"I'm still here, Danny boy!"

Maniacal laughter rang throughout the darkness, bouncing back and forth like marbles in a tin can. He couldn't stop shivering. Goosebumps decorated his flesh and his hair rose as his core thrummed in his chest. He wasn't alone, he'd never be alone. Why wouldn't he leave him alone?

"I still exist!"

Mirrors. There were mirrors everywhere, boxing him in, leaving him nowhere to run. Fear pricked at his heart at what he saw reflected back at him. Red. Red and green, like mistletoe. It turned his stomach and he scrambled away from the reflection staring back at him. Red on green hands, red in blue eyes. Red, red, red. He hated the colour SO much.

"D'ya know what that means, Danny boy?"

Orange and black. There was something at his feet. He didn't want to look, but he did—but he didn't! Strands of hair floated passed his field of vision and ectoplasmic blood rushed through his veins with a vengeance. He didn't want to look down, didn't want to see beyond his bloodied hands. Orange and black. And red. Red, red, red.

"We're the same, you and I, we're one and the same!"

Wrathful rage and anger broiled within his gut, overtaking the fear with an ease that was unprecedented. The scream was ripped from throat without warrant, mindless of the tears in his eyes and shattered all of the mirrors surrounding him. Mirror shards rained down upon him like glittering hail and a splattering of green drops followed them from where he had been sliced. The scream petered out, morphing into a laugh that was just as unhinged as the one thundering in his ears.

"Isn't this great, Danny boy?!"

Dan shot upwards with a violent gasp, hand clenched tight into his sweaty shirt. He could feel his core thrumming beneath his fingertips so fast that it almost felt like a heartbeat. He ignored the weeping sores created from where his nails had dug themselves into his flesh as he tried to ground himself in the foreign environment (though he paid it no mind—he'd woken up in stranger places).

Eyes swung around wildly looking for some kind of shiny surface so that he could reassure himself that it had all been a dream—a nightmare. He stumbled from the squishy couch upon which he lay, feet phasing through the blanket in which they had lain entangled only moments before as he raced towards the unfamiliar kitchen with ghostly steps whispering against the floorboards. Dan paid no attention to the lack of light in the house as he searched through the multitude of appliances for something to act as a mirror. Eventually, his hands came across a tablespoon amongst the drying suds of the kitchen sink and he wasted no time in raising the utensil up so that he could assuage his fears.

"Oh thank God!" Dan sighed in relief as he slumped over the edge of the sink and dropped the spoon back into the sink with a small clang. All of the tension in his shoulders easily bled out as he tried to calm his wildly beating core. Green. His eyes were green and glowing and GREEN. There was no red, the red was gone. It was just a dream. He was fine. At his feet, Cujo worriedly wove in and out of his legs, brushing up against his ankles in concern much like a feline would.

Dan pushed himself away from the sink and instead turned to slide down to the floor much to Cujo's delight. The little green pup surged forward and embedded himself in Dan's chest, licking away at the tears that had trickled down freckled cheeks. Dan hadn't even noticed they were there, but couldn't help it as his lips perked up in a watery smile at the action.

"It's okay, it's okay, you're okay. You're not him, you're not him. You're Dan, you're a halfa, you're in Arcadia Oaks and you're okay" He muttered to himself as he buried his face into Cujo's neck and his fingers threaded themselves through his fur in a repetitive motion that he found soothing. Occasionally Cujo would nudge at his face or yip quietly in his ear, until he settled for acting as Dan's rock. Neither of them noticed the extra presence in the doorway.


It had been a mission and a half to haul the unconscious body of Dan Masters back to his house—even with Toby's help—and up onto the couch where they had eventually dumped him. They'd been lucky his mother had a late shift at the hospital that day, as it had saved them from creating some kind of odd and plausible excuse involving the older boy. They were far too old for a babysitter, so that one was out.

The whole thing with the gravesand the day before was a nightmare. The misplacement completely accidental, but entirely problematic and how was he to know what it would do the former superhero? Toby had been more than happy to regale the adventures of Danny Phantom in the days after the sewers, going so far as to dig out the old comic books and newspaper clippings involving the ghoulish hero. Stories that involved unstable clones and mad scientists, ghostly illnesses and ecto-puberty and so on. But surely, they were just stories, right? Right?

So when Dan bolted from his couch in the early hours of the morning with fear burning in his eyes, Jim wasn't quite sure what to think. The brunette had awoken with a low groan as Toby kicked him for the umpteenth time that night as the two lay sandwiched together on the floor in an impromptu sleepover (neither of the juniors had been eager to leave the ghost boy alone in the house—for two very different reasons) and a cold shock flowed through him despite the extra body heat.

