Phantom glanced over and saw it in time.
"Specter! Look out!" he exclaimed.
The younger halfa looked up in time and caught the heavy steel with his hands. Unfortunately, one of his hands accidentally caught one of the floodlights, causing it to break and turning his hand into a conduit for the still powered lights. Electricity coursed throughout his body and the time medallion began to glow a bright mint color.
"Huh!?" Ember exclaimed as the light got brighter, "What's he doing!?"
"Specter!" Dust shouted, "The medallion!"
Logan glanced down at the medallion.
"Oh, boy…"
"FRIEND!"
Out of nowhere, Klemper lunged at Specter and gave him a bear hug.
"WHY ARE YOU HERE!?" Specter shouted.
In an instant, the two were engulfed in an auric sphere of light.
"Specter!" Phantom and Ember exclaimed simultaneously and flew into the light.
"Danny, wait!" Sam called out as she followed them.
As soon as they were engulfed, the light disappeared, and there was no trace of the others.
"Danny!? Sam!?" Tucker exclaimed.
"Where are you guys!?" Valerie asked.
"~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~"
Somewhere else, a bright mint light appeared on a rooftop for a moment, where Specter, Klemper, Phantom, Ember, and Sam all erupted, landing on top of one another.
"Well, that was fun," Ember smirked as she and Specter walked out of the pile intangibly.
Danny and Sam sat up, shaking off the minor injuries from the fall. Specter stood over them with frustration.
"What do you want from me?" Specter asked as calmly as possibly, "I offer you guys a free ticket into my personal life, and you still refuse to trust me."
"Hey, it's not as easy as you think when you've killed-" Phantom began as he got to his feet.
"Destroyed," Specter corrected.
"Killed a ghost," Phantom finished as he helped up Sam to her feet.
"A dangerous ghost, Phantom," Specter muttered through gritted teeth before sighing, "You know what, forget it. Let's just find a Ghost Portal and-"
"Um, hello~?" Ember called out, "Mind telling me exactly where we are!?"
Before anyone could answer, Klemper got back up and tackled Specter off the roof and down into the alley below.
"Friend!" the ghost shouted with glee.
"GET OFF ME, KLEMPER!" Specter shouted.
He turned intangible for a moment to escape the ghost's grasp before slamming him on the back of the head with a double axe handle. As Klemper was sent straight to the ground, Specter didn't notice the Orb of Strength falling free from his pocket and landing on a back of trash next to a dumpster. Specter sighed as he floated down next to Klemper, with the others following him down.
"What's he doing here, and where are we?" Ember asked once more.
"Pretty sure he followed you, Ember," Specter muttered as a blue ring appeared around his waist and became human again.
Sam glanced out of the alley and looked around.
"Uh, guys?" she called out, "You should see this."
A white ring appeared around Phantom's waist as he changed back into Fenton and led the others to Sam. The looked around and saw people wearing vintage clothing, leisure suits, disco attire; women wearing tube tops, sundresses and T-shirts, low-cut skirts, and jumpsuits. There were a few goths sticking together by a drugstore as well.
"Can someone care to explain why everyone is dressed like it's the 80s!?" Ember demanded to know.
"Ember… I think it is the 80s," Danny replied, "We've gone back in time!"
"~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~"
*Cough cough*
"Don't worry, sweetie," Maddie told Danielle as she handed the girl another box of tissues, "The soup will be ready soon."
"Thanks, mom," Danielle sniffled as she took the new box and tossed the empty one into the pile of other empty boxes.
A sudden coughing fit made Maddie concerned.
"Danielle, have you taken any cough medicine?" she asked.
"We have medicine?" Danielle asked, "I thought that was just stuff doctors and scientists use at hospitals."
"No, don't be ridiculous," Maddie chuckled as she went into the connected bathroom, "I believe Jazz left all the basic stuff behind when she left for college."
She opened the cabinets and rummaged through a few medical supplies but couldn't find any cough medicine.
"That's strange…" Maddie thought out loud, "I could have sworn there was a partially filled bottle of liquid cough syrup in here after Jazz left."
"Wait, cough syrup?" Danielle asked, "I thought it was syrup for pancakes."
"What!?" Maddie exclaimed, "Ooohhhh… That would explain why your plate smelled like grape flavor the last time I made pancakes."
"Sorry," Danielle smiled innocently before blowing her nose into a tissue.
"It's okay, I'll have Danny pick some up from the drugstore," Maddie told her as she pulled out her cellphone.
She dialed her son's number and waited for him to answer. She was a bit surprised that it went straight to voicemail and tried calling him again.
"That's odd. Danny's phone never goes straight to voicemail," she muttered, "Maybe one of his friends can tell him."
"~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~"
Not a trace of Danny or anyone else engulfed in the time portal was left on the stage where Tucker and the Red Huntress rushed over to.
"Danny!? Sam!?" Tucker exclaimed into his Fenton Phone, "Can anyone hear me!?"
"It's no use," Dust muttered as she perched herself on the microphone onstage, "They're not here."
"What? Do you know where they are?" the Huntress asked, glaring at the ghost raven, "You're the one with the psychic link with that weakling?"
"Weakling, huh?" Dust replied, "He's been called worse."
"Dust!" Tucker exclaimed, instantly rushing over and pushing his face too close for Dust's comfort, and too close to the mic, "Do you know where they are!? Tell me! TELL ME!"
Everyone covered their ears for the sake of not going deaf from Tucker's poor vocals and booed.
"When will you learn?" Valerie asked as she grabbed Tucker and pulled him away from the mic, "Dust, do you know where they are or not?"
"You're only asking half the question," Dust replied, "Here's a hint: I can't telepathically communicate or sense Specter."
"What does that mean!?" Tucker exclaimed.
Suddenly, Tucker's cellphone began to ring and Tucker scrambled to answer it.
"Sam!? Are you guys okay!? Where are you!?" he asked.
"$20 says he didn't even bother seeing the caller ID," the Huntress smirked to Dust.
"Even if I did have any money, I wouldn't take that bet," Dust replied monotonously.
"Sam? Tucker, this is Mrs. Fenton," Tucker heard on the other end.
"Oh, heeeeyyyy…. Mrs. Fenton," he replied nervously, "Sorry, I, uh…. Danny and Sam accidentally tripped over each other just as I was answering the phone."
The Red Huntress and Dust shook their heads at Tucker's hopelessness.
"I see…" said Maddie, "Could you be a dear and tell Daniel to pick up some cough syrup for Danielle. We seem to run out and her cough is getting pretty bad."
"Um, sure, no problem," Tucker chuckled nervously.
"I know he's busy patrolling, but if he finds the time-"
"He will!" Tucker interrupted, "Don't you worry, Mrs. Fenton. He'll get it done."
"Thank you, Tucker," said Maddie, "Oh, and before I forget, I will be catching up with the rest of you in about an hour. Stay safe!"
"Wait, WHAT!?" Tucker exclaimed just as Maddie hung up, leaving him frozen in place.
"What's wrong, Tucker?" Valerie smirked, "Realized that you dug your own grave?"
"No…. worse…" he squealed, "I dug both our graves… Mrs. Fenton is joining us in an hour."
The Red Huntress' eyes widened as she realized what that meant.
"Guys, I know where-" Dust began.
"DANNY!? SAM!?" Valerie shouted into the Fenton Phones.
"SOMEONE! PLEASE, PICK UP!" Tucker wailed.
"Ugh… how does Specter deal with these idiots?" Dust muttered to herself.
"~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~"
Danny poked his head out from around the corner of a building and peered around him. He was no longer in ghost form as he looked at the people around town.
"Kion vi faras!? Nur moviĝu, imitaĵo!" Trevor snapped, shoving Danny forward.
(What are you doing!? Just move, dummy!)
"Hey! Watch it!" Danny exclaimed, much to Ember's amusement.
