Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom. Butch Hartman does. I would never dream of making money off his work, this is but one fanatic's homage. So please don't sic the rabid lawyer hordes upon me, there's not much for them to sue out of me.

Author's Note: Wow. One more chapter to go, and Anathema is just half a page behind Jeremiad's total page count. As always, reviews are muchly appreciated, and I do hope you enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 13 - Countdown

I wasn't the first student in the classroom, but I certainly was not the last. So many faces, so many whom I knew would die. Lancer strolled into the classroom, briefcase cuffed to his wrist as he took a seat at his desk. I couldn't help but smirk, I never cared for the man nor his literary oaths. He saw me an raised an eyebrow, frowning.

"You're certainly early today, Mister Fenton." Oh, I could tell by his tone. He knew I had the answers, that I would be cheating on the exam. Hah, I bet he was so sure that he would be delivering an academic smackdown by day's end. If only he knew that by raising a fuss about my cheating, he was signing his own death warrant.

"Wouldn't want to be late for the C.A.T." I barely kept enough sneer from my tone, lest I get in trouble for being disrespectful. "After all, my future depends on it."

The pudgy teacher frowned, not appreciating the actual meaning behind my statement. He remained silent though, as more students filtered into the room and took their seats.

"Morning, Danny!" Tucker took his seat to my left and behind one. Sam entered a few minutes later, taking a seat next to me.

"Morning, Sam, Tuck." I smirked. In just hours, everything would be assured.

"Danny, did you ever-" Sam began to ask. She didn't need to finish, I already knew she was about to nag me further about the exam answers.

"Alright, everyone, take your seats, we'll begin the C.A.T. shortly." Lancer interrupted, effectively halting all conversation.

I tipped my head at the sound of hurried footsteps in the hallway outside, and a moment later Valerie came tearing into the room, clearly short on breath from running. She paused briefly in the doorway, quickly earning Lancer's ire.

"So nice of you to join us today, Miss Grey." The teacher noted dryly as the dark girl moved to her seat. I watched him glance over the class briefly as he stood up and handed out the answer sheets and test booklets.

I tuned his droning out, barely paying heed to the blather regarding test procedure and how long we had to take the test. Really, what sort of idiot doesn't know how to fill in a bubble with a number 2 pencil? A test for career aptitude, and they have to include such asinine instructions about coloring in bubbles?

I scribbled away, filling in my name as per the stupid procedure while Lancer finished handing out the exam to the back of the class. With the test answers, I knew I would be done with the stupid exam in record time. What would I do all afternoon, anyway? Destruction was right out for the same reasons as before, but there had to be something I could do to pass the time.

"Now, good luck on your tests. Remember, you can't cheat at life." Lancer declared with a pointed look in my direction before he started for the front of the room.

I sat hunched over my desk, likely a holdover from how tall I am in my real form. Were I not wearing the guise of my weakness, I would have been terribly cramped at that tiny school desk. Instead, I had to settle for feeling terribly cramped, period, since I rather doubt Lancer would have let me in the classroom in my real form. Not that he could do terribly much if I had, that out-of-shape teacher probably could be beaten by the Box Ghost without putting up much of a struggle.

I peered at the answer sheet under the desk once the man had passed by. Really, with the answers right there, it was a snap quickly filling in the correct bubble and then moving to the next. It felt a touch awkward at first, to be sure; but I hadn't held a pencil in a decade, I think I can be forgiven being slightly rusty in my mindless academic skills.

"Danny, don't!" I heard Tucker whisper, his voice while low was clearly worried. "If you cheat on the test, we-"

Sam shushed him just as the noise caught Lancer's attention.

"Mister Foley, Mister Fenton, is there a problem?" The bald teacher glowered at the two of us. Even I had to be impressed at the sheer amount of displeasure he was able to cram into so few words. The fact he knew I was cheating on the test must have rankled terribly.

"Uh..." I floundered only briefly for a response, grinning at the annoyed man. "No problem at all."

