Danny P.O.V.
Oh my god, that did not just happen! My ghost sense did not just go off in front of Sam! "Uuh…" I said with wide eyes, unable to find my words. "Dan…" Sam muttered, with eyes as wide as my own. "What was that?" she asked in a whisper, though the tone she used said she already knew. I heard what sounded like a missile approaching and held Sam close. This caught her by surprise. I created an ecto-shield around us, and the missile hit it, exploding, and leaving us unharmed. "Dan! You're-" She started, but I cut her off. "Not now, get behind me!" I ordered her. She nodded, and I faced our attacker, who happened to be Skulker.
"Oh? What's this? A stray ghost?" Skulker taunts. I growled at him and pulled my flute out of my jacket. "Sam, get back." I told her, still facing Skulker. She obliged, and I channelled my ecto-energy into my flute, making it grow into Wingblade. "Do not get in my way, boy. I will have the ghost child's girlfriend's pelt, and I will not harm you if you step away." Skulker growled. I scoffed in disgust. "First of all, gross. Second, not happening." I said and got into a battle stance. Skulker growled and shot more missiles. I swung Wingblade, and sent a wave of dark energy that cut the missiles into perfect halves.
"Hmm, where have I seen that technique before." I heard Skulker muse to himself as he fired ecto-blasts at me. I easily dodged and blocked them, but it was difficult to use my ghost powers in my semi-human form, as it takes a lot of energy to maintain. "I need to finish this quickly." I thought as I shot an ice blast at Skulker, which he dodged. I felt my ghost sense go off again. I looked in the direction it was coming from, and smiled. My apprentice/daughter was flying in our direction, looking at me with a shocked expression.
Dani floated next to me, facing Skulker. "So, care to explain?" She asked. "Later Danielle, let's take care of Skulker for now." I said. She was shocked that I knew her name, but quickly got over it and nodded. "Hit him with an ecto-beam, as strong as you can make it." I said as Skulker rushed towards us. She nodded and obliged. I shot a beam of dark energy from the blade of my weapon, and the 2 beams combined, hitting Skulker and sending him flying. I swung my blade, and a wave of white energy went towards Skulker, and hit him. As it did, his suit was cut in half, and a portal opened behind him, sucking him in.
"Well, that's a relief." I said and fell to my knees. "Dan! You OK?" Dani asked me as she landed next to me and Sam approached. "Yeah, I've just been using too much energy on maintaining my human appearance." I replied with a smile. "Human appearance?" Sam asked. I nodded. "I can make myself look human, but it takes a lot of energy." I explained. I felt the energy leaving my body fast. "Oh god, I can't hold it." I muttered, and the black morph rings appeared, turning me into Timeforge. "Just brilliant." I grumbled in my head.
"Timeforge!" They both yelled in surprise. "Yeah…" I grumbled, holding my head. "Can you not shout? Using that portal technique takes a lot of energy, and gives me a headache." I groaned. "Oh, sorry…" Dani muttered, blushing and holding her hands behind her back. "Just like Jazz." I thought.
After a few minutes, my headache subsided and I stood up. "So, you're a Halfling? Like me?" Dani asked curiosly. I shook my head. "No, but I was." I responded. I wanted to facepalm; I should not have said that. "Was?" Sam asked me, a little pale. I nodded my head sadly. "I'm a full ghost now, I died." I said. Their eyes widened. "How did you die?" They asked in unison. I pulled out my bullet in a glass case pendant. "In the back of my head." I said when they realised that I was shot. "How did you become a Halfling?" Dani asked. "I was walking one day and I had the misfortune of stepping into a natural portal as it opened. It opened around me, infecting me with ecto-plasm. Since I died as a halfling, I can still maintain a human appearance. Well, more human than this." I explained, gesturing to my ghost body. "That should keep them of my trail." I thought. "Do you know who killed you?" Dani asked with sympathy I her eyes. I shook my head. "If I knew, I would have already torn out their eyes myself." I growled. They were a bit shocked at my declaration, but quickly got over it.
"Danielle, would you mind teleporting us to my house? I'm really tired, and can't pull it off." I asked. She nodded grabbed Sam and I. In a flash of purple light, we were in my living room, and I sat down on the couch. "Ugh… Stopwatch didn't tell me that portal wave would take so much energy." I whined. I looked at Sam and Dani, who turned human, and sat up straight. "So, I'd imagine you have questions. Where should I start?" I asked. Dani and Sam sat down and thought for a moment.
"Why are you in Amity?" Sam asked. I sighed. I really didn't want to talk about this. "Clockwork sent me here on a mission. He showed me an image of a woman who had her throat ripped out." I explained. "Animal?" Dani asked. I shrugged. "I don't know. Clockwork can't tell me. I have to wait until she does die before I focus on my mission." I explained. "So you're gonna let her die?" Sam hissed in disdain. "I wish I didn't have to, but if I saved her, I could mess up the timeline. Some parts of time can be changed, other can't. There's no way to know which is which." I explained. "Unless you're Clockwork." I added. We all rolled our eyes.