"Just stay close and avoid as much contact with people as possible," Trevor ordered as he, Sam, Ember, and Klemper followed Danny, "And Klemper, will you just walk, already!? We don't need people to notice a ghost is here."
"But what if they-"
"They don't wanna be your friend," Trevor sighed as he growled in annoyance.
"BUT I WANNA BE THEIR FRIE- *MMRRPH*
Danny glanced over his shoulder and fired cyro-beams out of his eyes and froze Klemper's mouth shut.
"Thank you," Trevor and Ember sighed in relief.
"What do you two have to be relieved about?" Sam asked, "It's your faults that we are here."
Trevor took a deep breath and sighed.
"Sam, you are so lucky we can't make a scene right now," he explained calmly.
"Yeah, whatever," Sam muttered, "Speaking of 'here'…"
She stopped by a smartly dressed man and tapped him on the shoulder.
"Uh, excuse me, sir?" she asked, "Sorry to intrude, but my friends and I are wondering-"
"Sam!" Danny and Trevor hissed as they both covered her mouth and pulled her away.
"Uh, sorry," Trevor told the confused man, "She's just trying to pull a prank on us."
Sam glared at the two boys as she was led away.
"What was that for?" she asked as soon as her mouth was no longer covered.
"Uh, Sam? Have you ever heard of the butterfly effect?" Trevor asked, "You know, chaos theory? Changing things in the past-"
"Yeah, yeah, and changing the future," Sam remarked sarcastically, "Can't Clockwork just fix anything we may, or may not, accidentally alter?"
"She does have a point, Trevor," said Danny, "I mean… he's done it for me before."
"You mean when you had to find a cure for the ecto-acne when Tucker and Sam were infected thanks to Plasmius?" Trevor asked, "Yeah, that was your freebie, as you told me." *
"To be fair it was Ember's fault this happened," Sam stated, glaring at the ghost in question.
"Hey, I didn't do anything wrong!" Ember exclaimed, "If it's anyone's fault, it's you and your friends, bimbette!" **
"You hypnotized Trevor, McLame!" Danny interjected, irritated that Ember was insulting his girlfriend.
"You ruined my concert, dipstick!" Ember shouted back.
Suddenly, a blue aura appeared around each of their heads before they were forcefully pulled against the wall of the building next to them.
"Enough," Trevor hissed over his shoulder as he lowered his hand, "You're all making a scene. Clockwork might be able to help us, if we can find a ghost portal."
"Might?" Danny asked, rubbing his head.
"There's nothing in Clockwork's job description that states he must reverse all changes made in the past," said Trevor, "He might give us a break since this was entirely an accident."
Ember glanced over and saw something that almost made her eyes bulge.
"Well, you know where all the portals are," said Sam, "Where's the closest one?"
"Oh, gee, I appear to have left my time-space locator back in my timeline," Trevor dryly joked before growling through his teeth, "It's a shame I don't the exact date we went back in time to."
"Oh, gee, let me help you with that!" Sam snapped before snatching a newspaper out of a woman's hand and handing it to Trevor.
"Hey!" the woman exclaimed.
"Sorry," Trevor told her as he quickly checked the date and handed back her newspaper, "She's in a bad mood. It's that time of the month."
Sam's eyes burned with intent to kill.
"Sam, hold off on that anger until after we get back home," Trevor said behind his back.
"Uh, Trevor?" Danny asked nervously.
"I swear to God, it had better not be that time of the month for her," Trevor muttered.
"No, I mean do you know where Ember went?" Danny asked.
"Hm!?" Klemper exclaimed as the ice around his mouth began to crack.
"Oh, this is gonna be just peachy," Trevor said before smacking his lips a couple of times.
"FRIEND!?" Klemper cried out as the ice shattered and he flew away.
"Just what we need," Danny sighed, "Alright, Trevor, see if Clockwork can help us out. Sam and I-"
"Might not matter," Trevor sighed, "We need to find Ember and Klemper before they do God knows how much damage to the timeline."
"Can't Clockwork-" Danny began.
"Why does everyone have to rely on Clockwork?" Trevor groaned, "Let's assume the worst and find those two."
"But where do we even look?" Danny asked.
"Start here," Trevor replied dryly as he nodded over to the other side of the street.
Danny and Sam followed his line of sight and their jaws dropped. They saw a teenage girl who walking down the street, wearing a black choker around her neck, a black one-shouldered crop-top, an upper arm-length black glove on her right arm, a black bracelet around her left arm, a pair of black leather pants, and skull boots. Her skin was a lively peach color, and her hair was dyed black with some of her natural blonde color appearing around the ears.
"Ember!?" Danny and Sam gasped.
"~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~"
Tucker was driving the Fenton RV back to Amity Park while Valerie did her best to repair the damage Specter did earlier. Both were listening to Dust explain the situation.
"So, Danny and Sam went into a time portal with the others?" Tucker asked.
"Yes," Dust sighed, "When and where, I have no clue. My psychic link with Specter has been severed since we are no longer in the same point in time."
"Is there any way we can get them back?" Valerie asked.
"Unless Clockwork is in a giving mood, no," Dust replied as she ruffled her feathers, "We'll just have to wait."
"If they did go back in time, wouldn't they have already returned back to the same point they left?" Tucker asked.
"Do you really want a four-hour lecture on temporal physics?" Dust asked.
"Yes, please," Tucker beamed.
Dust stared in disbelief for a few seconds.
"Exactly, what do you see in him?" she asked Valerie.
"What?" Tucker and Valerie asked, both not paying attention.
"Oh, jeez, no wonder Specter is always in a bad mood," Dust muttered to herself, "You guys do realize you only have about half an hour before Maddie joins us and finds out the others aren't with us."
"Relax, Dust," Tucker smirked, "Knowing Danny, he and the others will show up at the last second and everything will be fine."
"You sure about that, Foley?" Valerie smirked as she closed the electrical panel, "Ok, got the scanner repaired."
"You sure?" Tucker asked, glancing at the screen, "It says that there's a ghost right in front of- WHOA!"
In the middle of the road was a large, green and black-striped ghost tiger, eyeing them down. Tucker swerved around the ghost before it chased after them.
"Who taught you and Sam how to drive!?" Dust shouted.
"I'll handle this one!" Valerie announced as she mentally summoned her armor, "We'll meet back up in town."
"Okay," Tucker replied, "Stay safe, Val!"
The Red Huntress leapt out the side door as she summoned her hoverboard and flew towards the ghost tiger. Dust morphed into her true form beside Tucker and closed the door.
"Now what?" she asked.
"Not much we can do, I guess," Tucker admitted, "We'll just have to patrol without the others and hope Maddie doesn't find out before they get back."
He glanced over and noticed Dust was sitting practically motionless as he slowly reached over towards the radio controls.
"Don't even think about it," Dust said monotonously.
"~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~"
Danny, Sam, and Trevor carefully followed past Ember from a few feet away.
"This is so… bizarre!" said Danny, "I never thought Ember had a life before."
"You're joking, right?" Trevor scoffed, "Didn't you know that a number of ghosts were living people at one point?"
"We were more focused on what they were doing and planning at the time," Danny replied.
"Do you guys hear that?" Sam asked.
Danny listened carefully and could faintly hear humming coming from Ember.
"What is that?" Danny asked, "It sounds… familiar."
"Focus, you two!" Trevor hissed, "We need to find Ember- our Ember, and head back to your present."
"And how would following living Ember help?" Danny asked, glancing over his shoulder.
"Wow, you really don't know anything, do you?" Trevor asked.
"Oh, yeah? And what do you know about Ember?" Sam challenged.
Danny followed Ember around a corner but wasn't paying attention and bumped into someone. Sam bumped into Danny, followed by Trevor bumping into Sam and falling on his rear. A yellow sphere fell out of his pocket and began rolling down the street gutter, without anyone noticing.