I heard Sam slap her forehead, and I caught sight of Tucker giving me a distraught look. Did they know? How could they have found out that the stupid test had a direct impact on their fates? Feh, so long as they were at the Nasty Burger shortly after five o'clock in the evening, it didn't really matter if they knew or not.

I caught a glimpse of movement outside the door. A quick glance, and I was able to verify it, Jazz's blue eyes narrowed in an angry glare. So she was finally awake after I made her take an involuntary nap? What did she think she could do, barge into the classroom and disrupt the test? I returned the scowl, but she didn't so much as flinch. Well, I suppose she had managed to steel her nerves after our little chat the previous night. Fine, I'd dealt with her once, a second time would be no more difficult.

With a cautious glance behind me, I invisibly duplicated myself. Ah, such a useful ability. Not even the cheesehead could duplicate himself without transforming first, let alone without giving any outward sign of the extra effort. While I continued to take the test, I flew through the floor of the classroom and came up invisible behind Jazz. What did she think she could do? I watched with a displeased scowl as she peered into the classroom at me, rummaging through her backpack. After a moment and utterly oblivious to my presence, she pulled the Fenton Peeler out, holding the device ready to use.

Sorry, Jazz, but I can't let you get in the way of my future. I mused as I grabbed her by the shoulder. She didn't have a chance to yell, I zapped her as thoroughly as I has the night before. Her slight yelp went unheard, as the hallway was deserted, and she wasn't loud enough to be heard in the classroom.

No sooner had she fallen senseless to the floor than I was dragging her off. I couldn't let someone stumble across the redhead clearly unconscious, after all. There would be awkward questions better left unasked. In moments I lugged her outside and deposited her in the parking lot, hidden behind her obnoxiously pink car. I frowned as I studied her sleeping face. She was clearly going to persist in trying to stop me. So long as she was dead along with the others when I sent my past self back, it really didn't matter if she died in the explosion or if I eliminated the potential threat now. Indeed, leaving her to the explosion was risky, her actions now a wildcard in my plan.

I clenched a fist, green glow crackling into existence. I had no more connections to these people. After all, I had killed thousands of people just like them in the past ten years. I raised my hand, blast primed and pointed at the unconscious girl. Nothing extravagant, just enough to leave a dusting of ash and sooty smear on the asphalt.

"Goodbye, Jazz." I declared to my sister.

It took me a few minutes to realize I had yet to actually make good on the threat. I stared at Jazz, my glance drifting to the green blast that for some reason would not fire. I scowled, the scene reminded me too much of my multiple attempts at destroying that stupid dog. I didn't have years and years to get over that strange hesitation in this situation. She had to go away, the sooner the better. I just somehow had to force myself to actually fire the stupid blast. She was doomed to die anyway, and whether by ectoplasmic energy blast or deadly burger sauce detonation it would still be my fault. Why was it such a hassle to try and handle it directly rather than indirectly?

"Enough of this. You might as well die now." I said aloud, more to convince myself, again taking aim and forcing myself to fire the blast.

I stood there, hand still extended while I waited for the smoke to clear. I studied the black scorch mark on the asphalt, my frown deepening. It was a very black scorch mark, and I think I may have melted the asphalt a bit. It would certainly develop into a nasty little pothole given time. My gaze shifted from the scorch mark on the asphalt to the long red hair splayed out near it, strands tangled and disheveled from the blast.

I missed.

How could I miss? Jazz was lying no more than a foot away and unconscious! She had no ability to dodge the attack, no ability nor means to deflect it! She could not have avoided it, which meant one unsavory thing.

I had missed deliberately. Somehow, I simply could not bring myself to actually finish her off. Fine. I'd allow her to live out the rest of her natural lifespan, the few remaining hours until her grisly demise. What was the worst she could do? Tell Mom and Dad? She couldn't fight me, the most she could achieve would be ratting me out. Hah, I would be perfectly willing to round everyone up and tie them down in the blast radius. There was no escaping their destiny, I would see to it personally.

