Welcome back, phans!
I know you are all still gripping your butts, so let's get straight into the thick of it!
Ver. 1.0.1 (1/3/20)
Update (1.0.1): Fixed grammatical errors.
Standard Disclaimer, I do not own Danny Phantom, which I'm sure everyone reading is aware of by now. I'm still not sure why we need these disclaimers, but apparently most people have no common sense. Okay, let's start the episode.
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Last time, on Danny Phantom…
During patrol, something hit Danny from above and sent him flying towards the ground.
"Hello, whelp."
"Skulker."
Skulker suddenly grabbed Danny by the collar and brought him close to his face.
"Last warning," he said, "Tell me where everyone is, or I will make your life more miserable than you can possibly imagine. Many inhabitants of the Ghost Zone have gone missing. I witnessed as Poindexter and the Lunch Lady Ghost were captured by someone using a Fenton Thermos."
A grapple beam from a Fenton Thermos above them grabbed Skulker and pulled him inside.
The next day, Danny, Tucker, Sam, and Jazz were walking around the park.
"I'm pretty certain I know who's behind it," said Danny, "I'm betting the Hunter is behind it."
"Do you have any idea what he plans to do with them?" Sam asked.
"Hm…." Vin pondered, "Well, like any hunter, I would assume that maybe he's been collecting bait for traps."
Nearby, the Hunter was watching them from behind a bush.
A little past midnight, Danny and the Hunter were in the park.
"I'm not here to fight you," said the Hunter, "Watch your back. You never know who will be holding the knife when they stab you in the back with it."
The next day, the Hunter played a recording to everyone.
"How about Magnus, who's still out there?" Vin added.
"Have you guys ever mentioned Magnus' name to Vin?" the Hunter asked.
Phantom marched over and grabbed Vin by the collar with his free hand.
"You know something about the missing ghosts, don't you?" he asked, "Where are they!?"
"Oh, Hunter," Vin said evilly, "I must give you credit. You are much smarter than I thought."
"Who… are you?" Danny asked nervously as he slowly backed away.
"I am… Reaper," the ghost explained as he pulled his hood over his head, telekinetically picked up the orb and Fenton Thermos, and pointed his scythe at Danny, "And your soul is mine to take."
*Cue Intro*
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Danny Phantom in: The Timeless Struggle (Episode 57)
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The Hunter glared at Reaper as Danny, Tucker, Sam, and Jazz slowly backed away. The Fenton Thermos and yellow Orb were still floating within Reaper's grasps.
"What's wrong, Trevor?" Reaper teased, "Afraid I might slice something else in your body?"
The Hunter narrowed his eyes.
"Uh, Hunter? Or Trevor?" Danny asked, "Do you have a plan?"
"Yeah," he replied, "Duck."
As he said that, the Hunter grabbed Danny's collar and pulled him down to the ground, narrowly avoiding the grapple of the Collector. The claw flew straight at Reaper and grabbed him by his skull.
"Aarrghhhh…" he groaned as the grapple began draining his energy.
Nearby, Jack and Maddie were standing behind a bush, with Jack holding the Collector and Maddie holding the Fenton Ghost Chiller.
"Ha! Take that, ghost!" Jack exclaimed as the Collector began charging with Reaper's energy.
"Jack, weren't you were aiming at the ghost boy?" Maddie asked.
"Ah, Maddie, it won't matter," Jack replied, "Without that skeleton ghost's help, the ghost child will have less allies to help him."
The Hunter quickly got back up to his feet and charged towards Reaper. The foe grabbed the claw the ripped it off his face. He swung his scythe at the Hunter, but he vaulted himself over the attack, grabbed the Fenton Thermos and Orb and landed on Magnus' head.
*Clang*
The Hunter launched himself off the magician, tossed the Thermos into the air, and landed next to Wulf. Magnus fell to his knees and held his head.
"Wulf, malfermu fantoman portalon!" the Hunter yelled.
(Wulf, open a ghost portal!)
Wulf extended his sharp claws and slashed through the air, tearing open a portal into the Ghost Zone. The Fenton Thermos began to fall back down when the ghost raven flew in and grabbed it before disappearing into the Ghost Zone.
"Trairu la portalon kaj fermu ĝin malantaŭ vi," said the Hunter.
(Go through the portal and close it behind you)
Wulf nodded and turned to leave through the portal. He looked over his shoulder to Danny.
"We'll meet again," he smiled before jumping through the portal.
The tear closed behind him and Reaper glared at the Hunter.
"You've become a real thorn in my side, Trevor," he growled, "Magnus!"
The ghost magician shook his head and got back up onto his feet. A blast from the Chiller flew over his head and bounced off the fountain, back towards him.
"Kalipar du xaquin idish!" he chanted and launched a fireball towards the projectile.
The resin and fireball collided, creating a small explosion in the air. Reaper looked over his shoulder and saw Jack and Maddie running over.
"Keep those two busy," he ordered Magnus.
"Not as much fun," Magnus sighed, "Very well."
He teleported away from the group and behind Jack and Maddie. He tapped their shoulders to get their attention.
"Boo," he said before floating away.
"Ghost!" Jack exclaimed and he and Maddie chased after him.
Back with the others, Reaper charged at Danny, scythe readied. The Hunter ran forward and launched himself at Reaper, fly-kicking him in the back towards Danny, who flew forward and punched the ghost in the face.
*WHAM*
Reaper's back skidded across the ground a few feet before he floated back up and glared at his attackers. The Hunter looked over and tossed Jazz the Fenton Peeler. She raised her eyebrow.
"Take your brother and the others and get out of here," he told her, "I'll finish this."
Danny glanced over at him.
"Fat chance, kid," he said, "If this guy's causing trouble, then I'll be the one to handle it!"
The Hunter grabbed Danny by the collar and threw him towards the others. Phantom quickly recovered and floated in front of them.
"That scythe will slice you in two, even if you go intangible, Phantom," the Hunter warned as he turned back to Reaper, "If you think I'm just gonna let you die, well you are sadly mistaken. Not get out of here!"
As soon as he finished his sentence, Reaper charged at the Hunter and swung downwards. The Hunter jumped to the side and punched the Reaper's sides twice before backflipping and kicking the side of his face. He landed with one hand on the ground and looked up. Reaper wiped his jaw with the back of his hand and chuckled as his eyes began to glow red.
"Well, this will take a while," the Hunter muttered just before cartwheeling away from the Reaper's eyebeams.
Team Phantom watched the fight from the sidelines.
"Come on," said Jazz, "Let's get out of here before things get too hectic."
She, Tucker, and Sam turned around and began to leave.
"I'm not leaving," said Danny.
"Huh?" the others exclaimed.
"Why not?" Jazz asked.
"I don't care what he said, this is my home and I'm going to protect it, with or without his help," said Danny, "You guys get back to the Fenton Works. We'll meet you there."
"Okay," said Jazz, "Come on guys."
Sam hesitated for a moment.
"Be careful, Danny," she told him.
Danny smirked before flying into the battle. The Hunter and Reaper were locked in a battle of strength as the two were trying to overwhelm the other by pushing against the staff of the scythe. The Hunter's arms were beginning to shake and sweat was appearing on his face.
"What's the matter, Trevor?" Reaper teased, "Getting tired?"
The Hunter was slowly brought down to one knee as Reaper's eyes began to glow. Suddenly, a green ghost ray hit Reaper and pushed him off the Hunter. Danny flew over and offered him a hand.
"You're gonna be the death of me, you know that?" the Hunter asked as he took Phantom's hand.
"Yeah, well, I don't let the bad guys win," Danny replied, "I don't know what your story is, but I'm certain that you know that if we work together, we can beat him."
The Hunter brushed some hair out of his face and glanced at Danny.
"Fine," he said, "Hope you can keep up."
Reaper pulled himself up using his scythe and looked up in time to see Danny and the Hunter charging him.
*BAM*
The Hunter punched him in the stomach.
*POW*
Danny punched him across the face.
*BLAM*
The Hunter elbowed him in the back.
*WAM*
Danny gave him an uppercut.
"Ugghhh…" Reaper moaned as he sat back up, "I've had enough of this! Magnus!"
The Hunter reached behind his back to grab something, but realized it wasn't there.
"Huh!?"