"Watch it, punk."
"S-sorry!" Danny stammered as Sam helped Trevor up to his feet.
Danny looked up and saw he was standing before a tall teenager with a black rock star mullet wearing a leather jacket with spikes, a white T-shirt, jeans, and black steel-tipped boots with spikes. He also had mascara around his eyes.
"Oh, you will be sorry!" the teen shouted.
"Derek!"
Everyone looked over and saw past Ember rushing over.
"Oh, great," the teen muttered, "Ember, baby! What took ya?"
"Sorry, I must have walked right past you," Ember blushed nervously, "Who are these babypops?"
"Uh, n-no one," Danny replied, "We were just on our way-"
"They got in my way and almost ruined my jacket," Derek grumbled.
"Oh, poor Derek Powers," Ember teased, "Your jacket is flawless." ***
"Derek Powers?" Sam asked with great interest, "As in Derek 'The Almighty' Powers?"
"The Almighty?" Derek asked, "Hmm…. That's got a nice ring to it."
"I can't believe I'm talking to one of the most famous rock stars of the 80s," Sam said to herself, "'Rise Up', 'Challenge Your Oppressors'- *Gasp* 'Bleeding Poison'!"
"What is she talking about?" Ember asked.
"Manson!" Trevor hissed, giving her a look.
"Sorry," she conceited, "Just, uh, excited to see a show later with my boyfriend."
"Yeah…" Danny played along, "And, uh, sorry for bumping into you."
"Whatever," Derek replied, rolling his eyes, "You two and the airhead can leave now."
"A what?" Sam asked, glaring at the teen.
"He's calling you an idiot," Trevor explained, "Or at least pretending to be stupid to impress a guy."
"Like I care," Sam shrugged.
"Come on, let's get out of here," Danny told them, "We've got better things to do rather than talk to losers like him."
Derek stepped in front of Danny, preventing any of them from leaving.
"What did you just call me!?" he shouted.
"Awww, teen love!" Ember teased, "And they say it never lasts." ****
"What did I ever do to deserve this?" Trevor muttered to himself as he shoved his hands into his pockets.
His eyes suddenly widened as he realized something was missing.
"Uh, excuse us for a moment," he said as he pulled Danny and Sam aside, "We're in deep shit."
"What did we do now?" Danny asked, slightly annoyed.
"No, this one is a hundred percent on me," Trevor sighed, "I lost the Orb of Strength."
"You're joking," said Sam.
"I really wish I was," Trevor replied, slightly anxious, "Look, I'm gonna go backtrack and see if it fell out somewhere around town after we arrived. You two stay with Ember and keep an eye out for… Ember…"
He was expecting Danny and Sam to show any signs of amusement, but they remained serious.
"No objections?" he asked.
The two teens shook their heads.
"Good," he replied, "If I don't catch up in the next hour, Danny, I'll need you to go ghost so I can find you guys."
"Should we stay with her or close to her?" Sam asked.
"No interactions with anyone," Trevor said sternly, "And do. Not. Lose. Her. Got it?"
Danny and Sam nodded.
"Good," said Trevor before he turned around and began backtracking.
"Where's the runt headin'?" Derek asked.
"None of your business," Danny retorted.
"Whatever," Derek scoffed, "C'mon, babe, let's ditch this joint."
"Oh, and where are you going?" Danny smirked, crossing his arms.
"He's taking me to see a movie," Ember replied.
"Hey!" Derek snapped, "That's none of their business!"
Ember was a little hurt from that treatment.
"Sorry…" she said.
"Let's just go," Derek grumbled as he pushed past Danny, with Ember in tow.
"Sheesh, some idol he was back then," Sam huffed with her hands on her hips, "He was always known for being a gentleman in his past relationships."
"Think we altered time somehow?" Danny asked.
"I don't know," Sam replied, "We should focus on following Ember. C'mon."
Just as they were about to follow Ember and Derek, Danny's ghost sense went off.
"Ghost sense?" he asked himself, looking around for the ghost in question, "From where?"
"Danny, let's go," said Sam, "Last thing we need is to make Trevor angry."
"Uh, yeah…. Right…." Danny replied.
He hesitated for a moment before following Sam. A moment later, Ember rose from the ground and turned tangible. She had a stern frown on her face as she followed the half-ghost and his girlfriend.
"~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~"
The ghost tiger fell to the ground, crashing into the empty parking lot of the movie theater. It laid motionless as the Red Huntress aimed her Fenton Thermos at the ghost to capture it.
"There," she sighed, "Another ghost dealt with."
Tucker and Dust pulled up in the Fenton RV behind her.
"You good, Val?" Tucker asked, poking his head out the window.
"Yeah, nothing I couldn't handle," she relied, "Any word from the others?"
"Not yet," Tucker replied, "Maybe they're fine and we are worrying about nothing."
"What's there not to be worried about?" a voice asked.
Tucker's eyes widened before he slowly turned his head around and saw Maddie Fenton approaching, Fenton Bazooka against her shoulder.
"Uuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhh, hi, Mrs. Fenton," he smiled nervously, "How, uh, how did you get here so quickly?"
"I have my ways," Maddie replied as she approached.
"You took a taxi," the Red Huntress smirked.
"I took a taxi," Maddie admitted, "You haven't answered my question. What is there not to be worried about?"
"Oh, nothing, just- uhhhh…"
Tucker couldn't come up with anything and turned to Valerie to help him.
"Well, you see…" she began, "We haven't… mmmm…"
Dust rolled her eyes as she morphed into her raven form and flew out the window Tucker had his head out.
"There's nothing to be concerned about, Mrs. Fenton," she assured her, "Logan is with Danny and Sam, dealing with Ember and Klemper. Contacting them would distract them from their task."
"Well, I'm sure they can handle it," Maddie pondered, "But Danny's my son and I want to be there to back him up."
"I understand that," Dust sighed, "but Logan was adamant about-"
"HROOOOOOAAAAARRRRRR!"
Everyone turned towards the direction the loud animal roar came from and saw an 8-foot ghost with the body of a large, muscular man and the head of a bull with long horns and a large, gold ring from the ear, and a giant battle axe in its hands.
"What is that!?" Tucker exclaimed.
"It's a minotaur," the Red Huntress replied, not believing what she was seeing, "But I thought it was just a Greek myth."
"No…" Maddie said grimly as she aimed her weapon, "A ghost."
The minotaur bellowed loudly into the night and charged forward; axe ready for battle.
"First I'll deal with you," said Maddie, "Then I will look for my son."
"~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~"
Back in the past, Klemper was flying around, being the usual pest that he was. He floated over to a smartly dressed man and tapped him on the shoulder.
"Will you be my friend?" Klemper asked him politely.
"Get away from me, weirdo," the man grumbled and walked away.
Klemper turned his attention to a pair of goth girls and floated over to them.
"Will you be my friend?" he asked them.
They didn't respond nor show any other signs of acknowledging him. Klemper scratched his head in confusion.
"Will you be my friend?" he asked again.
He received no change in response. He then floated directly in front of them so they would see him.
"Will you be my friend?" he asked them directly.
The teens didn't even blink. Klemper pouted and floated away down the sidewalk.
"… Was that a ghost?" one girl asked.
"I think so," her friend replied.
"… Cool."
Klemper sighed as he wandered through the town.
"Nobody wants to be my friend," he whined, "I wish someone would be my friend… Like Phantom! He has ice powers like me! Or Ember! She's so cool with her fire hair.
Out of the corner of his eyes, Klemper saw a yellow shimmer from the street gutter. He glanced over and saw that the light was coming from under some dead leaves. He reached down and picked up for a closer look.
"Ooh… shiny pretty rock," Klemper giggled childishly as he pressed it against his cheek.