I left Jazz where she lay unconscious, and flew to the roof of the school. I was in two places at once already, I might as well enjoy the fresh air while I was stuck inside finishing the stupid exam. A quick glance at the clock in the classroom told me it was eleven in the morning. Six hours until it all went up in smoke. I crossed my arms, taking in the scenery from the rooftop. I would be done with the test soon, and I suspected Sam and Tucker would jump my case about cheating and the future if given the chance. I would simply have to be elusive for a few hours. A simple enough task with my powers.

Filling in the final bubble on my answer sheet, I bundled it up in the little notebook to prevent other students from seeing my answers. Wouldn't want them to cheat, after all. I felt Lancer's eyes on me as I stood up and walked to his desk, test in hand. I quickly crossed the remaining distance and slapped my completed test onto the desk, grinning wickedly, hands on my hips. I knew something he didn't, and couldn't resist letting that satisfaction show on my face.

I was rewarded with a displeased scowl, though muted anger might be a more adequate description. "Finished so soon, Mister Fenton?" Lancer inquired, tone droll.

"Is that a problem?" I planted my hands on the desk, confident in the situation and the simple fact my future was as good as secure.

"How should I know? I don't have all the answers." The fat teacher retorted, full of sarcasm as he leaned forward. It was amusing. We both knew what was going on. I knew that he was aware I cheated, but he didn't know that. "Do you?"

In hindsight, I must admit that obnoxious man did have a considerably sharp wit. That wouldn't spare him though. I wouldn't have a good opportunity to test the theory, but I doubt I would have had any difficulty in vaporizing his bald head. I grinned wickedly at him, the closest approximation to my usual sneer that I could manage in that pathetic form, and walked out of the room, barely sparing the people inside a second glance. So many of them would be killed in the next two weeks, and more still in the years to come.

I stepped behind a tree once outside and returned to normal. It felt so good to be back to my real form. I met up with myself on the roof of the building and contemplated what I would do to pass the time. I would need to be back at FentonWorks perhaps a half hour before five in the evening so that I would be accosted by my parents to go to that ill-fated meeting with Lancer. I had something like five hours to kill, and very little to kill them with. Blowing things to pieces wasn't a option, much to my displeasure; nor did I particularly care to hang around my old bedroom at the house. I could wander around the Ghost Zone perhaps, but that idea held little appeal. There was nothing there that could even begin to keep me occupied for more than a few minutes.

For want of anything productive to do, I leaned against the flag pole up there and attempted to relax in the sunlight. Things did seem so much sunnier and brighter ten years ago than in my present day. I wonder if perhaps all the large explosions I can lay claim to had somehow altered the global climate? The thought was pleasing. Not only did I have the power to decide who lives and dies, but I could alter the entire planet's features as well? An amusing thought, really. Perhaps that would be something I could do once I got back to my proper time and finished Valerie and the cheesehead off.

I chuckled as another thought hit me about the situation. The irony of it, really. The day of the C.A.T., and here I am contemplating my future and my plans and goals for it. I must admit the idea of a world finally free of the nuisances that were my two greatest archrivals was nearly alien. The cheesehead had been working behind the scenes for so long, and I had very nearly become accustomed to Valerie's continued annoyance and constant attempts at killing me. The thought of what I would do after those two were gone was simply something that I had yet to give any thought to. What would I do after that wonderful occasion, anyway? There were no ghosts left who could come even close to being a match for me, and Valerie was the most capable human I'd faced.

I frowned and decided I didn't care for the direction that train of thought seemed to be heading in. I briefly wondered how my weakness was faring in the Ghost Zone back in my present. He was all but utterly helpless with the way I'd tied him up, and I'm certain many of my enemies would gladly jump on the chance to use him as a punching bag. In hindsight, that may not have been my brightest move. What would happen if he got killed? What would become of me in that scenario?

I was interrupted in my musing by the whine of jet engines and the sound of an ecto-gun charging. I raised an eyebrow as I got to my feet, in part amusement and part barely restrained desire to simply lob a blast behind me and kill the girl where she stood. I should have known better than to hang around the school like that.