He glanced over and saw his Fenton Thermos a few feet away. He ran to it as Magnus appeared next to Reaper.
"No!" the Hunter shouted as he reached for the container.
"Kiranann ta sular sinur ast!" Magnus chanted, causing Reaper and himself to glow a purple aura.
"Too slow, Trevor," Reaper smirked, "Good luck catching me now!"
The Hunter grabbed the Thermos and aimed it at the two ghosts, but by the time they were in the crosshairs, they teleported away.
"DARN IT!" the Hunter shouted, slamming his fist into the ground, "He got away again!"
Danny walked over to him.
"Hey, relax," he said, "You'll get him next time."
The Hunter scoffed and went over to grab the Thermos' cap.
"Danny, you don't understand," he said as he slapped the cap on.
"Well, telling me what the heck is going on would be a great start," Danny snapped.
"… Fine," said the Hunter, "To begin with-"
"There's the ghost kid!" Maddie shouted, "And he's kidnapping that boy!"
"Just perfect," Danny and the Hunger muttered.
"I'll deal with my parents," said Danny, "It's almost nighttime, but I think it's time we had that long overdue talk."
"Agreed," said the Hunter as he picked up his broken rifle and balaclava, "But first, I need to make a stop. I'll meet you at the Nasty Burger tomorrow."
"Tomorrow!?" Danny exclaimed, "Why!?"
"We've got him now, Maddie!" Jack shouted as he aimed the Collector at Phantom.
"Just trust me, okay?" the Hunter asked.
With that said, the two split up.
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The next day, Danny, Tucker, Sam, and Jazz were waiting impatiently at the Nasty Burger.
"You sure we can trust him?" Sam asked Danny, "I mean, I know he saved us and Wulf, but this kid seems a little…"
"Crazy?" Tucker asked.
"I was going to say 'dangerous', but that too," said Sam.
"Guys, he's just a kid," said Danny, "It's not like we can ignore some eleven-year-old who shows up with an anti-ghost weapon and some serious fighting skills."
"Twelve-year-old," said a voice next to the group.
The gang turned and saw the Hunter standing there, with no balaclava. The ghost raven was perched on his shoulder.
"I'm twelve, for future reference," he said flatly.
"Wow," said Danny as he checked his cellphone, "We only had to wait 10 minutes."
"And I've spent the last few hours making sure every ghost was accounted for in the Ghost Zone," the Hunter growled, "Well, almost every ghost. Just the ones that were known to have been missing. Oh, and Johnny's Shadow is still mad at you."
"Is this about the time Magnus made copies of him?" Danny asked, "I apologized like three times already!"
"Your problem, not mine," said the Hunter.
"So… exactly who are you?" Jazz asked.
"Before we get to the questions, Danny might want to deal with him first," said the Hunter.
"Deal with who?" Danny asked.
Suddenly, he gasped and a blue mist escaped his mouth. Seconds later, people outside began screaming and running from a large green ghost. It was twice Danny's size and had a flame on top of its head.
"Wick?" Danny asked.
"Yeah, saw him lurching around on my way here," the Hunter explained, "Consider this as a test to see how well you do in a fight."
"Seriously!?" Danny exclaimed, "Great… I'm not even in school and I'm still taking exams."
As people ran out of the Nasty Burger and out of the area, Danny got up and raised his arms.
"I'm going ghost!" he exclaimed.
A white ring appeared around his waist and split into opposite moving rings, turning him into Danny Phantom. He went intangible and went outside to deal with the threat.
"Come on," said the Hunter to the others, "You'll be more help outside, if you can be of any. And I need more fresh air."
Phantom flew over to Wick, who was busy scaring people away. He fired an icy ghost ray at Wick's back, covering it in ice. The wax ghost turned and growled at Danny.
"Isn't it a little early to be scaring people?" Danny quipped, "Halloween isn't for another three months."
Wick replied with two large blobs of green wax thrown at him. Danny tried blasting them with a regular ghost ray, but the attack did nothing. He quickly flew around the projectiles and fired cryo-ghost rays from both hands at Wick, encasing his torso and arms in ice.
"Yeah! You go, Danny!" Tucker cheered.
"You've got him!" Jazz added with one of her arms raised.
Sam turned to the Hunter, who was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, and saw how impressed he looked.
"Well, he's doing well, right?" she asked with a nervous smile.
The Hunter's eyes glanced over to hers.
"I wouldn't start cheering until he's captured Wick," he told Tucker and Jazz without shifting his eyes.
Tucker and Jazz looked at each other for a moment and calmed down.
"Phantom!" the Hunter shouted, "Normal ghost rays won't work on him! His wax just absorbs the attacks to make him more powerful!"
"Uh… Thanks?" Danny replied, "I thought this was a test."
Danny flew towards Wick and punched him in the right arm, shattering it into multiple pieces. He then made a U-turn and did the same to the other arm.
"Ha!" Phantom exclaimed, floating a short distance from Wick, "Like this is such a challenge."
Wick glared at Danny as his flame slowly grew bigger. The ice around his body began to crack.
"Uh-oh," said Danny.
The cracks continued to appear until Wick broke free and his arms reformed.
"You can't delay your attacks!" the Hunter shouted, getting Danny's attention, "He's only vulnerable against extreme temperatures, but his wax quickly returns to room temperature!"
Danny nodded and flew towards Wick once more. He fired another cryokinetic ghost ray at Wick, this time towards the flame on his head. Wick quickly ducked under the attack before slapping Danny away. Phantom went spinning through the air for a moment before he regained control and reoriented himself in the air. The Hunter glared at Danny as he watched him attempt the same thing. This time, Wick was ready and grabbed the hero.
"Danny!" Sam exclaimed.
Wick bellowed directly into Danny's face before trapping his body in a ball of wax and throwing him at the others.
"Incoming!" Tucker shouted as he, Sam, and jazz ran out of the way.
*SPLORT*
"Ugghh…" Danny groaned as his body remained glued to the wall of the Nasty Burger, upside-down.
The other members of Team Phantom rushed over to help him.
"You okay, Danny?" Jazz asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine," he replied as he turned intangible to free himself, "But I'm really stuck. I'm coated in wax."
Wick laughed at the hero's feeble attempt to stop him and began to walk away. Danny struggled a few seconds longer before giving up and turning tangible again.
"I don't think I need to tell you this," said the Hunter, "But you can't get out of Wick's wax using intangibility. You just can't."
"Oh, thanks, professor!" Danny remarked, "If you're such an expert, why don't you go deal with him."
The Hunter glanced over at him and stared for a moment before looking away.
"*Sigh* Unbelievable," the Hunter muttered, "Well, I was going to tell you guys later, but I guess I'll do it now."
"Tell us what?" Tucker asked as everyone looked at the Hunter.
The Hunter uncrossed his arms and walked out into the road. The ghost raven flew off his shoulder and landed on a nearby traffic light. Team Phantom kept watching, wondering what he was going to do. He put his thumb and finger in his mouth and blew a loud whistle that got Wick's attention.
"Hey! Hothead!" the Hunter shouted.
Wick stopped moving and turned towards him.
"You think you're getting away that easily?" the Hunter asked.
Danny used his cryo-eyebeams to freeze the wax around him and broke free.
"What's he doing?" Danny asked as he got up to his feet.
The Hunter took a deep breath and sighed. He closed his eyes as a light blue ring appeared around his waist. The rings split into two, one moving up and the other down. His clothes changed into a black jump suit with white gloves and boots. The suit collar was a thin green with another slightly larger one an inch below the collar. He had white bands around his lower arms a couple of inches from his wrists, and around his elbows and knees. A thin green band was around his knees, in the center of the white ones. His light skin was now tan, and his long brown hair was now a uranium blue color. He opened his eyes to reveal their glowing neon green color. Around his neck was a small white scarf. Upon his chest was a large and bold white 'L' with a neon green bolden letter 'S' resting within the open area of the 'L', both stylized in a similar font as Danny's logo. The members of Team Phantom had their jaws hanging and Wick was stunned.
"Another one?" he asked in a watery voice, "Ha! What can a child like you do?"
The half-ghost started floating up into the air. He held up his hands and dark green fireballs appeared in his palms. Wick raised a brow before the Hunter rocketed straight at Wick.
*SPLORT*
"Huh!?" everyone exclaimed.