The Orb of Strength began to glow a bright yellow as it surrounded Klemper in an aura of the same color. The ghost stared into the Orb's glow as his eyes turned completely bright yellow. Nearby, Trevor was pushing passed pedestrians as his eyes darted everywhere along the ground for signs of the Orb of Strength.
"I'm gonna kill Reaper," he muttered under his breath, "I'll capture him, make sure he's in prison, then break in and KILL HIM."
He paused for a moment in front of a convenience store, leaning against the brick wall to calm himself down.
"Why am I the one who has to do all this?" he wondered out loud, "Haven't I done enough?"
Suddenly, people began to scream and run down the street.
"Run! It's a monster!" someone cried out.
"Monster?" Trevor wondered, "Oh, don't tell me…"
*FZZZZZZZT*
A beam of ice traced down the street, freezing everyone in its path. Trevor was also trapped in a layer of ice. His eyes narrowed as a blue ring appeared around his waist and the ice around him melted and evaporated.
"Clockwork, now would be a great time to send us all back," Specter growled, turning around to face his foe as the area around him was blanketed in shadow.
A yellow-eyed Klemper towered over the young halfa; ice sheets covering his knees, elbows, shoulders, and knuckles.
"EEMMMMMBEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRR!" he bellowed into the air.
"~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~"
A few miles away, past Ember and Derek were lounging around at a record store, browsing through the vinyl records, most of which would be considered tasteless and oppressive by their culture.
"Ugh," Ember grimaced, "World peace? Yeah, right."
"Uh huh, yeah, whatever," Derek yawned as he stretched his arms out.
Ember looked out the window and saw the sun was slowly moving down.
"It's gonna start getting late soon," she pointed out.
Peaking from behind a stand of records, Danny and Sam kept their eyes on Ember.
"Anything?" Sam asked.
"Nothing," Danny sighed, "This is pointless."
Sam raised an eyebrow.
"I mean, why follower this Ember? Shouldn't we be looking for our Ember?" Danny asked.
"You're not wrong," said Sam, "But you heard Trevor, we can't lose sight of her."
"But why?" Danny asked, "What does Ember's past self have to do with anything?"
Sam thought about it for a moment.
"You have a point, Danny," she replied, "Either Trevor knows something we don't, or he's up to something."
"And I think we should find out what that something is," Danny growled, "C'mon, let's find Trevor and get some answers. I think we've earned it."
The two teens made their way out of the store and went off to catch up with Trevor. Just as they were out of sight, Ember glanced out the window again, wondering what it was she saw out of the corner of her eye. She shrugged and turned her attention back to the record she was holding as she began to hum and sing.
It was, it was September
Winds blow, the dead leaves fall
To you, I did surrender
Outside, Danny heard the singing and stopped for a moment. Ember paused and contemplated what would be next. When Danny heard no more singing, he shrugged and caught up with Sam.
"That song… it sounds familiar…" he said to himself.
"Hmm…" Ember muttered, "I just can't think of what would be next."
"Hey, keep at it, babe," Derek smiled to her, "You'll get something down."
Ember blushed at the comment.
"Derek!"
The two teens turned to the entrance to see a young rocking looking teen hop out of a black truck and barge inside.
"Derek, we've been lookin' everywhere for you," he told him, "Did you forget that we were getting tatted tonight?"
"Damn it," Derek facepalmed.
"You're getting inked?" Ember asked, "But… you said you were free tonight to go to the movies."
"Uhhh…. Yeah, sorry, babe," Derek chuckled nervously, "Musta slipped my mind when you asked."
"Oh…" Ember replied as her face fell.
Derek felt a pang of guilt and sighed.
"Hey, it shouldn't take long," he reassured her, "I'm only getting a small one on my calf. Shouldn't take any longer than an hour, I promise."
Ember seemed to cheer up a bit.
"As soon as I'm done, I'll head straight to the movie theater and meet you there," Derek told her.
"Okay, if you say so," Ember smiled as Derek followed his friend to the truck, "And it better look cool!"
Derek hopped in and smiled back at her through the window. As Ember watched them drive off down the street, her face slightly fell, and she sighed. A moment passed before she shook her head and cleared her mind.
"If he says he'll meet me at the theater, then that's what'll happen."
She put the record down on top of the neatly filed ones and left the store.
"You wish that's what will happen."
Ghost Ember rose from the ground and made herself visible; her eyes burned with hatred as she walked out the store and watched the black truck disappear into the distance.
"~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~"
In the present, the ghost minotaur ran like its existence depended on it, but it wasn't fast enough to escape the grasp of the Fenton Thermos. It struggled against the beam before it was overwhelmed and pulled inside.
"Gotcha!" Maddie smiled as she slapped the cap on.
Tucker and the Red Huntress were inside the Fenton RV, trying their best to come up with some way for Maddie not to know about the others disappearing.
"We are so dead," Tucker squealed, "Once she finds out-"
"Focus, Foley!" Valerie hissed, "Maybe it won't be so bad if we tell her."
"Val…" Tucker deadpanned, "Sam and I have seen what she's capable of. You don't wanna know."
"I think-"
"No, Val," Tucker interrupted, "You really don't wanna know."
Suddenly, the door opened, and Maddie tossed the Thermos to Tucker.
"Buckle up, you two," she told them, "Dust knows where we can meet up with Danny and the others."
Dust flew through the open window and perched on the driver's seat.
"You do?" Valerie asked.
Dust spun her head around and shook it 'no'. Tucker opened his mouth the ask.
"Stalling," she whispered to them.
"We're doomed," Tucker sighed, leaning his head back in his seat.
"If Mrs. Fenton is that bad," the Red Huntress said to Tucker, "how bad are Sam's parents?"
Tucker's eye twitched.
"~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~"
Back in the past, Danny and Sam were backtracking in order to catch up with Trevor.
"Hey…" said Sam.
"Yeah?" Danny replied.
"Do you think Trevor will actually give us straight answers?" she asked.
"He's not gonna have a choice," Danny replied, "He's been here for months now, and he hasn't told us squat."
"And if we are wrong and he hasn't been planning to stab us in the back?" Sam asked.
Before Danny could answer, a mod of scared and screaming people rushed by them. They stared at each other for a moment before sprinting in the opposite direction. Up ahead, Specter had the Ethereal Shield on his right arm, blocking and deflecting Klemper's swipes with two large icicle blades from his wrists. The younger half-ghost fell onto his back and blocked both blades that were jabbed directly at his head.
"Klemper!?" Danny exclaimed, getting their attention, "But how-"
"Less talking, more fighting!" Specter shouted, firing a ghost ray from his left hand.
Klemper screamed in pain as the attack hit him in the face, freeing Specter from his grasp.
"I'm going ghost!" Danny shouted, raising his arms in the air as a white ring appeared around his waist.
The rings went up and down his body, changing him into Danny Phantom. He launched himself into the air and threw a fist at Klemper's head.
*WHAM*
Klemper stumbled back a couple steps before falling flat on his back.
"What the hell are you two doing here!?" Logan shouted.
"Hey, you're welcome for the backup," Sam said half-heartedly as she reached behind her back for a weapon, "Huh!?"
"Pretty sure you left them back in your timeline, Manson!" Specter shouted to her just before he and Phantom were towered by a dark figure.
They turned on looked up.
"Oh, great," Specter muttered as Klemper slammed his fists on top of them.
"I take it he has the Orb?" Danny asked as he and Logan intangibly flew around Klemper, completely unharmed, and fired a pair of ghost rays at his back.
"Yeah, I take full responsibility for that one," Specter replied, "You didn't answer my question, why are you here!?"
"No, you tell us what's going on," Danny demanded to know, "We've been doing what you wanted for months now. We deserve some answers."
"Look out!" Sam warned.