Admittedly, it took him a moment or two to blink away the vestiges of sleep and for him to recognise who & what was going on. Sitting up, Jim blinked blearily after the albino as the day's events trickled through the fog of sleep and then he was climbing out of Toby's hold and onto his socked feet, quietly padding after the harried footsteps that barely made the floors creak.

The elder teen was usually a quiet person, eerily so (although that may have been on account of the whole 'dead' thing) and so the creaking of floorboards underfoot sounded like thunder in the quiet house. It was even odder to see him collapsed against the cabinets beneath the kitchen sink with his face buried in the scruff of his green dog (and he still couldn't fathom how it changed back and forth in size so easily without a spell or potion of some kind) as he muttered to himself. Of what he'd seen of Dan, the teen usually infallible like a rock, it was weird to see him so—so…human.

Jim remained standing in the entrance to the kitchen, not quite brave enough to interrupt such a tender moment. He'd faced homicidal trolls and quick-witted changelings, but this—this right here ,it gave him pause. Could he really do it? Could he really face Dan if it came down to it? Red eyes and sparking green hands flickered to mind for a moment and he swallowed audibly at the reminder of the teen's power. Maybe not right now.


Admittedly, it was a little cowardly of him to leave the Lake house in the wee hours of the morning before the other arose without a note of any kind, and then squirrel himself away to the furtherest corner of the Ghost Zone. But sometimes he just needed a moment alone; something that was getting rarer and rarer these days. Even within the Ghost Zone he was rather popular; for good or bad was still up for debate and some could argue that he'd have better luck hiding away in the Mortal Zone for some true peace and quiet.

But there were still some pockets of the Ghost Zone that remained unexplored, leaving him with the solace he so desired. Like this one. It was dark and quiet like a void. You could've heard a pin drop, that is, if there was any gravity in this pocket. Instead, large boulders in varying sizes from that of a tractor to that of a house, drifted by. It was cold too, but not the kind of cold that emanated from the Far Frozen, it was more like a stiff breeze that never—always blew. It was nice.

The faint crackle of magic that encompassed this pocket was soothing too, like a dying fire. You could easily stoke the flames back to their full roaring bonfire, but you could just as easily let them die out. Either way, the sizzling sound was soothing to the halfa as he tried to piece himself back together after the incident the day before and his breakdown in the Lake's kitchen. Honestly, he'd been lucky that no one had awoken and seen him like that. He doubted he could have explained it away as just a nightmare. Sighing to himself for the umpteenth time, Dan curled up into a ball and just lazily drifted amongst the debris, alone and happy.

At least until time seemed to stop. Again. "Ugh! What d'ya want, Gramps?" Dan groaned, turning away from the time keeper who had used his uncanny ability to find him wherever he went. "Ow!"

"Who ya callin' Gramps, old man?!" Clockwork retorted, whacking Dan with his staff at the nickname. This time, Clockwork was a young boy with a buck-toothed grin.

"Can't you just leave me alone?" Dan whined petulantly, rolling onto his back so that he could talk without having to worry about stray debris.

"No, ya gotta get up, lazy butt!" Another whack. "Ya gotta fix the time stream! Some booger called Porgon is resetting the day! He's gonna break it!"

"I'm not a superhero anymore" Dan reminded him. "This isn't my thing, can't you find someone else to do it?"

"No! As the halfa and gatekeeper of the Zones, it's your job to keep them safe and that means doing stuff like this, you dingus!"

"Ow! Hey! Watch the head!"

"What about the humans and their…what was it? Trollhunter?"

"The Trollhunter is the reason I'm here! He doesn't know bezel from his bob!"

"Head! Head! Head!"

"Go! Go! Get out!"

"Hey! Alright! Alright! I'm going! I'm going!…Crazy brat"

"What was that?!"


"Alright, who's fudging with time now?" Dan sighed tiredly as he slipped from the portal Clockwork had opened for him. Running a hand through white tresses as he spun on his heel, he couldn't help but deadpan at the odd group before him. "Oh. It's you"

"Daniel?" Krel peered around Toby who had jumped at his sudden arrival and announcement. "What are you doing here?"

"Are you superheroing again?!" Toby eagerly exclaimed, clasping hands together as wide puppy eyes turned to him. "Is gonna be like the time you fought your evil doppelgänger?!"