Wick looked down and saw a small hole where the Hunter entered inside his body. He quickly closed it up, trapping him inside, and laughed.
"What was that!?" he asked, "You trying to make me laugh? Well, mission…"
Slowly, Wick's body began to melt. His eyes widened as he realized he couldn't keep himself together.
"Nnnooo!" he shouted, "My body! My beautiful wax body!"
"Did he just say 'beautiful'?" Tucker asked, "Because I've Spectra's real face, and she's better looking than him."
The wax on Wick's body continued to melt off as he tried to control it, but it wasn't long until the wax was all melted away and all that was left was the Hunter and Wick's true body, both floating in the air.
"Uh…" said Wick before giving a nervous smile, "Can I get a head start?"
The Hunter pulled out a Fenton Thermos and quickly captured the ghost. He then aimed the Thermos at all the wax and trapped some inside the Thermos. The remaining wax started hardening into
"Thirty seconds," he said to himself, "Could do better."
He turned to the others and flew over to them. Their mouths were still hanging open.
"Here," the Hunter said to Danny as he tossed the Thermos to him, "I think that belongs to you."
Danny, Tucker, Sam, and Jazz were as still as statues.
"Yeah, I know, I'm a halfa," said the Hunter, "Now can we get to the Fenton Works before you bombard me with-"
"YOU'RE HALF-GHOST!?" Danny asked.
"YOU COULD HAVE DONE THAT THE WHOLE TIME!?" Sam exclaimed.
"ARE YOU DANNY AND SAM'S SON!?" Tucker asked.
Danny and Sam glared at Tucker.
"What?" he asked, "Time medallion, ghost powers. He's obviously from the future! And he could be… well, you know."
"… questions," the Hunter muttered as he rubbed his forehead, "This is going to be a long day."
"… I'll wait in the car," said Jazz as she slowly made her way over to the parking lot.
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In Magnus' cave, Reaper was furiously floating around, appearing as though he was looking for something to destroy with his hands. Magnus had his back to him, busy reading through his spell book.
"Rrrrgghhh!" Reaper growled as he smashed a large boulder nearby into rubble.
"Master, I do believe that boulder did no wrong to you," Magnus said over his shoulder.
Reaper glared dangerously at the magician.
"Do you have any idea what that little nuisance can do!?" he asked Magnus.
"Besides ruin your plans?" Magnus asked, "No, not really."
Reaper wanted to strangle his subordinate, but instead took his anger out on the cave wall. After a few moments of cracking the earth, Reaper calmed down.
"Have we calmed down now?" Magnus asked as he turned a page in his book.
"While Trevor's presence here is… unexpected, it changes nothing," said Reaper, "And I may know a possible location of another Orb of Power."
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The gang and the Hunter, with his avian friend on his shoulder, just arrived at the Fenton Works and were making their way upstairs towards Danny room.
"How did you get your ghost powers?" Danny asked.
"Are you really from the future?" Tucker asked.
"Does Danny still fight ghosts in the future?" Sam asked.
The Hunter was starting to show clears signs of irritation as his eyes began to glow neon green.
"Guys?" Jazz asked, "I think we should let him talk."
Unfortunately, they didn't hear her, and the questions wouldn't stop as they began to overlap each other.
"SHUT UP!" the Hunter shouted.
Everyone went dead silent and backed up a couple of steps.
"Can we first get inside Danny's room before you suffocate me with questions?" he asked as he opened the door to Danny's room and entered it.
The others hesitated for a moment.
"Well!? You want answers or not!?" the Hunter yelled, getting their rears into gear.
They all entered the room and Danny closed the door behind them. The Hunter sat down on the floor and everyone sat before him.
"One question at a time," he said calmly, "And only ones relevant to this situation."
"Okay," Danny replied, "I guess the first question we should have asked you is… who exactly areyou?"
"Finally, an easy question," said the Hunter, "My name is Trevor…"
He showed them the time medallion that was under his shirt.
"… and yes, I am from the future. Twenty-five years from now."
*Caw* *Caw*
"Oh, and this is Dust," said Trevor, introducing the ghost raven.
"Cool pet. Does Polly want a cracker?" Tucker teased.
The black bird looked at Tucker and glared at him.
"Excuse me, WHAT DID YOU SAY!?" shouted a young female child's voice, "I AM NO ONE'S PET!"
"AAIIGGH!" Tucker shrieked, "IT TALKS!"
Trevor shook his head as the raven puffed out some of her feathers.
"Yeah, you don't say," he replied, "She's always talked. Just not audibly."
"What do you mean?" Jazz asked.
"Dust and I have a psychic link with each other," Trevor explained, "We communicate with each other using our minds."*
"Cool!" Danny exclaimed, "Can you teach me how to do that?"
"Uh, no…" Trevor answered, "It's only between me and her. And it's not something you can teach. Besides, the only reason we have one is because of this medallion."
"Good," said Sam, "I'm not sure how comfortable I would be to hear voices in my head."
"You get used to it," said Trevor, "Next question."
"How did you get your ghost powers?" Jazz asked.
Trevor gave her side-eye.
"Not important," he replied, "Next question?"
"What do you mean it's not important!?" Sam exclaimed.
"Was I speaking Esperanto?" Trevor asked, "No, I wasn't. Next question."
"Can she stop staring at me please?" Tucker asked, pointing at Dust.
"I could," said Dust, "but I won't."
"Trevor?" Tucker pleaded.
"Your problem, not mine."
"Awwww…" Tucker moped.
"Actually…" said Trevor before he glanced over at Dust.
He didn't say anything, but a moment later, Dust flew off his shoulder and phased through the wall. The others raised an eyebrow.
"I told her to look for Reaper," Trevor explained, "Psychic link, remember?"
"Right," said Sam.
"I've got a question," said Tucker, "When you first showed up, Danny was in trouble at Pariah's Keep and we got an anonymous message telling us to help him. The initials were 'L.S.', which were the same ones on your chest when you went ghost. Was that you?"
"Yup," Trevor replied, "Disposable phone. I saw your number in Danny's phone while I was keeping an eye on you guys."
"Okay, but what do those initials stand for?" Tucker asked.
"Can I have some paper and something to write with?" Trevor asked.
"Uh, yeah, sure," said Danny.
He got up and grabbed the requested items from his desk and handed them to Trevor. The young half-ghost began writing something down. When he was finished, he handed the paper to Tucker.
"'Trevor Logan Spec-tre'?" he read, "Okay, why did you misspell 'specter'?"
"I didn't," Trevor explained, "My birth name is Logan Spectre, which sounds like 'specter', but the spelling has the 'E' and 'R' swapped. My legal name is Trevor Logan Spectre, but I just go by Trevor Logan."
"… what?" Tucker asked, scratching his head.
"He's trying to keep his identity a secret, Tucker," said Sam, "He can't just use his real name as a human and as a ghost."
"Oohh, right…" said Tucker, "So, your hero name is Logan Specter, with correct spelling?"
Trevor began to sarcastically clap.
"Bravo, you figured it out," he said, "For the record, call my Trevor when I'm human and Logan or Specter when I'm a ghost. Now can we move on to more important questions?"
"So, why are you here, Trevor?" Jazz asked.
"Short answer," said Trevor, "capture Reaper and return to my timeline."
"Uh… some details would be nice," Jazz noted.
"Well… it's a long story," Trevor sighed, "I'm not going to go into too much detail, especially what the future is like in general, but I will tell you everything that is relevant. Okay?"
The others looked at one another and nodded.
"Alright, then," said Trevor, "I come from the year 2030…"
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AMITY PARK: YEAR 2030
"Nine months ago, everything was… normal," said Trevor, " Or as close to normal you might call it."
A sunny afternoon in a futuristic Amity Park. There were floating billboards, floating traffic lights, and flying cars. People were walking around, taking the advanced maglev trains, watching their kids play in the playground or ride their hoverboards. Nearby, Danny Phantom aimed his wrist-mounted Fenton Thermos at a ghost and captured it. The older Phantom looked different than he did twenty-five years ago. He was now a man, well fit, and had longer hair in the front. His suit had been upgraded, now with decals at the ends of his boots and gloves, his chest emblem was now a ghostly green, his suit's torso had white chest and stomach decals with a black line in the middle.**
"You were everyone's favorite hero," Trevor continued, "But you couldn't have done it without some help."