Specter formed a dark green fireball in each hand and heaved them down towards Klemper just as the giant ghost threw a huge icicle at them. The first fireball impacted the icicle, shattering it into harmless shards of ice, while the second one went straight for Klemper. The ghost held up his arms to block the attack. The fireball exploded on contact, melting the icicle blades into a puddle of water on the ground below.
"Tell me something I don't know," Specter growled, "Where's Ember?"
"No, you answer our questions first!" Sam countered.
"You are not doing this right now!" Specter exclaimed.
"Look, we need to know what you are hiding-" Phantom began.
"You are actually doing this right now…" Specter said in disbelief.
"EEMMMMBEEEEERRRRRRR!" Klemper bellowed into the air.
"Fine! Tell you what! You tell me where you last saw Ember and deal with Klemper, I will tell you guys everything. No secrets. Nothing will be withheld, alright!?" Specter offered.
Phantom glanced down to Sam, who took shelter behind a mailbox. She glanced up for a moment and nodded.
"Alright, fine!" Phantom accepted, "We last saw Ember leaving the record store after Derek left her to get a tattoo."
"Wait, they aren't together!?" Specter exclaimed, "God, I'm gonna strangle you two when we get back!"
Before Phantom could ask, Specter blinked away, leaving Phantom to deal with Klemper on his own.
"~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~"
"I'm telling you, Mrs. Fenton, Danny will be here any minute," Dust insisted.
Maddie was leaning against the Fenton RV, arms crossed and getting impatient.
"We've waited for nearly half an hour!" she pointed out, "It's nearly 2 in the morning!"
"Danny is like that sometimes," Valerie pointed out, "He'll say something like 'just 15 minutes' and be like an hour late."
"Yeah, or another ghost will attack him on the way here sometimes," Tucker added.
"What!?" Maddie exclaimed.
"Nice going, Tucker," Dust growled in annoyance.
"~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~"
Derek and his pals hopped out of the black truck and walked up to a house, where a party was clearly being held. The sun had already been long gone by the time they arrived.
"Finally," he sighed, "Thought I'd never get away from her."
They all went inside as Ember floated down and landed before the door.
"This doesn't look like a tattoo parlor, you little turd," she growled, "Who are you meeting here?"
She turned intangible and went through the wall. Inside, teenagers were partying, smoking tobacco and marijuana, and drinking what was most likely spiked punch. Some were enjoying the music, others were either passed out, intoxicated, or making out with someone. One couple even stumbled into a nearby bedroom. But Ember didn't care for any of that. She had one person in her crosshairs. She followed him into the kitchen, where she stopped dead in her tracks and felt her hatred turn into betrayal.
"Took your damn time, Derek," a teen with dark purple hair told him before putting her arms around his neck.
"Yeah, sorry… had to, uh, lose unnecessary baggage," he replied before pressing his lips against hers.
Ember balled her hands into fists and threw herself towards her past "boyfriend". Instead of grabbing onto him to tear him to shreds, she found herself face down in the grass and nothing in her grasp.
"You little shit!" she shrieked as she whirled around to face Specter.
"You're welcome," he replied, "If I hadn't gotten us out of there-"
"You ruined everything!" Ember cried out as the flames of her hair grew and shot fire at him.
Specter rolled out of the way and returned fire with a ghost ray.
"Ember, enough!" he ordered her, "You can't just change the past!"
"I had one shot at finding out the truth-"
"And, excuse the cliché, it sucks, doesn't it?" Specter asked, sounding sympathetic, "Look, assuming you did do it, I could just have Clockwork return everything as it should have been."
"You're an idiot!" Ember spat out, summoning her guitar and flying her fingers across the strings.
*BUURRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR*
The shockwave sent Specter flying and landing against the wall of the house. He fell and landed on his hands and knees.
"Stay out of this, dipshit," Ember growled, "I'm gonna show them all what happens when people betray me."
Specter coughed and wheezed for a moment as Ember went intangible and entered the house again. She found herself in the kitchen again as her guitar vanished and she stormed straight at Derek and his other girlfriend. Logan shook off the discomfort and quickly followed Ember inside.
"Aw, crap," he muttered as he watched Ember overshadow Derek's girlfriend.
Her eyes turned green, and a malicious smile formed on her face.
"~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~"
Sam ran down the street as Klemper stomped his way through the town, freezing everything in his path. Phantom quickly flies down and picks her up bridal style before she could get caught in the freeze ray.
"This is crazy!" Danny exclaimed, "I've thrown everything at him, short of the Ghostly Wail, and nothing even slows him down!"
He stops atop of a building and sets Sam down.
"You don't have a choice, Danny," Sam told him, "Look! He's heading for a water treatment plant! If he freezes all the water, there will be no water supply in the area for who knows how long!"
Danny glared at the ghost and darted through the air to get ahead. He stopped a couple dozen feet ahead and stared at him.
"Here goes nothing," he said to himself and took a deep breath.
*Whoo-oo-OO-OO-OO-oo-oo-oo-OO-OO~*
Phantom unleashed his Ghostly Wail against Klemper, pummeling the ghost with waves of ecto-energy. Unfortunately, it was nothing more than a mere bump in the road to Klemper as he simple walked up and smacked Phantom down to the street. The hero tumbled along the ground a few feet before stopping on his stomach. Klemper reached down to pick him up but was interrupted by a brick thrown at his head. He turned to see Sam smirking at him, another brick in her hand being tossed up and down. She turned around the rushed for the fire escape that led from the roof to the streets.
*THUD*
A tall wall of ice blocked her way, trapping her on the corner of the roof. Klemper stood over her as she slowly turned around and watched icy blue ecto-energy began to charge in Klemper's mouth. Down on the streets, Phantom picked himself up and looked up in time to see Klemper prepare to blast Sam with an ice beam.
"No!" he exclaimed just as Klemper fired.
Sam shielded her face with her hands, waiting to be encased in ice. But it never happened. She opened one eye and saw Danny standing before her. He was holding out his left hand, absorbing the ice attack into his body.
"Cutting it close there, huh, Danny?" Sam smirked.
"I… huh?" Phantom wondered, "How…?"
Klemper glared at Danny and increased the power of the ice beam. Danny strained himself as he absorbed more and more energy.
"Klemper, that's enough!" he shouted, "What's wrong with you!?"
But the ghost didn't respond.
"He's not gonna listen, Danny!" Sam shouted, "The Orb must have done something to his mind."
"Just like Trevor warned us about…" Phantom noted, "Well, if he won't listen to reason…"
His right hand formed a ball of icy blue ecto-energy.
"… then maybe he'll listen by force," he finished.
He held out his right hand and unleashed an ice beam of own, exponentially more powerful than what Klemper was dealing out. Phantom's attack overwhelmed Klemper's and blasted into him. After a few seconds, Phantom had managed to redirect all the energy he absorbed and Klemper was trapped in ice.
"Nice work, Danny," Sam told him, giving him a playful punch in the arm.
"Yeah," Phantom replied, taking a quick breather.
Sam looked up and saw something glowing from Klemper's frozen fist.
"What's that?" she asked, pointing towards it.
Phantom flew up to the fist and glanced at it. He turned his hand intangible and reached inside. When he pulled it back out, his fist turned tangible again and inside was the Orb of Strength. Klemper's body began to shake, causing cracks to form on the ice and break off. Klemper began to shrink as the ice crumbled around him. Soon, he was lying on the ground, unconscious, and ice everywhere began to instantly melt and vanish. Phantom carried Sam down to the street level, where she pulls out a Fenton Thermos and captures Klemper.
"Now that Klemper's been dealt with, we should probably go find Trevor, huh?" Sam asked.
"Yeah," Danny sighed, "You know, after seeing what the Orbs have done to you and Klemper, I'm starting to think that Trevor might have been hiding stuff from us for the right reasons."
"I wouldn't say everything," Sam pointed out, "But you're right."