"If I had any other choice, I would save her." I said. Sam sighed and nodded. "Why did you go to Casper high?" Dani asked. The look on Sam's face said that she wanted to know as well. I sighed. "Clockwork said that the perpetrator is in that area often, so it's a good place to start my search." I responded. They shivered at the thought of whoever/whatever is in Amity being so close. "How many of your previous stories were true?" Sam asked with narrowed eyes. I sighed again. "My parents are alive and well, the scars are from my missions, and I have an intellect beyond any human on earth." I explained. Sam and Dani nodded.
We heard a hissing sound coming from the ground. We looked and saw a black cobra with neon green eyes. Dani squealed and jumped to the roof, floating there. "Raven." I hissed angrily to my familiar. She let out what sounded like a chuckle and morphed back into a cat. She jumped onto Sam's lap and snuggled close to her, falling asleep in a matter of seconds. "What just happened?" Sam asked as Dani floated down the couch, eyeing Raven with a mix of fear and amazement. "Raven is my familiar. She can morph into any animal. I created her from a small piece of my core that I removed." I explained with a chuckle. "Cool." They said in unison. "If you wish, I'll teach you tomorrow night." I told Dani, who nodded with childish excitement. Sam and I smiled at her childishness. "Tomorrow, 6pm, same tree." I said to my apprentice, who nodded eagerly.
"Danielle, sweetie, would please give Mommy some time with Timeforge alone?" she asked. Dani nodded and hugged Sam. "I'm gonna go flying." She said and flew through the window. I looked at Sam and she looked at me. "Are you mad at me?" I asked her. She sighed and shook her head. "If you mean about keeping secrets, no, I understand that." she said. I nodded. "Then what's wrong? Something is, I can tell by your emotions." I said. She looked at me confused. "I have telepathic abilities, I can read minds, and right now, I can feel sadness coming off of you. What's wrong?" I asked. "Do you regret what happened?" I asked forlornly. Sam shook her head vigorously. "NO!" she exclaimed. "I just… I'm hurt that you lied, but I understand it. I just don't know where we go from here." She admitted. I nodded in understanding.
"Are we over before we started?" I asked. Sam shook her head, more vigorously than before. "No! Not at all! I…" she blushed heavily. "I guess I just have a tendency to fall for ghost boys. I still want to be your girlfriend." She whispered the last part, looking like a tomato. I smiled and moved to sit beside her. I took her hand and looked into her beautiful eyes. "And I still want to be your boyfriend." I said. She smiled happily and pulled me into a warm kiss. It wasn't a make-out, but an affectionate kiss between 2 people who were together.
We parted and looked each other in the eyes, both of smiling like maniacs. Sam's face then turned to one of confusion. "What is it?" I asked. "Your ponytail." She replied, gesturing to my hair. I looked in the mirror and saw that the black flame had turned purple. "That's only happened once before. When I first died, the flame was red, then my dark powers developed and it turned black." I explained. Sam nodded. "OK, so what does purple mean?" she asked, staring at the flame. Not to be vain, but it was beautiful, and something that would appeal to Sam. "I don't know." I said honestly. "A ghost's appearance changes depending on their state of mind and emotion. Perhaps…" I trailed off, blushing. "What?" Sam asked confused. I shook my head to lose the blush, to no avail. "It may be because of my affections towards you." I mumbled, making us both blush.
Sam P.O.V.
"You said it was your birthday soon?" I asked, trying to change the subject. Timeforge nodded, grateful for the change. "Do you want to celebrate with Valerie, Tucker, Dani and I?" I offered. He shook his head. "I haven't celebrated my birthday in a long time; I don't really care about it anymore." He shrugged. "How come?" I asked curiously, earning a chuckle from him. "You tend to lose interest once you've died." He said with a shrug as he got up and changed back into his semi-human form. I nodded and smirked inwardly, an idea forming in my head.
"Do you want me to take you home?" He offered. I shook my head. "Nah, Dani can teleport me when she gets back." I responnodded. We spent some time talking about his afterlife as Clockwork's apprentice. I was glad that he was willing to be so open with me.
"Does Granny know you're a ghost?" I asked after an hour of questions. Timeforge nodded. "She helped me with a mission in 1985." He said. "She would have seen right through my semi-human form." He added. I nodded in agreement. "Granny is a smart woman, and scary when she wants to be." I mused, making Timeforge chuckle. "That, we can agree on." He said with a slight shudder. "All of space and time, and nothing on this has ever scared me as much as Ida." He shivered and I laughed. At that point Dani came back, and squealed in happiness.
"I'm so glad you're finally laughing again Mommy!" she said as she hugged me. I smiled and hugged her back. "And it's all thanks to you." She said as she hugged Timeforge, who laughed a little and hugged her back. After a little more chatting, Dani and I decided to head home. "Remember, tomorrow, 6pm, at the tree we met under." Timeforge said to Dani, who nodded and smiled brightly. I went up to Timeforge and gave him a hug. "Thank you for helping me and my daughter." I said. He smiled. "Anytime." He said and gave me a peck the lips, making me blush.
I took Dani's hand and she turned us intangible before flying out of Timeforge's house. "Mommy?" she called to me as we were flying. "Yeah Sweetie?" I responded. "Is Timeforge gonna be my new Daddy?" She asked with her head tilted, making me blush heavily. "I don't know Sweetie, we'll see." I responded. Sometimes, having a daughter who has the mindset of a 3 year old can be tough, especially when she looks 15. I sighed when we arrived at the house. I really hoped Granny wouldn't make any 'half ghost great grandchildren' jokes.