The Red Huntress flew over on her hoverboard. The board had remained the same, with some minor detail exception, but the owner made noticeable modifications to her suit. Her advanced red and black suit now had harness that cross-linked over her chest and was connected to a belt around her waist. She also had a white 'DP' logo on her suit, just a few inches to the right, below her neck.*** She removed her helmet to reveal herself as Valerie. She and Danny looked over and saw an older Tucker waving up to them. He was wearing a light blue hooded jacket with the logo over a long-sleeved white shirt, navy jeans, white shoes, shield glasses, and a Rasta hat.****
"Even from a less experienced halfa," said Trevor.
"Halfa?" Jazz asked.
Logan Specter, whose hair was short, flew over and handed Danny his regular sized Fenton Thermos as he gave him his report.
"You guys met Poindexter?" Trevor asked.
"That's what he called me also," said Danny, "Never really labeled myself like that."
"Well, spend enough time with him and the term will rub off on you," said Trevor, 'By this time, I've had my powers for more than a year. Phantom was still training me, but I was able to handle myself."
"Wait… I train you?" Danny asked, "Cool!"
"So you weren't born with your powers then?" Tucker asked.
"No," Trevor sighed, "And Danny is NOT my father. Now stop asking about my personal history, that's none of your business!"
"So, what happened?" Sam asked, wanting to move along.
Valerie got an alarm and activated her holo-screen on her wrist. There were red blips scattered everywhere.
"Our worst nightmare…" said Trevor.
Suddenly, ghosts from different directions started flying into Amity Park.
"… a full-scale ghost invasion."
The heroes gasped at the sight of all the ghosts as a group of them launched towards them.
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"We fought as best we could, but within a week, half the world was controlled by the Overlords."
Amity Park was no longer a thriving metropolis; it was now a smoldering wasteland of ruins. People were running to escape the ghosts.
"Overlords?" Danny asked.
"A group of our worst enemies that allied together to take over the world," Trevor explained.
A large plant vine erupted from the ground and wrapped around a building.
"Undergrowth…"
The building was crushed into rubble. As lightning flashed in the sky.
"Vortex…"
A green sword began to glow from the darkness within an abandoned building.
"Fright Knight…"
Beside him, a purple cloaked magician appeared, his cloak slightly tattered.
"Magnus…"
A large ghost wearing a crown appeared between the two.
"Pariah Dark…"
Standing before the group was a familiar archenemy.
"Vlad Plasmius... and others," Trevor growled.
The dark silhouettes of the villains appeared over the ruined cities.
"Others? You mean all my enemies banded together?" Danny asked.
"Were it so simple," Trevor sighed, "Only a handful of your enemies were Overlords, and we haven't even discovered all their identities yet."
"Is Magnus also from the future?" Sam asked.
"Yes and no," Trevor replied, "I'm getting there. But I since you brought him up, what do know about him?"
"Not much," said Tucker, "He said he was the 'Magician of Black Magic'."
"Well, he wasn't lying," said Trevor.
"~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~"
"What do you mean?" Danny asked.
In the lower chamber located under Pariah's Keep, Magnus was at an alter surrounded in strange purple glowing symbols. His hands were glowing green and shooting lightning at the ground.
"Do you know what kind of black magic he uses?" Trevor asked.
"No," Danny answered, "Why?"
Magnus' red eye stared at the ground as a green skeletal arm reached out of the ground.
"He's not just a ghost magician," said Trevor, "He's a ghost necromancer."
"You mean… he brings dead things back to life?" Jazz asked.
"Not exactly," said Trevor, "Magnus is… was Pariah Dark's royal magician, much like how Fright Knight is his right hand. Magnus was the one who created Pariah Dark's armies long ago, using the souls of the deceased. Don't confuse his magic with the necromancy you've seen in fantasy games and whatnot. And for him to use this magic, he must have either ectoplasm or human souls from graveyards. Or both, as if it wasn't bad enough."
"If he can raise an army, why doesn't he just create a new one and command it to attack?" Sam asked.
"Well, he technically can," Trevor answered, "He can summon a maximum of three minions of his choosing at once, or one large minion, as you've seen. He can create more, but he only has the power to control three at a time. Pariah Dark has the power to command the armies."
"~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~"
In the Ghost Zone, Pariah's army went after other ghosts. Phantom and Specter were fighting them off so they wouldn't exit the Ghost Zone through the Fenton Ghost Portal.
"As I was saying before, there were others involved in the invasion," Trevor continued, "But none of them were more dangerous than Reaper.
A pair of red ghost rays blasted Danny and Specter. They looked over and saw Reaper holding his double-bladed scythe in his hands. Danny fired a cryokinetic ghost ray at him while Specter fired a blue ghost ray from his hand. Reaper dodged the attacks and charged at the halfas.
"What makes him so dangerous?" Sam asked, "I mean, we've fought many dangerous ghosts in the past. How is Reaper any different?"
"~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~"
In the burning ruins of a city, a small group of humans ran for their lives from Reaper. One of them, a teenager, tripped and fell to the ground. He looked over his shoulder and gasped.
"Because Reaper kills people indiscriminately," Trevor answered.
Reaper floated over the teen and slashed his scythe towards his chest.
"~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~"
"And he's been doing it for years," Trevor continued, "He's killed more people than the five worst serial killers in history combined. And I plan on making sure he never takes another life again. You know how many victims that comes out to?"
Specter looked over as another funeral occurs at the cemetery. He was visibly upset as he turned and look over the entire graveyard.
No one answered.
"Over 1,000 victims," said Trevor.
Dozens of fresh graves stood before Specter as his gripped his fists in anger.
"… what?" Danny asked nervously.
"You heard me," said Trevor, "And that includes slaughtering humans and destroying ghosts, both for kicks."
"Destroy ghosts?" Tucker asked, "You mean like kill them?"
"I prefer to use 'destroy' since some ghosts were once alive as humans," Trevor clarified, "Whether or not ghosts are 'alive' has been a long discussion between me and… uh… other acquaintances whose identities I will not disclose for the sake for not altering your timeline any more than it needs to be."
"How did Reaper get to the past?" Danny asked.
"Same way I did," Trevor replied.
"~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~"
Specter was battling Reaper, alone, through the half-destroyed mall.
"Three weeks ago, when we were still in our timeline, I had engaged Reaper on my own. Danny had insisted that I wait until he arrived, but I told him that there were people in trouble. I went in got them away from Reaper and fought him off."
Specter leaned left and right as Reaper attempted to slash him.
"But I made a horrible mistake that almost cost me my life," said Trevor, "Again."
Reaper spun around and appeared to slash at Specter, but at the last second crossed his scythe over and slashed the opposite direction.
"What?" Sam asked.
The blade slashed across Specter and sent him flying into a wall.
"~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~"
Trevor sighed as he got up to his feet and unzipped the top of his jacket.
"I… misread Reaper's attack and…"
He revealed a black scarf around his neck, which he pulled down to reveal a red scar across his throat. Everyone gasped.
"He tagged me good that time," Trevor continued as he readjusted the scarf and zipped his jacket back up, "And it gets even better."
"~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~"
Specter grabbed his throat as he struggled to catch his breath. Reaper reached into his cloak and pulled out a small metal handheld device with two red prongs coming out. Specter fell onto his rear as he tried to back away.
"With me too distracted by my injury, Reaper then tried to make sure that I didn't survive," Trevor explained, "Ever heard of the Plasmius Maximus?"
"You're joking!" Danny exclaimed, "He didn't!"
"Well, imagine having almost every one of your ghost abilities short-circuited for three weeks at the worst possible time," said Trevor.
Reaper stood over Specter and jabbed the device at his arm.
"But I wasn't going to go down that easily," said Trevor.
Specter grabbed Reaper's arm as he was shocked by the device, also shocking Reaper. Red electric sparks appeared around them as their ghost powers were nullified. A light blue ring appeared around Specter and he turned back into human. His clothes were all shredded. Reaper backed away as weakness began to overcome him. As a last attack, Reaper punched the nearby wall, causing the wall and ceiling above to crack. Still holding his neck, Trevor looked up in horror as debris fell on top of him. Dust filled the area as Reaper laughed and flew off. A moment later, some rubble began to move and Trevor pulled himself out. He rubbed his neck, which was now burned.