"Come on," said Phantom, as he picked Sam up bridal style once more, "Let's see if we can help him find Ember."
And with that, the two teens took off into the sky, looking for Trevor and Ember.
"~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~"
Ember strolled over towards Derek as Specter quickly blinked over and blocked the way.
"Ember, get out of her body," he growled.
"Or what?" she asked, "You gonna force me to?"
Specter glared at her as he turned intangible and overshadowed Derek, turning his eyes blue.
"Hey, no fair!" Ember exclaimed.
"Enough, Ember!" Specter told her, "This has to end! There's nothing that can be done to fix this!"
"There's always something that can be done!" Ember shouted.
"Oh, yeah!?" Specter scoffed, "Like what? An apology? Revenge? Ending his life!?"
"AN EXPLANATION WOULD BE NICE!" Ember screamed.
Silence fell on the two, with on the sounds of music and party people being heard in the background.
"… is that all?" Specter asked calmly, breaking the silence after a moment.
"For now," Ember muttered, glancing away as she crossed her arms.
"Very well," Specter sighed, "But don't you dare lay a finger on him."
His eyes glowed brighter for a moment before Specter left Derek's body and turned invisible.
"Ugh, my head…" Derek muttered, "I'm sorry, what did you ask me again babe? Something about why I ditched Ember?"
"Uh, yeah," Ember replied, glaring daggers at him.
"I guess…. *Sigh* I guess it was because… I felt bad for her," he began.
"Bad? Why?" Ember asked.
"I mean, she's a great girl, hell, an amazing girl. Any guy lucky enough to have her as their girlfriend should take it as a blessing," he explained, "It was… flattering... that she was interested in me and my music. I didn't even mind helping out with a few things here and there on her own song."
"That doesn't explain why you felt bad for me- I mean her," Ember pointed out.
"Babe, look at us all here," Derek said, leading Ember towards the doorway to the living room, "Almost everyone here has dreams of becoming a famous rock star. Even Ember. We all perform well, better than most. But only a handful of us in the world will ever get noticed. The chances of me or Ember getting noticed are practically zero."
Ember raised an eyebrow, not certain where this was going.
"But if there was a chance, even the smallest chance that either of us were to make it," Derek continued, "then I would have made a difference either way. Getting famous or helping Ember get to fame, I still would have made an impact. I tried to get interested in Ember, but… I just can't. I'm not the guy for her, and she's not the girl for me. But her music talent is off the charts! She may not have much for her song so far, but I bet it will be fire and last forever!"
Ember blinked a few times before she left the girlfriend's body, grabbed Specter by the collar, and dragged him through the wall outside. The girlfriend shook her head for a moment before she noticed Derek.
"You okay?" she asked.
"Yeah… just needed to get something off my chest, I guess," Derek sighed, "Enough yappin', let's rock this joint!"
Outside, Ember shoved Specter against the wall.
"What did you do to him!?" she demanded.
"All I did was make him tell you the truth," Specter replied, "Clearly it had the expected reaction."
Ember slammed him into the wall again.
"You mean you knew!?" she yelled.
"Ember…" Specter sighed, "I'm from the future. I know a lot. Including the past lives of a few ghosts. You and Youngblood, to name a couple."
Ember released Specter and turned away in annoyance.
"It's time we went back to your present," Specter told her, "We can do this the easy way or the hard way."
Ember glared over her shoulder for a moment before her eyes widened in fear. It took Specter a moment to notice.
"Ember, don't," he warned.
But it was too late. Ember shot off into the sky and flew away. Specter quickly blinked in front of her but was instantly met with a green punch energy attack from Ember's guitar.
"UGH!" he exclaimed as he landed on the ground.
"~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~"
Not far, Phantom and Sam were flying over the town, scanning the area below. Suddenly, a green blast caught their eyes.
"Looks like Specter found Ember," Phantom chuckled as he took himself and Sam down below.
When they reached the ground, they found Specter standing back up and looking over to where Ember flew off to.
"Specter!" Sam called out, "Where's Ember."
"Didn't you see where she went!?" Specter exclaimed.
"I think that way," Danny and Sam said at the same time, pointing behind Specter.
"Aw, crap," he muttered, "Follow me and don't get lost. We need to stop Ember before she really screws up time!"
Before the two teens could say anything, Specter took off after Ember and they followed.
"~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~"
"Uuuggghhh…" past Ember mumbled as she made her way down the sidewalk.
The sky was just beginning to get brighter as sunrise was approaching. The teen looked horrible, with the bags under her bloodshot eyes.
"Derek, you prick," she muttered, "This is the fifth time you stood me up in the past month."
She sniffled and wiped her nose and eyes.
"He better have a good excuse this time," she growled, "I stayed up all night in front of the theaters just to be stood up!?"
*Ah-CHOO!*
She wiped her nose again and coughed a couple of times.
"Ugh, I'll need a hit of the good stuff when I get home," she muttered, "Should get my mind of Derek."
She walked around an apartment complex and began climbing the fire escape. Not far, ghost Ember was rocketing towards the apartment and saw her past self slowly walking up the metal stairs.
"Found you," she smirked.
"NO!"
Specter tackled Ember from above, bringing them both down into an empty lot that was next to the apartments.
"Ember, you can't do this!" Specter told her, pinning her down on her back.
"Get off me, dipshit!" she shouted and blasted Specter in the face with ecto-flames from her hair.
"Guuuaahhhh!" Specter cried out as he was blasted aside.
Ember turned and flew towards the apartments once more before she was blasted by a green ghost ray and slammed back into the ground.
"What!?" Ember exclaimed as she turned and saw Phantom and Sam floating down, "Oh, and now dipstick's here."
"Ember, stop!" Specter ordered as he got back up and blinked over her, "You do this, then history will be changed for good! Not even Clockwork might not be able to fix this one!"
Past Ember was still climbing more stairs as Ember attempted to get back up.
"Enough of this, McLame," Sam told her as she was placed on the ground and pulled out a Fenton Thermos.
"Now is not the time, Manson!" Specter shouted before turning back to Ember, "Ember, please, you can't do this."
"Watch me," Ember hissed and rocketed towards the apartment.
Specter blinked over and tackled back to the ground.
"Get off me, you pest!" she shouted.
"Ember, enough," Specter growled, holding her down, "If you keep this up, I swear to God, I will tell everyone your deepest secret."
"Ha!" Ember laughed, "Like you know anything about me."
Specter sighed as he leaned down and whispered something into her ear. Ember's eyes widened bigger than ever before as her cheeks lightly blushed blue.
"H… How? How do you know that!?" she asked.
"Like I said, Ember," Specter said, still holding her down, "I'm from the future. I know many things."
He paused for a moment before turning to Sam.
"Put her in the Thermos," he told her, "We need to get back to your time."
"NO!" Ember screamed, her flames growing three times larger than ever before and her eyes turning completely red.
She glanced over towards her past self and watched as she climbed the last set of stairs and began to sing.
Your heart, your heart has rendered
"HEY! YOU, UP THERE!" she shouted, "DON'T DO IT! YOU WILL-"
"Ember, shut up!" Specter hissed, placing his hand over her mouth, "Sam, put her in the thing, now!"
"GET OFF OF ME!" Ember screamed, unleashing a fireball pointblank at Specter, blasting him into Phantom and Sam.
Your loss, now bear the shame
Ember launched herself again towards the apartment, but Phantom recovered fast enough to hold her in his telekinetic grasp. Ember glared at him as she summoned her guitar and had it fly into the back of his head.
Like dead leaves in cold December
With his concentration broken, she was free once more. Specter blinked in front of her and blasted an electrified ghost ray at her, stunning her and blasting her back towards Phantom and Sam. As Phantom grabbed on of her arms, Specter blinked over and grabbed the other, turning towards Sam to say something. Sam nodded and pulled the cap off the Fenton Thermos. Ember struggled against the halfas' grips, screaming and shouting like a wild animal at her past self as Sam fired the tractor beam.
