Somewhere in the future a certain techno-geek was rushing around a lab, checking the readings on a shield that domed over the small city of Amity, another at his side with a worried look as she walked outside to look at said shield with question. The crackle of the shield a loud sound even when you were so far away from it. The male came to her side, his arm coming around her waist.
"You think she can ever break it?" the woman inquired with a glance at him. He didn't know, but he hoped that she wasn't that strong. She had been powerful before it had happened, but not sure about it now. With the death of her one loved one he wasn't sure that she hadn't gone past sane and into the territory of insane.
"With how she was before, no, but no telling since we haven't seen her since then," was his response just moments before the ground began to shake under them, the building groaning. The pair looked up in horror, no warning given, but they knew what was happening! Tucker rushed back into the room he had just left, Valerie's dad coming to assist as another shock ran thru the city, the sounds of terror filling the air when a pair of green eyes flashed on screen, but not a word was spoken. It wasn't needed anyway. This was the one that was causing the shakes below them, the one that had once been his friend, not that he had told any of them. There was a wail that came with each shudder, the sound of glass hitting all of their ears. Another wail of pain and anger that Tucker knew the Goth must be feeling. She was mad and while she was rather temperamental on a regular occasion, she was down right deadly with powers.
"God damn it!" Valerie growled. She was tired of living in fear, but at least fear had kept them alive and the town thriving, but with the Phantom haunting them you could never know when she would attack. She wasn't a persistent one on one hand, but she had stealth, her green eyes staring back at the her father and her husband when she rushed back into the room.
"I told you that I would get you all," the woman hissed, her voice so cold and calm before she flickered off the screen. It had been bad at first, but when the Phantom had first gone on a rampage she had not gone after any humans, her attacks clearing out the Ghost Zone first, but then she turned her attention to all the more popular students and then onto the teachers. She wasn't random in her attacks. First Paulina after the ghosts and then it had been Dash, the blond torn into pieces when they found him. She wasn't just deadly, but she made sure that whoever she killed was really brutalized before they met their end. They were lucky that all three of them were on the ground when the large structures that held up the dome blew up as sirens filled the air with the warning that had come too late. Several people were killed by them as they crashed to the ground. They could do nothing as people scattered and as the pair ran outside to watch all of this happen, the skies grew dark, the air filled with smog from all the destruction outside the dome that had now disappeared. Grabbing Tucker she rushed back in, her father already heading to the safe place while Jack and Maddie waited by the door. They were not the same as they had been before, after the death of their son at the hands of a ghost that had blown up the Nasty Burger.
Behind them the ground cracked and split, the aura of the known assailant glowing purple in her rage as she appeared before them. No longer was she as young as she had been, her slender form turning to face them with a sneer. She glowered at the ghost fighters, even Jack and Maddie received a look of disgust. She would kill them all for what had happened and while she knew it wasn't directly their fault she didn't care. She was mad! She hated them all for the loss of the one person she had loved and now he was gone! Gone because of Lancer taking them to that damned place when he should have known better and so she found that all adults must die for what had happened. They were supposed to be smarter than this!
"You all disappoint me," she spat as her eyes flashed blood red. "And so you must all suffer the fate that never should have befallen him!" With a movement of her hand a blast of energy began to glow and all five that were in the room were gone.
A small ghost stood before a glass, his voice deep even as his appearance was that of a child. "Now you see what has happened," a voice said. The small ghost turned, his red eyes glowing brightly against his light blue skin, as he changed again, his form older.
"I see that Sam Phantom becomes the most powerful and deadly person in the world, but what do you want me to do about it?" he asked the shadows. One stepped forward, his head green and seeming out of sorts for his slender body. His one green eye blinked as his other companion come out of the dark.
"You, as the ghost of time, shall destroy Sam Phantom," was their response. "To ensure that the future is safe, this is your task, Clockwork." Behind them the female glowered, the screen flickered on pause.
Another school day in the present was where the three teens were found, along with all the other students, watching as Lancer talked before them. It was an assembly about the CAT's, his droning making Sam yawn and Tucker slouch, but Danny was quite intent with his gaze on the balding male before him.
"Your future is carved with a #2 pencil," he said, serious as he pulled out said item.