"And right there was Reaper's biggest mistake," Trevor explained, "He didn't check to see if I was dead before leaving. I was able to cauterize my wound with what little energy I had remaining. Lucky that I grabbed that psycho; he took some of the shock from the Plasmius Maximus for me, which is why I am still alive. Or, heh, half-alive."
Trevor coughed up a little ectoplasm and blood for a moment. He wiped his mouth and slowly made his way towards the exit. He was covered in cuts and bruises and he was exhausted.
"Did you just make a joke?" Tucker asked.
"Shut up, Tucker," Trevor responded, "Unfortunately for me, my voice box was severely damaged and I couldn't talk, which is why I sounded like raspy old man lately."
"But how did Reaper get here?" Sam asked.
"I'm getting there, hold on," said Trevor, "So after I pulled myself out of the rubble, Phantom showed up."
Danny Phantom flew into the mall through a large hole in the ceiling. He looked around and found Trevor limping towards him. Danny held him up and carried him over to the abandoned clothing store. Trevor use hand gestures to tell Danny what happened. Phantom set him down in a secluded section of the store.
"He told me that he'd be right back with medical supplies," said Trevor, "I was not happy with myself at all."
Trevor walked over to one of the mannequin displays. Tears filled his eyes as he picked it up ad threw it across the store.
"But then I realized that Reaper thinks I'm dead," said Trevor, "So I decided to make sure to keep it that way."
Trevor looked around and grabbed a bunch of clothes off the racks. He also grabbed a pair of red lensed goggles and a black leather jacket.
"Although I couldn't go ghost, I was lucky enough to still have my healing ability," Trevor continued, "It was much slower than normal, but at least my throat would heal. Eventually. But with nothing else to do but wait, I changed my attire."
Moments later, Danny arrived with a metal box of medical supplies. He looked around for Trevor and saw him in new clothes; black shirt, dark grey hooded jacket, black scarf, black pants, and a pair of black boots. He saw a torn-up leather jacket and pieces of swim goggles next to Trevor. The young halfa turned around and showed Danny the balaclava he made. He then walked over to a mirror and fogged it up with his breath. With his finger he wrote 'Fenton Works'.
"But I also needed equipment for me to use," said Trevor, "I still wanted to fight, no matter what. So I asked Phantom to take me to the Fenton Works."
Phantom and Trevor arrived at the Fenton Works lab. Trevor walked over to the armory and grabbed some items. Inside was a black backpack he grabbed and filled it with a couple of grenades, ammo cartridges with green bullets, another cartridge with ghost-catching nets, and am ammo harness to put the equipment on.
"Grabbed all the essentials; some of which I can't tell you, but the important one was the rifle you've seen me use; the Fenton Deadshot," said Trevor.
He looked up and grabbed the rifle off the rack. It was made of black and white components and had some green lights on it. Trevor removed the barrel extension and examined it before putting them in the duffel bag that was lying below the weapon rack. He also grabbed the rifle scope nearby and put it inside the duffel bag before zipping it up.
"What were those green bullets that you were using?" Danny asked, "I'm just wondering because you managed to hit Vin- I mean Reaper with one."
"… It's… *Sigh* It's made of the same material that his scythe is made of," Trevor admitted, "Refined ecto-ranium."
"Ecto-ranium?" the others asked.
"It's an extremely rare element that has anti-ghost properties," Trevor explained, "In its natural form, ecto-ranium harms any ghost or half-ghost that comes into contact with it and also prevents them from using their ghost powers. However, it has no effect on them when they are intangible."
"I know he said he was too slow, but I'm sure Reaper was intangible when you hit him," said Danny.
"I said my bullets were made of refined ecto-ranium," Trevor repeated, "When mixed together with the correct materials, refined ecto-ranium can also harm intangible ghosts and halfas. Which is exactly why I blocked Reapers attack when you turned intangible."
With everything packed and ready, Trevor pulled down his balaclava, grabbed his bags, and walked over to Danny, who was communicating with someone on his Fenton Phone. Phantom turned to him and told him that Reaper was sighted in the Ghost Zone.
"Once I was all set up, Phantom told me that Reaper was sighted in the Ghost Zone," Trevor continued, "And he was heading for Clockwork's lair."
Trevor ran over to the lab computer and quickly copied a bunch of data onto a drive. He looked over an grabbed a Fenton Thermos nearby that had three metal locking clamps to hold down the cap.
"Phantom and I knew there was only one reason why Reaper would want to attack Clockwork's lair, so I prepared for the worst and downloaded as much information as I could onto a drive."
Once the data transfer was complete, Trevor pulled the drive and put it in his pocket before he grabbed Danny's hand and they entered the Ghost Zone through the Fenton Ghost Portal.
"With everything ready, we raced after Reaper."
"~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~"
At Clockwork's lair, an adult Clockwork was distracted by the ghost skeletons as Reaper snuck around and grabbed the one of the two time medallions hanging on the wall. Clockwork was floating over the destroyed skeletons and changed to his elderly appearance when he turned around and saw Reaper turn the medallion intangible and hid it within his body.^*
"We arrived, but we we're too late," Trevor growled.
Danny and Trevor arrived just as Reaper turned back and laughed as he created a time portal and entered it.
"Phantom was about to chase after him, but Magnus revealed himself and rebuilt the skeletons."
Phantom began walking over to the last time medallion, but teleported in front of him, blocking his path. He raised a glowing green hand and the skeletons fused together to form the warrior.
"Phantom and Clockwork went to work fighting Magnus and the warrior," Trevor continued, "I was about to help them, but I noticed that the portal was beginning to close."
Trevor looked over at the portal and saw it beginning to shrink. He then saw Danny being held down by the warrior.
"I knew there was no way Danny would reach the medallion and portal in time, so I took his place."
The weakened halfa ran through the battle, sliding under Magnus and grabbing the medallion off the wall. He put it on and raced towards the closing portal. Clockwork pressed the stopwatch on his staff and time slowed down around him and Trevor. He grabbed Trevor's arm and gave him a warning.
"Clockwork, being his usual self, warned me not to alter the past so much that would result in dire consequences," Trevor explained, "And as insurance, he summoned a ghost to be linked with the medallion."
Clockwork summoned a familiar looking ghost raven.
"You mean Dust?" Tucker asked.
"Mm-hm," Trevor replied.
The avian began to glow green and turned into ecto-energy that entered the medallion. Clockwork gave Trevor a last few words before pressing the button on his staff.
"He told me to do whatever it takes to stop Reaper," said Trevor, "but the way he said it was… cryptic."
Trevor gave Clockwork side-eye before remembering the portal. The portal was nearly closed; Trevor dashed forwards and dove into the portal just before it closed at the last second.
"~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~"
NEW YORK CITY: Three Weeks Ago
Reaper appeared from the portal and found himself on top of a tall building in New York City. A moment later, the Hunter appeared behind him.
"Surprise, surprise, I followed Reaper and we were in the past."
Reaper turned and laughed at the masked figure before flying off the building.
"He thought I was a simple ghost hunter… heh. As if."
The Hunter pulled out the rifle parts, put them together, and fired an anti-ghost net at him.
"~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~"
"For the first couple of days, it was just a simple game of cat and mouse around my home of New York City," said Trevor, "… uh… I shouldn't have mentioned that. Don't ask me anything about that."
The Hunter ran through the streets of New York City as he chased after Reaper.
"You're from New York? You don't sound like it," said Tucker.
"Because I wasn't born in New York," said Trevor, "I moved there later in life. Now stop asking personal questions."
Reaper flew into an alley, which led to a dead-end, and the Hunter followed.
"At one point, I thought I had Reaper cornered, since he was still weakened by the effects of the Plasmius Maximus and he couldn't use even the most basic of ghost abilities, like invisibility and intangibility," Trevor explained, "But fate had other plans…"
At the end of the alley, a ghost portal suddenly appeared. The Hunter's eyes widened as he pulled out the Fenton Thermos and aimed it at the ghost, but it was too late. Dust materialized out of the medallion and flew after the Reaper through the portal.
"Dust followed him into the Ghost Zone and told me what happened," said Trevor.