"Please," Ember begged, almost crying, "Save her, please!"
"I'm sorry, Ember," Specter told her as she vanished into the Fenton Thermos and Sam slapped the cap on.
Nothing but ashes remain
Past Ember, who was too tired to notice or hear her ghost self's warnings, slipped through a window and closed it behind her. Phantom turned to Specter, looking at his face. It took him a moment, but Danny slowly put the pieces together and stared in disbelief at Specter.
"Wait, that song…" he said, "If Ember was alive now…. And she's a ghost in my time…"
Sam raised an eyebrow, not sure what he was talking about until it dawned on her.
"She told us to save her past self," she said as she turned to Specter, "Does that mean…?"
Specter hung his head and looked away.
"This was Ember's last day alive," he revealed.
Phantom and Sam turned to each other in shock.
"We… we have to warn her!" Danny exclaimed as he and Sam turned and ran.
"No," Specter said calmly, grabbing them both with his telekinesis, "We can't."
"Trevor, think about it!" Sam exclaimed, "If we save Ember-"
"Do not call me that," Specter told her, "And we are not changing history. I thought you guys would have learned your lesson by now."
He turned his gaze over to Phantom.
"Unless he didn't tell you and Foley about his little field trip back in time," he said.
"We know about Danny's trip in time to save us," Sam told him, "Even about how Vlad married his mom and his dad was a half-ghost."
"And after all that…" Specter asked, "you still think we should change history?"
"Aren't you?" Phantom asked.
"I'm preventing history from changing with what Reaper is doing, Phantom!" Specter shouted, "I won't let you guys irreversibly change the course of history."
"So, you want her to die!?" Phantom asked.
"…. No," Specter admitted, "If I could, I would save her and countless others from becoming ghosts and live happy lives. But we can't. No matter how much we may wish for it to be, not everyone gets a happy ending. Would you really change the course of history? Potentially never have ghost powers? Never meet Sam, or Tucker, or Valerie? Or Danielle? What if you were never born?"
Phantom and Sam turned to each other and sighed.
"You're right," Phantom admitted.
Specter released Phantom and Sam from his telekinetic grasp.
"I'm sorry," he told them as he walked up to Sam and took the Fenton Thermos from her hands.
The three of them looked down at the Thermos, which laid motionless and silent.
"Should we say something to her?" Sam asked.
"There's nothing that can be said," Specter sighed, "Come on, I think I know where we can find a ghost portal. Shouldn't be too far."
Without another word, Specter led Phantom and Sam away from the apartment as the sun appeared over it. Once the three heroes were out of sight, smoke began to appear from the Ember's apartment window and the sound of firetruck sirens rang through the streets.^*
"~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~"
Inside the Ghost Zone, Clockwork watched the three enter his domain. Seeing their solemn faces, he opened a time portal for them. Before letting them through, he blocked their way with his staff.
"I do not blame anyone for this incident," he told them before turning to Specter, "Just be more careful with the medallion."
Specter nodded and followed Phantom and Sam into the portal.
"~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~"
"I'm asking you for the last time," Maddie warned as her dark silhouette towered over a scared Tucker, Valerie, and unfazed Dust, "where is my son?"
The three had their backs against the Fenton RV, with Maddie aiming her Fenton Bazooka directly at them and a scary look in her covered eyes. Behind her, a pair of clock hands appeared and spun into a portal. Phantom, Sam, and Specter appeared from the portal and it closed behind them.
"Uh, mom?" Danny asked, "Are you okay?"
Maddie's eyes widened.
"Danny?" she asked, before turning her head, "Danny! My baby boy!"
"We live," Tucker squeaked, "Hallelujah."
"Uhh…"
Danny couldn't say anything else before his mom grabbed him into a tight hug.
"I was so worried about you!" she exclaimed, "*Gasp* Are you okay? Where does it hurt? Who did this to you? I swear, when I find the ghost who harmed my boy…"
"Mom!" Danny laughed, pulling away from her, "I'm fine! Really! We just got, uh, sidetracked."
"That's… one way of putting it," said Specter, "Oh, here."
He handed the Fenton Thermos containing Ember and Klemper to Phantom.
"Do what you need to do," he sighed.
Phantom looked at the Thermos in his hands for a moment before his face fell.
"Hey, mom?" he asked, "Why don't we all call it a night? It's getting late and we should get our sleep. A cold night like this, one of use might get a cold."
"A cold?" Maddie asked before her eyes widened, "Cough syrup! I forgot to buy some for Danielle!"
"Uh, I'll grab some," Danny offered, "There's one thing I need to do real quick before going home anyways."
"But what if another ghost attacks you?" Maddie asked.
"I'll keep an eye on him," Specter told her, "I'm getting tired too. We should all get some rest. I get the feeling it's gonna be a long few days for all of us."
Maddie took a deep breath and sighed.
"You promise no more ghosts tonight?" she asked Danny.
"I promise," he smiled.
"Alright," Maddie conceded, "I'll take everyone else home first."
"That would be great," said Sam, "Thanks, Mrs. Fenton."
"Hey…" Tucker said to Sam as she climbed in the RV, "What happened to you guys? And what's with the glum face?"
"It's a long story, Foley," Sam sighed, "But not tonight."
Tucker and Valerie glanced at each other and shrugged before following her inside. Maddie hopped into the driver's seat and drove off, leaving Phantom and Specter behind, along with Dust, who perched herself onto Specter's shoulder. The two halfas glanced at one another for a moment before Danny pulled the cap off the Fenton Thermos and released one of the prisoners from it.
"Friends!"
"NOPE!" the three exclaimed instantly and Phantom put Klemper back inside the Thermos.
"That reminds me," said Specter before he held out his hand, "Gimme."
"Yeah, here," Phantom replied as he pulled out the Orb of Strength and handed it to Specter.
Danny looked back down at the Thermos and released Ember from confinement. Instead of her usual rebellious, antiauthoritarian self, Ember was simply sitting on the ground, head lowered and silently still. No one dared speak a word for a moment.
"Ember, I-" Danny began.
"Save it, dipstick," Ember replied softly, "There's nothing either of you two could say to make this better."
"Ember, you do know that you'd cease to exist if your past self remained alive, right?" Specter asked.
"Better than being dead," Ember scoffed, "Just send me back to the Ghost Zone, already. You've already ruined enough for one night."
"I take it you weren't controlling Specter at the concert?" Phantom asked.
"I figured dipshit here would've told you," Ember muttered.
"Long story short, Danny," Specter explained, "I made a deal with her; she can roam the earth for the night if she's remains out of trouble. She said she would do that if I… *Sigh* If I played in her band tonight."
Danny smiled for a moment before a snort came out of his nose.
"Yeah, shocking, right? Apparently, I have a heart after all," Specter said monotonously.
Ember glanced over her shoulder and smirked.
"Yeah, it really shows when you're around dipstick's lookalike," she chuckled, making Specter blush.
"I still have your secret, McLain," Specter warned.
"Whatever," she sighed as she got up to her feet, "So, what now?"
"Figured you could spend some time outside the Ghost Zone," Phantom explained, "As long as you stay out of trouble."
"You're… letting me go?" Ember asked with a raised eyebrow, "What's the catch?"
"No catch, just-"
"Feeling bad for me? How cute, dipstick," Ember teased.
"Har har," Danny responded, "I'm giving you a chance to enjoy yourself, Ember. You can take it or leave it."
"Alright, alright, I'll take it," said Ember, "Sheesh."
"And I'll be keeping an eye on you," Specter told her.
"Oh, you'll do more than that," Ember smirked, "Let's see what I can get away with."
"Hey, hold on a sec-" Specter began, but Ember already took off into the night sky, "Dang it."