"I'm not a hero" Dan asserted, flinching only slightly at the mention of Dark Danny and cursing the comic books that immortalised his hero days. It would have been more effective if a pancake hadn't unstuck from the ceiling and flopped onto his head, before slipping on to the floor. "I'm just doing a favour for a friend"

"Who's your friend? Father Time?" Claire sassed from off to the side.

"Close enough" Dan turned to Jim, "Now who's this Turbo guy?"

"Porgon " Jim corrected, his gaze roving over the teen who had vanished from his house not long after he had retreated from the kitchen.

"Yeah, him"

"He's a trickster troll that got a hold of some alien—" Toby jumped in excitedly.

"—Akiridion—" Krel amended, offended by the word.

"—Akiridion tech and is now causing havoc"

"Nngh!" Dan groaned into his hands, although the sound only came out kind of muffled and was enough of a shock to send the others jumping at the noise. "It couldn't be Boxy or Lunch Lady, no it had to be a troll with sticky fingers! Clockwork, you bastard!" He muttered like a crazy person, his tone turning a little hysterical towards the end.

"How often does this happen for you?" Claire inquired curiously as she picked up on the Dan's familiarity with time displacement.

"More often than you'd think" Dan sighed as he did a quick head count. "Shouldn't there be one more of you?"

BLINK

Safe inside Mother, the four juniors, one halfa, two trolls, two androids and two aliens were eagerly awaiting the arrival of Aja who had supposedly run off not long before Dan had arrived. The day had reset again much to everyone's annoyance. According to Jim, he had lived this day at least fifty times by this point and was well & truly done. Dan couldn't blame him. Sitting atop the breakfast counter (much to Mother's annoyance) Dan nibbled at the plate of pancakes he'd drenched in syrup and just tried to enjoy as much of the home-cooked meal as he could while they waited—it had been a long time since he had last had one—while Toby and Krel (with the occasional input from Varvatos) enthusiastically poured over Dan's days as Danny Phantom, much to his chagrin. Looks like the ghost was out of the thermos.

Thankfully the group didn't have to wait long. As soon as seven o'clock struck, the sound of a radio alarm echoed from one of the bedrooms and a rather morose Aja appeared from the hallway. "Ah!" Aja gasped, jumping at the sudden appearance of Jim leaning against the fridge as she turned the corner. "Sorry, I got carried away!"

"Yeah, you did!" Toby sang as he held out a plate for another ceiling pancake to fill it up. "You knucklehead!"

"Knucklehead; that is a fun word" Aja tiredly strode over to the front door, barely sparing Dan a passing glance and made to leave. "But it does not sound like a nice one—"

"—You can't just rush off into battle like that!" Jim intercepted, pulling her back inside before she could repeat her mistake.

"I said I was sorry!"

"You said you were training to be a warrior, but it takes patience!"

"That is what Varvatos said!" Varvatos appeared in front of Aja, easily blocking the way out.

"I once rushed into a place called the Darklands by myself and if my friends hadn't helped me, a lot of people would've gotten hurt" Jim tried.

"You don't understand! None of you understand!" Aja burst out. "My Mama and Papa did get hurt and now bounty hunters are after us. This is why I am training to be a warrior, this is why I cannot be patient! I cannot lose anyone ever again!"

"That's exactly why you have to be patient" Dan hummed, flicking off the gunk from the fork he had swallowed before returning to his meal much to Claire's disgust.

"What do you mean, Daniel?" Krel asked over his shoulder as he cradled his defeated sister.

"Pain and experience are great teachers, yes, but you have people here who are willing to help you—to teach you—outside of these parameters. Don't throw that away, you'll regret it"

"You sound like you speak from experience" Claire puzzled, brows furrowed.

"It's not really something we ever have control over" Dan smiled sadly, not quite meeting anyone's gaze.

"The ghost boy is correct" Varvatos nodded solemnly as the others turned their attention from the teen to the alien. "No amount of training can prevent tragedy, and the Lake hunting boy is also correct is also correct" Jim appeared to be suffering under Varvatos' tight grip. "You cannot vanquish our current foe yourself"

"…What is your plan?" Aja sighed, climbing to her feet alongside Krel before they turned as one to Jim.

Jim stood straight, pulling himself up to his fullest height after he was able to eventually squirm out from beneath Varvatos' grip. Turning to those gathered in the room, he laid out the plan as best he could with the occasional interjection here and there. "We can't defeat Porgon without separating him from the Dekyon Charger. If we attack right away, he'll panic and just restart the loop. We'll have to find a way to trick this trickster troll"

"When the transduction effect wears off, that should provide quite the distraction" Krel input.