"~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~"
Dust flew through the Ghost Zone and landed on a tree just outside of Pariah Dark's keep. She glanced at the entrance and saw that it was open. She flew inside and saw light coming from an entryway to another chamber. She turned invisible and entered, where she saw Reaper approaching an old spell book. As he reached out to it, Reaper quickly spun around and aimed his scythe at a wall, where Vlad Plasmius revealed himself.
"What was Vlad doing there?" Jazz asked.
"Why does that froot loop do anything he does?" Trevor asked.
"Good point," she replied.
Dust watched as Vlad and Reaper had a brief conversation before Reaper smashed the lock on the book with his scythe. The book flung open and pages began to turn violently. Purple runes appeared around the pedestal the book was on. Suddenly, green ecto-energy poured out of the book and Magnus was awakened.
"Although Magnus was freed from his prison, he was very untrusting of Reaper."
Reaper handed the magician a small pendant that had a tiny purple gem.
"Reaper brought a magical charm with him that the Magnus from my timeline made," Trevor explained, "It holds all of his memories so Reaper can give it to this timeline's Magnus and have him gain those memories."
Magnus grabbed the pendant and his eye briefly glowed purple. He kneeled before Reaper as his master turned and shook hands with Vlad. Reaper turned to Magnus and the magician casted a spell on Reaper, changing his appearance to Vin. Dust quickly flew out of Pariah's Keep.
"~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~"
"Since then, I was able to lure Reaper back to New York and keep him busy," said Trevor, "It wasn't until a couple of weeks ago that he took off to Amity Park."
"That's rough," said Sam.
"Yeah, no need to tell me," Trevor replied, rolling his eyes.
*Caw* *Caw*
Dust phased through the wall and landed on Trevor's shoulder.
"Nothing?" Trevor asked, "Just what I wanted to hear. Next you'll tell is that he's destroyed every ghost in the Ghost Zone and that I have the power to poop out rainbows."
Dust glared at him.
"So everything Vin told us was a lie?" Danny asked, "About Florida? And Wulf?"
Trevor raised an eyebrow.
"One: I've never been to Florida," he replied, "Two: What did ol' Skeletor tell you?"
"He told us that Wulf got imprisoned for helping other ghost hunters hunt ghosts in the Ghost Zone," Danny answered.
Trevor started at Danny in disbelief before facepalming.
"Seriously? You believed that!?" he exclaimed.
"Well, not really," said Sam, "It sounded very unlike Wulf."
"Well, if you want to know, you should ask Wulf. Or Walker," said Trevor, "You know how idiotic his 'rules' are. As well as the punishments. But Wulf did not do that."
Danny, Tucker, and Sam sighed in relief. Suddenly Sam's eyes widened.
"Wulf!" she exclaimed, "Where is he!?"
"Relax, Sam, he's safe," said Trevor, "He's out in the wild, hopefully away from Walker and Reaper. Don't worry about him, he can take care of himself."
"But what if Walker catches him like he almost did before!?" Sam asked.
"You worry too much," said Trevor, "If he needs help, we'll be there to help him."
"We?" Danny asked.
"Can I ask a question?" Jazz asked, "When did you get your powers back?"
"About twenty minutes after Reaper escaped yesterday."
Everyone stared at Trevor.
"You've been without your powers for three weeks!?" Danny exclaimed.
"Eh," Trevor shrugged, "Give or take a couple of days."
"Wait-wait-wait-wait-wait, hold on a minute!" Danny exclaimed, "You mean to tell me that you ran after Reaper in human form!?"
"Yeah…" said Trevor, "Why?"
"… Uh… I… just… how!?" Danny asked.
Trevor deadpanned.
"I may be twelve, but that doesn't mean I just sit around and eat donuts when I'm not out patrolling," he explained, "I worked out. A lot."
"I can't even run that fast!" Danny exclaimed.
"It's a vigorous work out," said Trevor.
*Ding*
"Oh, I almost forgot," he said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out the yellow Orb.
He tossed it to Danny.
"Ever seen anything like this before?" he asked.
Danny examined the Orb closely for a moment.
"I don't think so, but at the same time it looks… familiar," he answered, "What is this?"
"It's called an Orb of Power, one of six ancient relics from the Ghost Zone, each granting whoever holds it with immense power," Trevor explained, "This one increases the power of a ghost's attack."
"Hm… I do feel a bit stronger," said Danny, "Could we use this to capture Reaper?"
Trevor walked over and grabbed the Orb from Danny.
"Were it so simple," he said, "Danny, I'm trying to keep these things away from Reaper. Luckily, the other five have yet to be found, since they were hidden long ago."
"By who?" Tucker asked.
"Ask Clockwork, he's probably the only one who knows," Trevor replied.
Suddenly, two giant clock arms appeared and spun around in a circle, creating a ghost portal.
"Speak of the ghost, he's summoning me," Trevor muttered, "Come on, follow me."
"Uh… what?" Jazz asked.
"Well, since I need your help catching Reaper now, we might as well all go see Clockwork," said Trevor as he hopped through the portal.
The members of Team Phantom looked at one another before getting up and following Trevor.
"~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~"
In his lair, Clockwork waited patiently as he watched the portal float in front of him. A moment later, Trevor and Dust arrived, followed by Danny, Tucker, Sam, and Jazz.
"Clockwork," said Trevor, "I was wondering when you were going to summon me."
The ghost of time remained silent as he looked at Trevor.
"Look, I know what you're going to say," said Trevor, "and in my defense… it's not that easy without my powers."
"Didn't I warn you not to alter the timeline?" he asked as changed into his elderly appearance.
"Ugh… come on!" Trevor exclaimed, "It's not like you're against what I did!"
Jazz tapped Danny on the shoulder to get his attention.
"Is that Clockwork?" she asked quietly.
"Yeah," he replied, "He's the one that helped me stay on the right path when my evil self from the future came here to try and make sure I turn into him."
Everyone glanced over at the Fenton Thermos that was on the pedestal. It had some dents around it and had a disturbingly familiar face imprinted on it. Danny shuddered at the memory. Sam put a hand on his shoulder.
"You okay?" she asked.
Danny smiled and nodded.
"What's going on here!?" a voice exclaimed.
Everyone turned and saw two cloaked one-eyed green ghosts entering the lair.
"Oh, great," Trevor muttered, "These imbeciles."
The Observants floated over to Clockwork and Trevor.
"What's going on?" Jazz asked.
Danny shrugged.
"Clockwork, explain yourself!" one of the Observants exclaimed.
"This young man is from the future," he explained calmly as he morphed into his child form, "He's here to prevent another of the many futures you all fear."
"Him?" the other asked, pointing at Trevor, "But he's just a mere child!"
"Hey, idiots," Trevor said, snapping his fingers to get their attention, "Get some eyedrops and watch."
A bright blue ring appeared around Trevor and he transformed into Logan Specter. The Observants gasped.
"You sent him here!?" they exclaimed.
"Listen, you can deal with Reaper yourself," said Logan, "Or are you too scared to actually do the dirty work yourself for a change?"
Clockwork smiled at the boy as he morphed into his adult form.
"How dare you! Do you have any idea what you have done!?" one of the Observants asked as he poked Specter's chest.
"No," he growled, "but I know what I'm about to do in a second if you touch me again. Do you prefer the punch in the gut or the dropkick into Pariah's sarcophagus?"
"That's enough, Specter," said Clockwork as he floated between him and the Observants, "Let me handle this."
Logan scoffed and walked over to the group.
"Observants," he muttered, "So worried about not getting their way."
His eyes glanced over to the group and noticed Sam was deep in thought.
"Something on your mind, Manson?" Logan asked.
"Yeah…" she said, "Um… you mentioned that Tucker and Valerie were helping Danny in the future."
"Correct."
"Was I ever… well… I'm there too, right?" she asked.
Logan took a deep breath and sighed.
"Sam, I think I know what I did to alter the timeline.," he replied.
"What does that have to do with me?" she asked.
Specter didn't respond. A moment later, Clockwork beckoned him over as a portal appeared next to the group.
"Wonderful," Logan muttered, "The whining that never ends."
He walked over and began talking to the Observants. Clockwork floated over to the group and morphed into his elderly form.
"Is he in trouble?" Danny asked.
"No," he answered, "but he will need your help in stopping Reaper."
"Couldn't you just return him to his timeline yourself?" Tucker asked.
"He can't get directly involved!" Specter shouted, "It makes the Observants whine like babies! More so than usual!"