"Not for everyone," Sam grumbled, Tucker voicing his agreement. Danny shot them a look with a word of silence before turning back to listen. Sam didn't get it, but then again, she was passing her classes and while Tucker was almost in the same running, not that he cared, Danny was barely squeaking by. He wasn't failing, but this test was a good portion of your grade. It was strange to the Goth. Danny was smart and without the ghost fighting he should have no problem in school and yet, here they were. As Lancer droned on, Danny looked rather peevish as the male before them bragged about his sister, who was sitting on the stage in a chair with a smile. he hated that she was so smart. He felt so dumb and for him that made him feel too much like his father. He loved his father, but did he have to inherit that sour deal and not like his sister, who had gotten her brains from their mother?
He wanted to be an astronaut and without good grades he would never get to live that dream. On the other side was a guy named Irving. He was the lowest scorer on the CAT and thus was the example of what would happen if you failed the test, Danny shuddering at the thought that he would be in those shoes if he didn't pass. His parents would be disappointed in him as well. Another mark against him. He glanced back at his friend, Sam. She was rich so her family could buy anything she wanted and while she hated that about her family he wished he could be where she was. The Goth in question raised her eye brow at him, but he just shook his head and turned back as Irving claimed that working at Nasty Burger required brains.
Danny scoffed at that thought, Sam frowning at his sudden attitude change. She couldn't tell what was going on with him, but she had a feeling it had to do with those tests. "I could tutor you," she said, her hand falling on his shoulder. That could work, but he wasn't sure she could handle all of that on top of ghost hunting and her own schooling. "Unless you don't want me to," she said with a slight feeling of hurt that he looked so skeptical. He shook his head, agreeing that he wouldn't mind getting a bit of tutoring. As Lancer walked off they group of kids dispersed, Sam walking by Danny, telling him she would see him later at his home.
As soon as school ended Sam headed for him, her walk uneventful, but that was a good thing. She needed some free time to help Danny with his test and while it probably would have been better for him to come home with her she figured that with what had happened just yesterday that if another ghost attacked at her home she would be screwed. No, it was better for her to just go home, grab a few things for the test and then head over to Danny's home. Speeding up, she turned a corner and ran smack into Skulker, the hunting ghost looking rather pleased to see her as he threw a net at her. Thinking quickly she went intangible, disappearing down under the concrete before coming up around the other corner of him.
"Sorry Danny," she whispered as she went ghost before heading out into the fray.
In Fenton Works, Danny waited for his Goth friend to show up, his sister hanging around behind him as he started his practice test, but she just wouldn't allow him the freedom to work, her shadow looming over him and with the sounds she made as he went to mark a bubble. He was just so tired of knowing that she was smarter than him, but he still tried to ignore her as he went to mark another bubble.
She made another sound and he sighed in frustration. Glancing at her and then the clock he noted it had only been about ten minutes since he had left school and while Sam wasn't that far away, he assumed that something must have happened at her house. Maybe her mother had gone off on her again or maybe she ran into trouble with a ghost. It sucked not having his powers, but he realized how it must have been every time he found himself in trouble without either of them next to him. He never had a way to contact them when he was fighting, but Sam had always seemed to know where he was or the ghost would cause so much trouble that it was hard to miss. He looked out the kitchen window just as his parents came rushing by, a quick word about a ghost and they were out the door.
He felt the urge to run to go with them, knowing that if there was a ghost than Sam was likely with them, but his sister shook her head with a simple touch on his shoulder. Scowling at her he jumped up and ran after his parents, but they were already gone, the RV gone from the parking spot. Damn, he couldn't fly after them and he couldn't tell where she was fighting. What could he do?
Clockwork watched Sam fight Skulker, his mind trying to figure out why this girl would turn to the evil side. She wasn't doing anything, but protecting herself at the moment as the metal man attacked her, attempting to catch her. Why did they think she would turn evil? He watched the screen for a moment, still unsure why this girl would turn against her own town. He disappeared from the spot with a plan to stop her, destroy that which would destroy the world if she was allowed to live.
Sam flew away from Skulker, shooting blasts as she spotted the Nasty Burger, Lancer sitting out front with his food. She flew up higher when she came across a small child, a ghost that she had never met before. This little girl glowered at her, her body glowing as food from below flew up to met her little body.