"Valerie." I declared flatly at the red-clad girl. "You can shoot at me all day with that stupid toy gun, and just waste your time."

"Why should I believe you, ghost? Your little friend Inviso-Bill out of town or something?" Valerie snapped, firing at me. I had to cringe at that awful old nickname. It would be so nice to be back in my present, where she at least had the decency to call me "Phantom" instead of that old moniker I had been given by the news media all those years ago.

I slapped the pink beam aside, resisting the urge to blast her. She had to survive at least long enough to scare my weakness to Wisconsin. So she thought I was somehow related to her usual target, did she? Well, perhaps she could keep me amused for awhile.

"Hm, I suppose that is one way of putting it." I sneered at her. "But you can't do a thing to me. You never could, and you never will."

I could almost see the surprised look on her face through her dark visor. "Enough talking!" She snarled, firing more blasts at me.

I merely evaded this volley and took to the air, flying away from her at a leisurely pace. True to form, I heard the whine of her jet sled in pursuit. Compared to her abilities ten years down the line, her speed and abilities as a teenager were very nearly pedestrian. I flitted out of the way of several more blasts from behind, climbing higher into the air with the young huntress hot on my tail. Well, only because I let her. Had I been serious, I could easily have bested her top speed.

"I think it's your turn to dance, Valerie." I spun and launched a volley of tiny green beams. I had to remember to watch my strength, I didn't want to kill her here. Well, I did, but doing so at that particular moment would have put my plan at risk.

Even at fourteen, she did a surprisingly good job of dodging and weaving through the hailstorm of blasts. "You're a pretty lousy shot, ghost!" She crowed, firing at me again.

"That's because I'm not trying to hit you." I grumbled, carelessly batting the pink beam aside.

A little too careless, as the deflected beam knocked Valerie's gun from her hands and knocked her apparently precarious balance off. With a nearly comedic windmilling of her arms, she tried to maintain her sled's balance. Apparently all in vain as she slipped and the sled canted sharply to the side, dropping her.

I chuckled as she plummeted, shrieking in panic. Ten years from now, a fall from a couple thousand feet in the air would hardly faze her. I saw her pressing in a frenzy at her wrist. Why hadn't her sled come wheeling back for her? I suppose it was pure bad luck, perhaps her little wristband wasn't responding? I facepalmed as I realized what that meant for me. The irony of it was nearly tangible.

In order to ensure my past went properly, I had to save the life of the girl I'd spent the past decade trying to murder. I grumbled and dove after her, matching my speed to hers and grabbing her around the waist. She screamed obscenities at me, I was surprised she actually knew such coarse language at fourteen. I had thought that to be a later development. She put up an impressive struggle trying to break my hold, but I was more than a match for her feeble attempt at escape. It was sorely tempting to merely crush the girl in my arms, but I forced myself to maintain a hold strong enough only to thwart her squirming.

"Let me go!" She shrieked, voice pitched high enough to actually hurt my ears as we floated safely to the ground.

"Gee, you're welcome." I hissed, throwing her the remaining ten feet to a bruising landing in the park. "That's the only time that will happen."

She cringed and picked herself up off the ground slowly. I'm sure she was sufficiently bruised from the landing, and without her guns or sled she was clearly aware of being at a severe disadvantage. "Why'd you help me, ghost?" She growled.

"For the future." I turned to leave. I feared if I stuck around I wouldn't be able to resist the siren call of her premature demise. I glanced over my shoulder at her, clearly gaping behind her visor. "The next time we meet, I won't be holding anything back."

I launched into the air and decided to head for home. It was still a bit earlier than originally intended, but my little chase with Valerie had killed a couple of hours at least. I glanced at a bank clock to verify the time. Nearly three o'clock in the afternoon. Just two more hours and it would be over. Funny, I hadn't given time nor its passing this much thought in years. Really, the last time I'd had and kept an appointment of any sort was, amusingly enough, when I told Valerie to meet me in the park ten years ago.