"Hm," Clockwork smirked as the Observants started arguing with the halfa again, "The four of you should head back home. Don't worry, Specter will return shortly."
"Okay," said Danny, "But can we trust him?"
"He's saved your lives more times than you think," Clockwork explained as his appearance changed into a child, "He's young, but very capable of completing his task. And maybe you can teach him a thing or two."
Danny raised an eyebrow.
"You'll understand in due time," said the master of time as he morphed into his adult form.
Danny smiled and led the gang through the portal. As it closed behind them, Clockwork smiled to himself.
"Everything's the way it's supposed to be."
"~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~"
It was evening and Specter still hadn't returned from the Ghost Zone. The Danny was lying on his bed, Sam was sitting next to him, Tucker was scrolling through his PDA, and Jazz was leaning against the wall and staring out the open window.
"What's taking so long?" Danny asked impatiently, "It's been two hours!"
"Maybe he was sent back to his timeline?" Tucker shrugged.
"But Clockwork said-"
Danny stopped talking when two large clock hands appeared in the center of his room and spun around into a portal. A moment later, Specter and Dust exited the portal and it disappeared behind them. The halfa did not look happy.
"Well?" Sam asked, "What happened?"
Specter turned back into human form and sighed.
"You guys want the good news or the bad news first?" he asked.
"Uh, good?" Jazz asked.
"Well, after much debate, I was able to convince both Clockwork and the Observants to have you guys help me capture Reaper," Trevor announced, "Of course, you guys don't have to help, since it's my problem."
"Are you kidding? Of course we'll help!" Danny exclaimed as he sat up and got out of bed, "Right, guys?"
"Right!" Tucker and Sam exclaimed at the same time.
"Hmm," said Jazz, "I do have to leave for college soon. But I'll help as much as I can until then!"
Trevor sighed.
"What?" Danny asked.
"No offense, Phantom, but when I say 'help', I mean in terms of looking for Reaper," said Trevor, "Not fight him."
"Why not!?" Danny asked.
"Well, in case you fell asleep during my horror story, Reaper will kill you," said Trevor.
"So has almost every other ghost I've fought," Danny remarked.
"Hmm…" Trevor groaned as he crossed his arms and glanced away.
Dust turned to him.
"Dust, he hasn't even noticed yet," Trevor told her, "I should just deal with it now before we go off and look for Reaper again."
"What are you talking about?" Danny asked.
"Remember that test earlier?" Trevor asked, "You're still taking it."
Danny raised an eyebrow and stared for a moment. He then pulled out his Fenton Thermos and saw some green wax dripping off of it.
"Gee, I wonder where Wick is," said Trevor.
"PHANTOOOOOOOM!" a water voice shouted.
Everyone looked outside and saw a larger Wick making his way towards the Fenton Works.
"Last chance, Phantom," said Trevor, "If you can defeat Wick in less than two minutes, then I'll consider having you fight him with me."
There was a pause for a moment.
"Remember when I said 'we' would help Wulf?" Trevor asked, "Show me what the protector of Amity Park can do."
Danny glanced at the Thermos and grabbed it. A white ring appeared around him as he jumped through the open window. Phantom flew straight at Wick, who saw his foe coming towards him. The wax ghost created a large ball of wax in his hands and threw it at Danny.
"You can't delay your attacks!" Trevor's words echoed in his head, "He's only vulnerable against extreme temperatures, but his wax quickly returns to room temperature!"
Danny brought his hands together and fired a powerful icy ghost ray at the large object. Ice encased the entire ball of wax and hardened it. Danny then grabbed it, swung it around, and threw it back at Wick.
"Huh?" Wick exclaimed as it came flying towards him.
He brought up his arms and transformed them into a large wax shield. The projectile slammed into the shield and shattered into dozens of ice fragments. Wick lowered his arms and glared at where Danny was seen, but Phantom wasn't there. Wick looked around for a second before looking down and saw a hole in his body.
"Aw, crud," he moaned.
A second later, Wick's wax began hardening from the inside out. His torso, followed by his head, arms, and legs hardened and had frost develop around them. Suddenly, his body shattered into multiple pieces, leaving only Wick's true form and a blue-eyed Phantom floating in the air.
"Uh… mercy?" Wick asked nervously.
"Nope," Danny smirked as he pulled out his Fenton Thermos and captured Wick with it.
As soon as that happened, all the wax transformed into various candles.
"Who would have thought Amity Park had this many candles," Danny quipped to himself before flying back to the Fenton Works.
He phased through the wall and turned tangible as he landed on the ground. As he changed back into his human form, Danny tossed the Fenton Thermos to Trevor.
"Not bad," he commented, "But you didn't beat him in less than two minutes."
Danny glared at Trevor.
"You beat him in less than one," Trevor announced, with a small smirk.
"I… did!?" Danny exclaimed.
"Yep," said Dust.
Trevor looked at the Thermos in his hand and examined both ends.
"Might want to remember to return him to the Ghost Zone this time, huh?" he asked as he handed to Thermos back to Danny.
"Yeah, I should have done that before," he said, rubbing the back of his head, "By the way, where's that Orb?"
Trevor reached into his pocket and pulled out the Orb.
"I'm holding on to it for now," he said, "Last thing I want is for Reaper to have it, or anyone abusing its power."
"And we should trust you?" Jazz asked, "I mean, no offense, but you could use it too, right?"
"True, but lucky for us, that's Dust's job," said Trevor, "Clockwork assigned her to me so she can make sure I don't abuse the medallion's power. She'll do the same with the Orbs."
"If you say so," said Jazz.
Trevor glanced over at her.
"I know that tone," he said, "You don't trust me, do you?"
Jazz bit her lower lip. Trevor smirked.
"Just so we're clear, I'm not here to make friends," he said, "I'm here to capture Reaper and return to our timeline. No more, no less."
A long silence fell upon the room.
"You know, it's getting pretty late," said Tucker, "I think we should get some rest. All this is pretty overwhelming."
"Yeah, no kidding," said Sam.
"I don't blame you," Trevor yawned, stretching his arms out.
"That includes you as well, Trevor," said Dust, "You've been awake for five days straight. You need to sleep."
"FIVE DAYS!?" everyone exclaimed.
"I've stayed up longer," said Trevor, "Dust, we need to look for Reaper tonight and-"
"Uh-uh!" said Dust, "You need to sleep! You're still recovering from your injury and you haven't fully regained your ghost powers yet!"
"… Fine," Trevor groaned.
"Do you even have a place to stay?" Danny asked.
"I've been sleeping on various rooftops of buildings," said Trevor, "Including here a few times."
"What!?" Danny exclaimed, "How come I my ghost sense never… oh, right, no powers."
"Good save," said Trevor, "It's fine, I can just sleep in the Command Center or-"
"My place has plenty of guest rooms," said Sam, "You could stay there for the time being."
Trevor raised an eyebrow.
"What about your parents?" Danny asked, "Won't they find it strange for you to bring home some random kid into your house just for him to have a place to sleep?"
"Eh, they're out of town for the next couple of weeks," said Sam, "We'll worry about that later."
She turned to Trevor and Dust.
"Well?" she asked.
"I supposed a comfortable bed would be nice for once," said Trevor, "Alright, Manson, I accept your offer."
He turned to face everyone.
"You guys sure about helping me?" Trevor asked, "Reaper is not a ghost you want to underestimate."
"We're sure," said Danny.
Trevor walked over to Danny's bed and knelt down.
"Alright," he said, "But first…"
Trevor reached under the bed and pulled out his backpack and duffle bag from underneath.
"How long have those been under there?" Danny asked.
"Since an hour after our first encounter," said Trevor, "What better place to hide my stuff?"
He opened his backpack and pulled out some thick files.
"Here," he said as he gave everyone a file, "Everything you need to know about Reaper. Made copies earlier."
Danny opened the file and saw that it was a dossier on Reaper. The first thing he noticed was that the first page had a whole paragraph redacted. He combed through the pages and found that it was only the first page with any redaction, with the exception of a couple of words here and there.
"What's with the blacked-out paragraph?" he asked.
"It's not relevant information," Trevor replied.
"Does it involve you?" Danny asked.
"If I say 'yes', would you ask for details?" Trevor asked, "Because I wouldn't tell you either way."