"Well, you did say you'd keep an eye on her," Phantom smirked, earning him a glare from Specter, "Just-"
"Make sure she doesn't do anything stupid?" Specter asked, "Yeah, that's already out the window, knowing her. But I'll keep her out of too much trouble."
Specter floated off the ground and barely flew five feet before the paused and looked over his shoulder.
"As for answers from me… *Sigh* I'll still give each of you a freebee," he groaned.
"We'll discuss that another time," Phantom sighed, "It's been a looooong night, and I don't think I can handle any more revelations."
"You don't even want to know how much crap I know," Specter chuckled, "Believe me, anyone else would have gone insane years ago."
He was about to fly off again when he looked over his shoulder again.
"Danny, you always get on my case about my secrets… but how will the others react when they find out yours?" Specter asked.
Phantom's face fell and glared back at the younger halfa.
"I doubt my secrets will get people killed," he pointed out, "Besides, a secret is a secret."
"Oh, hi, pot, name's kettle," Specter snorted, "I'm not saying mine are as big a deal, which they aren't, they are much bigger. But you're right, it's too late for this. We'll talk about it later. Better get the cough syrup."
With that, Specter's eyes burned brightly before he blinked after Ember, leaving Phantom and ponder over their conversation.
"Ah, I'll worry about it later," he finally conceded and took off in the opposite direction.
"~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~"
Specter blinked onto a rooftop, where Ember was waiting patiently.
"Mind telling me what that was all about?" Ember asked, shoving a finger in Specter's chest.
"Time medallion got overloaded with my ecto-energy," Specter replied, rolling his eyes, "Didn't intend for that to happen and it won't happen again."
He paused for a moment.
"Wanna rock out again later?" he asked.
"What?" Ember asked, looking quite surprised.
"You heard me," Specter smirked, "I've still got to make good on my word, don't I?"
He pulled out his drum sticks and twirled them in his fingers.
"You're not yankin' my leg, are you?" Ember asked suspiciously.
"Ember, we can do… well, not everything you want to do," Specter admitted, "But we can do quite a bit. So… what do you wanna do?"
Ember tilted her head, trying to wrap her head around Specter's intentions. A moment later, she shrugged and summoned her guitar.
"You know what?" she asked, "You're not half bad, dipshit."
She played a few chords as Specter summoned his drums and played to her tempo.
"You're not gonna say anything about… you know?" Ember asked.
"About what?" Specter asked, "There's nothing to tell anyone."
"…Thanks, Specter," Ember smiled as the ghost bassist and keyboard player appeared beside her, "WHO'S READY TO ROCK!?"
Specter simply smiled and shook his head.
"~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~"
*Ahh-ahhhhh-AH-CHOO!*
Danielle was still up as she blew her nose into another tissue. She sighed and tossed it into the mountain of tissues that have buried the small trash bin beside her bed.
"Ugggghhh…" she moaned, laying back into bed and rubbing her eyes.
"Hey, I'm here to drop off a package of, let's see here…. Cough syrup?"
Danielle looked over and saw Danny phase through the wall and land next to her bed.
"Hey, Danny," she said hoarsely, followed by coughing.
"Here," he smiled as a white ring appeared around his waist and he reached into a plastic bag, "Mom told me about you needing this, so I got some for you. Sorry it took so long."
He pulled out a bottle of grape flavored cough syrup and poured some into the small plastic cup that came with it.
"This should help," he told her handing her the cup.
As soon as it was in her hands, Danielle practically chugged the thick substance, licking the inside of the cup as well, leaving no trace of syrup.
"Mmm…" she moaned, "Grape flavor."
"Try not to chug the whole thing at once," Danny laughed, "Too much will actually be bad for you."
"Then why is it so tasty?" she asked.
"Makes it easier for kids, like you, to drink," Danny teased.
"Hey, I'm not a little kid!" Danielle snapped.
"Oh, yes, you are," Danny laughed, "Now, go to bed. You're staying here until tomorrow morning, got it?"
"Whatever," Danielle sighed, "And thanks for the medicine, Danny."
"No problem," Danny smiled as he began to walk away.
Just as he was reaching for the doorknob, he turned around, walked over to Danielle and gave her a hug.
"Uh, Danny?" Danielle asked, "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Danny told her as he pulled away, "I just, uh… missed you, that's all."
Danielle gave him side-eye.
"You suck at lying, you know that?" she asked, making Danny nod his head from side to side, "Does it have something to do with Trevor and Ember?"
"Might be," Danny smiled, "How'd you know?"
"Psychic powers…" Danielle said with wonder. "Nah, I saw the two of them fly together nearby. But does it have something to do with them?"
"A little bit," Danny smiled, ruffling Danielle's hair before walking towards the door, "It's nothing to be worried about. Go to sleep. I'll check on you in the morning."
"Uh, sure…" Danielle replied, confused as she fixed her hair, "Hey, uh… Danny?"
"Yeah?" Danny replied, poking his head back in, "You okay?"
"Yeah, I, uh…" Danielle replied, her cheeks slightly turning red, "I just wanted to say… thanks. For everything, you know?"
"It was no problem at all, Danielle," Danny smiled, "We're family after all."
"Yeah, we are," Danielle smiled back, "Night, Danny."
"Night, Danielle," Danny replied back.
"Lov-"
Danielle stopped herself and quickly laid her head on the pillow. However, Danny heard what she said. He was caught off guard for a moment before he replied back.
"Love you too, Danielle," he smiled and closed the door behind him.
Danielle glanced over the covers and smiled.
"Love you too, Danny," she yawned and fell asleep.
"~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~"
Some time later, Clockwork waited patiently in his lair.
"Hmm…" he groaned.
"Is it ready?"
The ghost of time didn't turn to greet Specter as she landed beside him.
"Indeed," Clockwork replied, "Make it quick."
"I will," Specter replied as he looked up at the screen.
Clockwork aimed his staff at the screen and a small blue ghost ray shot towards it. A moment later a shadow silhouette of a woman appeared onscreen.
"You know, you could have called at an earlier point in time," the woman remarked.
"Yeah, you and I both know that's not how it works. If it were that simple, I would have been home by now," Specter replied.
"Or your corpse," the woman stated, "Any word from him?"
"No…" Specter sighed, "What about you? What's the status of the assets in our timeline?"
"There's no sign of them, Trevor," she sighed, "We've lost four more men in the last expedition."
"Well, if they actually listened to me," Specter growled, "they might have survived. They fucked up; they suffer the consequences."
"Trevor…" the woman sighed.
"I know… sorry," Specter replied, "How's Lex?"
"She's getting through this," the woman replied, "We both are."
"Uh-huh."
"Do you think you'll find him?"
"That's the plan," Specter sighed, "Look, I, uh, I gotta go."
"I understand," the woman replied, "And Trevor? Stay safe, sweetie, okay?"
"I will, mom," Specter replied, "And don't worry, I'll get Cole back home."
"~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~"
{Notes}
* Reference to "Masters of All Time".
** "Bimbette" is younger bimbo, a term about a woman being attractive but unintelligent.
*** The name has nothing to do with Batman Beyond. It was just a coincidence that I came up with it. Or maybe a distant memory, I dunno.
**** Same line used in the episode "Fanning the Flame".
^ As seen from "Fanning the Flame".
^* I took liberties from the theory that Ember was once alive and died from a fire. There's no official backstory, so I did what I could to come up with the most realistic way of it turning out.
"~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~"
I hope you guys enjoyed. Don't have much to say, other than the next episode will come out whenever it's ready. Again, I'm sorry this took so long. It won't happen again, hopefully.
I really would like to know what everybody's thoughts are, so please drop a review. It'd be nice to know if I'm doing well or not.
Like, follow, and review! Until next time!
~ThePhantomHedgehog