"Oooookay, sooooo who are you?" she asked, Skulker coming from the other side of the street, Sam dodging another blast. "Never mind!" She sped away, worried that she was going to find herself in an early grave if she didn't have help soon. Neither one of her friends knew she was here and she had no time to contact them either. That's when it came to her, what the guy from Nasty Burger had at the assembly. Turning downward she rushed into the fast food establishment, her eyes searching for what she needed as people ran around her and out the door, even the employees were trying to leave as Irving told them that they couldn't. As she spotted the packets she rushed to grab a handful, her two playmates crashing thru the ceiling.
As Skulker came at her from one side and the child on the other she threw the packets, one of them embedding in the small girl's hairnet while the other was blasted out of the sky by Skulker. It was just the move she was looking for, but not the expecting to be so volatile as the explosion that happened blinded her. She quickly went intangible, her body flying back thru the wall before she went thru Lancer, his suitcase held up to protect himself from the blast that rocked the ground. The Nasty Burger lay before her smoking. Frowning she wondered where the two ghost had gone, but knowing that she was at least safe she went to take a step to look around, her foot knocking something. Noting that she was alone she de-transformed before reaching down for the strange necklace, a CW overlapping in the middle.
"Hmmm, what the hell is this?" she wondered when she heard the sound of paper flapping around behind her. She almost dismissed it until it moved into her vision with the small gust of wind. Frowning at the envelope she found her mouth falling open. She would have to find a way to return that back to Lancer, but as she still had time to head over to Danny's home she stuffed it in her backpack before rushing off. She had wanted to grab a few books to help her friend, but she could just as easily find the information online with his computer at the house.
Clockwork stood before the glass again, still unsure what she would turn against the world for. Was it this test? He would have to wait to see what happened, especially when the ghost he had sent to destroy her had failed. The fact that she was able to get away from the two ghosts was rather surprising. He had almost not sent the child, but he figured that the chances would be higher if there were two against the halfa.
"Destroy her now," one of the Observants commanded. Clockwork said nothing as he pushed a button on his staff, a clock on the top, and watched all the scenes before him... all of them that led to what happened, but what he saw wasn't the girl cheating, but her friend, the one that died in the blast right before his eyes.
"She has locked in her future, her own misjudgment the means of her end," he said with a wicked looking smirk.
Sam showed up at Danny's home a few minutes later, her apologies quick as she followed him back to his kitchen. "Skulker got me on the way home and then another ghost showed up to assist." At her look he wondered what was so strange about that. They had fought multiple ghosts before. Noticing his look she explained about the other ghost, his own brow raising at the description.
"That sounds like a mini Lunch Lady," he pointed out. She looked thoughtful for a moment. He was right. The small child had looked like the first ghost they had officially fought, Tucker having pointed her out when Danny had been the halfa. Shrugging it off since she was done fighting the strange child she sat down her bag just as another breath of air informed the duo that she had another visitor. She frowned as she took off for the door, informing Danny that she would be back in a few minutes, especially if it was Skulker. "I can hel-"
"Danny, he got caught in the explosion so he should be a little weaker. You need to worry about your test," she stated before transforming and heading out of the house. Danny sat back down, scowling at the papers before him, the pencil still on the floor. His sister had gotten the clue that he didn't need her help since Sam was coming to help him out and had left him to his own devices. He recalled that she was going to bring some study material and wondered if she had managed to grab it before coming to help him. Leaning down he opened her bag, his eyes narrowing on the envelope in her bag. Curious he pulled it out to find that it was the answer guide, the food from the attack still on it.
'This would make it so easy,' he thought, his mind running over the possibility that he could pass this test with little to no problem, but then he thought of what Sam would say to him and he had taken it out of her bag. He was stuck in that thought process, but before he could do anything the door burst open and without a second thought he shoved it under his papers as Sam appeared, her breathing harsh. "You okay?" Smiling at him she nodded.
"It was just as I thought," she said as she returned to her seat and for the next few hours they studied, that was until her father called her home. Groaning she grabbed her bag without even noticing that it was open before rushing out. Danny frowned at the papers before him, the information that Sam had been giving him still not sticking. He moved the papers aside, his blue eyes locked on the answer sheet.
"Why shouldn't I cheat?" he wondered aloud. Sure, he hadn't been fighting ghosts in a long time, but he still had helped on a number of occasions and shouldn't that count for something? He had been failing because he had been helping his town and while Sam had been doing that same thing, she wasn't failing like he had been, but Sam was like his sister. She was smart. Hell, she was waayy ahead of the class. He continued to eye the packet as if it could give him the answer to his quandry.