"This is… a lot of information," said Tucker, "Couldn't you have given us digital copies?"
"Tucker, I spent an hour reprograming a printer at the high school just to be compatible with my flash drive," said Trevor, "You think I'm gonna waste more time reprogramming a whole operating system or type out this entire folder just for your convenience?"
"Um… yes?" Tucker smiled.
"Keep dreaming, Foley," Trevor scoffed, "And if you're wondering what all the other redactions are, those are names of individuals you have yet to encounter."
"I think I'll read this tomorrow," said Sam, "If I start now, I'll never sleep."
"Welcome to my life," said Trevor.
"Come on, Trevor," said Sam as she got up and headed for the door, "Let's get you settled in."
"Alright, Manson," said Trevor before turning to Danny, "We'll all talk more tomorrow."
"I bet we will," Danny replied as he looked through the file.
"~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~"
A few minutes later, Sam, Trevor, and Dust arrived at her house. They were upstairs, in the hallway. Sam opened a door to one of the guest rooms.
"You can stay here for now," she said, allowing Trevor and Dust entry.
He walked inside as Sam turned the lights on and looked around.
"This is a guest room?" Trevor asked, "This looks like a master bedroom."
"Yeah, well, my family is rich," Sam explained nervously.
"Wait, hold on," said Trevor, "You mean to tell me that you are a Jewish goth from a rich family, who happens to also be an ultra-recyclo vegetarian^** with a green thumb?"
"Yeah," said Sam, "Why?"
"That's… awesome," said Trevor, "If I didn't see it with my own eyes, I would have thought you were lying. Or trying to compete in a 'most random statement' contest."
Sam raised an eyebrow.
"It was a compliment."
"Uh, thanks?" said Sam, "Anyways, I hope this room will suffice. I'm sure in the future, bedrooms are more advanced and better looking."
"Eh, not really," said Trevor, "To me, this room looks normal. Doesn't have all the tech and false windows."
"Well, make yourself at home," said Sam, "I'll be in my room, which is across from this one. Just ask me if you need anything."
"There is one thing, Sam," said Trevor, making her stop at the door.
"What is it?" she asked.
"Why did you invite me to stay here?" he asked.
"Well, you needed to place to stay, and my place has plenty of space, so I figured why not?" she answered.
Trevor sighed.
"Sam, I don't like having my time wasted, and I don't like people beating around the bush, so I'll ask again," he said, "Why did you really ask me here?"
Sam's face fell and she walked over to him.
"You never told us the bad news," she said, "And I'm starting to figure out how you altered the timeline already."
"Well, there were actually two pieces of bad news," said Trevor, "First, I didn't get to drop kick or punch the Observants, much to my dismay."
"Very funny" Sam smirked, "And the other?"
Trevor looked away for a moment.
"You can tell her," said Dust.
"I know," he said before facing Sam, "When Vlad kidnapped you a few days ago… I don't think you were supposed to be… saved."
Sam took a deep breath and exhaled loudly.
"That's what I thought as well," she said.
"It makes sense," said Trevor, "Phantom never told me about you. Heck, no one in the future told me about you. They've mentioned an old friend once in a while, but never your name. I think Phantom's been feeling guilty about… whatever did happen."
Sam nervously kicked the floor.
"But you're here," said Trevor, "Don't think too much about it. Like Clockwork once told me, most people see time as a parade; one thing after another, passing in order in one direction. The way he sees it is from above; all the twists and turns that it might, might have, or might not take."
"And what twists did he see after you saved me?" Sam asked.
"Don't know, don't really care," said Trevor, "As long as Reaper doesn't kill anyone and I capture him, what does it matter?"
Sam tapped her chin and pondered for a moment.
"You're right, Trevor," she said, "And thanks for saving us. It doesn't matter what should or shouldn't have happened. I'm here and that's good enough for me."
"Is it?" Trevor asked.
"What do you mean?" Sam asked.
"Are you and Danny dating?" he asked, "I've been watching you guys for quite some time and you two seem to be more than just friends."
Sam deadpanned.
"Goodnight," she said as she turned and walked towards the door, "We're just good friends, that's all we are."
She walked out and closed the door behind herself. Trevor and Dust glanced at each other.
"Clueless," they said.
Trevor turned to the bed and dropped his bags on the ground. Dust noticed that he had a sympathetic look on his face.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"Nothin'," Trevor replied, "Just feel bad for Danny. Our timeline's Danny."
"Well, we can't change that," she said, "We've got a job to do and we need to rest up."
Trevor nodded as he used his hand to carry Dust to the dresser next to the bed and have her stand on it while he took off his jacket.
"What do you think, Dust?" Trevor asked, "Think we've got a chance?"
"With this team?" she asked, "I think your chances have improved since our talk with Clockwork."
"Well…" said Trevor as he brushed his hair back, "Only time will tell. I just hope Reaper doesn't find the other Orbs. Or else we are all done for."
"~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~"
Outside of Amity Park, a freight train rolled across a trestle, over a large ravine and river below. Along the shore of the water laid a red cane with a bat on top. Reaper leaned over and grabbed it.
"Well, here's the catalyst," he said, "Now, where's…"
His red eyes scanned the ground for a moment and found a strange red piece of glass.
"Found you," Reaper smirked.
He reached out and picked up the shard. He examined it closely before filling the area with an evil laugh.
"~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~"
{Notes}
* Yes, I'm taking a page out of Butch Hartman's books and including a psychic link, only instead of Danny and Sam, it's Trevor and Dust. One of the early concepts for the show was for Danny and Sam to have a psychic link with each other. The idea was dropped ultimately dropped because Hartman felt that it made the relationship between Danny and Sam too developed. For future reference, Danny and Sam will not have a psychic link. Don't cry, there are plenty of other fanfics that gave them psychic links!
** Have you guys ever heard of the Amethyst-Ocean on DeviantArt? Go look up her. Her Danny Phantom artwork is… let's just say that if the designers of Danny Phantom were God, she's Jesus. She's THAT good. Specifically look for her "Danny Phantom 10 Years Later" submission. And yes, I'm plugging her name because she deserves recognition. And yes, I'm going to implement some of her designs, but not all of them. And yes, I know that design of Danny was made by Butch Hartman, and yes, I know that's supposed to be Danny "10 years later", but just age him a little more and we're good.
NOTE TO AMETHYST-OCEAN: Team up with Butch Hartman and steal those rights to Danny Phantom from Nick. You two would make INCREDIBLE works. And if you need a storyboard writer… well, I'm just sayin'… I know a guy. *Cough-Cough* And please don't kill me for using your designs; they're too damn good for me to compete against.
*** Combination of Valerie's suit design in "The Ultimate Enemy" and her current advanced suit.
**** Tucker has the same design in the art mentioned above.
^ According to Wikipedia. Look up at your own risk. I refuse to change the story's rating. Got a problem with that? Sue me.
^* Much like how Dan did the same thing to Danny in "The Ultimate Enemy".
^** Sam told Danny and Tucker this in the first episode, "Mystery Meat". As Danny explained it to Tucker, she doesn't eat anything with a face on it. For future reference, since her family practices Judaism, assume that she eats food that is kosher. For those of you who don't know what the definition of kosher is, it means any food that is allowed for consumption according to Jewish law ( halakha ). (Since this was uploaded on a Friday night, to those who are Jewish, Shabbat Shalom. NOTE: I'm not Jewish myself, but if this offended you, I apologize; just trying to show some respect. If it's inappropriate, then I'll remove it in an update.)
"~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~"
Fun Fact: Clockwork was voiced by the late David Carradine, known for playing martial arts roles in film and television, including Kung Fu and Kill Bill.
Fun Fact: Dust's name and appearance are references to Death's guide in Darksiders 2. Originally, I was going to name her Talon and be a ghost hawk, but after some thought I decided to stick with a more fitting animal, like a raven. I then changed the name to Dust as a place holder until I could come up with a different name, but I decided to stick with it. Ironically, instead of helping the Reaper, like in Darksiders 2, Dust is helping the gang to stop him.
"~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~"
What an episode, am I right!? We're getting closer and closer to the end of the season! What will happen!?
… Well, obviously, I know what's going to happen, but you don't! Don't worry, there's plenty more I have in store for all of you.
Like, follow, and please review! Until next time!
~ThePhantomHedgehog