"And I've got one too" Jim petted the pocket where his amulet lay.

"So we're doing this? I mean, we're actually doing this?" Claire asked. "Coz this time loop thing is getting ridiculous!"

"Yeah, we're doing this"


If someone had asked him what he was going to do over the weekend, setting a trap for a trickster troll in Arcadia's Space Museum & Observatory would not have even made the list. But here he was, slipping magical green gems into the baking soda volcanoes that lined the room around the large solar system in the center whilst the others got ready and into position.

And like clockwork, Porgon appeared with a roar and screams rang in the air as the students scattered. "NOW!" Aja called as Dan floated up towards the ceiling where he would wait until the troll's soul was freed. Below, Blinky slapped two unknown gems together which caused all the ones within the volcanoes to ignite and prematurely set them off.

"Finally some excitement!" Coach laughed as smoke filled the room from all of the volcanoes going off at once.

"A-plus!" Ms Janeth chirped.

"Glorious!" Varvatos decreed as he swung around on Saturn and launched himself at Porgon. "Die time, troll!"

"Okay, boy! Fetch!" Krel called as Porgon was thrown backwards. At the command, Luug (now very much an alien dog) raced forth and snatched the Dekyon Charger from the air before he trotted back to his master with a strut in his stride. "Got it!"

"RAAAAH!" Aja bellowed as she jumped over Krel who cradled the charger to him, and fought off Porgon who had in turn, charged for the source of his current power. With the trickster troll down for the count, Jim wasted no time in swinging from the solar system and burying his blade into the troll's chest until all but the hilt was gone.

It was odd watching a troll die. Porgon sort of froze up as the blade pierced his flesh and a small flash of blue light illuminated the broad sword, before he turned to stone and shattered at Jim's feet. "Haha! A Por-gone conclusion!" Blinky laughed jovially, coming to hug Jim as an invisible Dan floated down and began to pick his way through the rubble in order to get to the troll's soul before it could fester. Troll souls, muck like human souls, were orb-like in shape and engraved with many different carvings that acted like fingerprints for each individual soul; but they also held this scent to them that was earthen and mossy. There were also some—like Porgon—who held the crackles of magic. Holding Porgon's soul in his hands, Dan couldn't help but marvel at the intricate carvings that adorned the exterior and running his fingers over them in a repetitive motion that was rather satisfying.

"Thank Seklos!" Krel grinned as they all gathered together, only to realise that they were not alone. The students that they thought had escaped during the kerfuffle were now in fact, stood before them with their cellphones out and recording.

"Actual freaking monsters!" Mary grinned from where she stood at the forefront of the group. "Or do you prefer 'creatures' I wanna make sure I get my hashtags right"

"Detective Scott to dispatch! Perimeter secure, we are on site!" Dan groaned lowly at the newest addition to this comedic-like ending as he slipped Porgon's soul into the Thermos.

["Roger. What are you looking at?"] The reply crackled over the radio in Scott's hand.

"I honestly can't say" Scott blinked dumbly at the frozen group of aliens, ghouls, trolls and humans before him. "All right! All of you, I wanna see hands in the air!…Or um, however many you have…"

"Varvatos Vex should rip out this man's tongue and flagellate him with the object of his own insolence!" Varvatos gestured with the disembodied troll arm.

"Get councilwoman Nuñez on the line!"

"Any ideas?" Toby murmured as he forcefully tried to redirect the troll hand away from his girlfriend's father. "Other than Big Blue murdering our way out of this?"

"Um…" Jim spared a glance at the others around him who still had their arms raised in surrender. Dan knew that he could easily slip out of the situation, leaving the others to fend for themselves. But it was kind of cruel and he'd promised Clockwork (read: forced) that he see this through to the end.

"I might have a solution…" Krel mused, staring down at the device in his hands. "If I can initiate the self-destruct mechanism in the Dekyon Charger we can reset the day again. But this time, the charger will be destroyed and your troll menace will not find it"

That sounded like a good idea to Dan, particularly as he overheard Scott call for the SWAT team to assist them. He did not want to stick around and see what that would entail. It was bad enough the students had been recording the whole thing. Invisible or not, he wouldn't put it passed his family and friends back in Amity to put two and two together. And then the Guys in White would show up and he would be shoved under a microscope before you could shout "GHOST!"

"—But then…today would never have happened" Jim started.

"Which means we never become friends" Aja ended just as sadly.

"Fear not!" Blinky interjected from the sidelines. "Fate will no doubt reunite us all in due course. The truest of friendships have the power to transcend both time and space"

BLINK