I cautiously stepped through the front door, once again wearing the guise of my weakness. I almost blew my cover when Maddie was waiting, one hand on her hip. At least it wasn't Dad with any gunlike contraptions this time.

"Danny, where have you been?" She scolded. "I've been trying to call you for hours!"

My eyes widened at that. Wait, call? Oh my cell phone? The cell phone presumably ten years in the future with my weak past self? Crud, what if other people had been trying to call 'me'? Would the lack of an answer make people more suspicious?

"Uh... er..." I fumbled for an answer, partly from confusion and partly from the proximity of my mother. I mentally slapped myself. She would be dead in two hours, there was no point in thinking about what might have been. They all had to die for my future to be secured. I could no more spare Maddie than I could Sam.

"Well, at least you came home in time." She relaxed slightly. "Mr. Lancer called. He wants to meet with us tonight, and I was trying to call you to let you know."

"Oh." I sighed with relief. "Look, I'm gonna... take a nap! Yeah, because the test was so exhausting... later!"

I pelted up the stairs, skidded around the corner and practically dove into my old bedroom, clicking the door shut behind me. With the way my luck was running, perhaps just idling in the bedroom was the wisest course of action. Being bored to death was certainly better than having to rescue Valerie from her own inadequacy or try and carry on a conversation around Maddie, when her mere presence seemed enough to disrupt my thoughts. I kicked back on the bed, staring at the ceiling. I had made it this far, I just had to wait a little longer, and then I would never need to wear that horribly uncomfortable guise ever again. Everything would be dead and buried in the past where it belonged. I didn't fall asleep, but I must have spaced out, for a loud knocking at the door snapped me to full awareness some time later.

"Danny, wake up! We've got that meeting soon, son!" I heard Dad's voice through the door. Son, huh? I stretched and climbed to my feet. Hadn't heard that term of endearment in ages.

"Right." I tried to sound slightly groggy. I don't think it came off as such, but Dad wasn't one to question slight weirdness. "Be right down!"

I have to admit. Ten years later, years of experience in dire combat... and my dad's driving still scares the daylights out of me. I clung to my seat in the back of the RV for dear life as the tank-like vehicle darted in and out of traffic. How he had never actually crashed the thing I do not know. How does one even get a vehicle on tank treads to lift one side in the air going around a corner? Luckily he slowed down as we pulled into the parking lot of the otherwise deserted Nasty Burger, so I felt safe enough undoing my belt and standing behind my parents in the front of the vehicle.

Mr. Lancer was neatly framed by the RV's headlights as we pulled up, briefcase in one hand, a pamphlet of papers in the other. Ah, that would be my test. He looked extremely displeased, the headlights casting harsh shadows off his angular face. I smirked to myself. He could be as displeased with me as he wanted. He would be past tense in... a quick glance at the dashboard clock read just a hair after five o'clock, so in about fifteen more minutes.

"Mr. Lancer sounded urgent on the phone." Maddie sounded concerned as the RV came to a halt. I suppose it only made sense she would be concerned. Teachers seldom call for a parent-teacher meeting for anything but bad news. "Danny, is something wrong?"

I grinned, looking from my parents to the ruined building. In fifteen more minutes, the tanks full of Nasty Sauce would go off. The final countdown on all those lives was drawing rapidly to an end.

"Not yet."

Closing Note: First, a big THANK YOU to everybody who's reviewed, whether you just recently stumbled across this fanfic, or you've been reading since way back in March when I first started Jeremiad. While I write primarily for my own satisfaction, it's nice to know my work is appreciated. My ego thanks you all as well. I'll have to be careful not to let your kind words go to my head.

Second... wow. The next chapter is the finale. Hard to believe that a plot bunny in Geology class back in March is singlehandedly responsible for approximately 200 pages of fanfiction. (8 pages for the poem Lament, 97 for Jeremiad, and 96 so far for Anathema.) That's like, 33 pages of writing per month since I got started. It's been a blast to write so far, and I hope you guys will stick around after the finale for my next project, Benediction. Catch ya later!