Thanks to all of my reviewers: DP fan, Yami-chan and Unrealistic, RedRoseRebel, Sapphire Wolf Master, and phantomphriend.
Disclaimer: Once again, I don't own Danny Phantom; otherwise, he would never be cancelled.
Battle of the Century
Chapter Four- Visiting Time
I was still grinning when I stepped into my house and still in disbelief that it happened. I felt like the happiest girl in Amity Park. Then again, I'm the happiest person in Amity Park. When I ran down the stairs into the basement/lab, Grandma and Gramps were working on the Fenton Bazooka.
"Jack, wait, don't!" I heard Grandma say. A small explosion rocked the basement. "Turn that bolt," she finished.
"Sorry, Maddie," Gramps apologized. "I thought that that would fix it."
Grandma sighed deeply and said, "That's all right, Jack. Just let me do the repairs, okay?" Gramps nodded his head quickly. Looking up, he then spotted me, still standing on the stairs, and smiled widely.
"Lily!" he boomed. "You're back again!" I slowly came down the stairs only to have him wrap me in a big bear hug. After he let me go, I rubbed my arms, sore from his tight hug.
"Sweetie, you're back! Are they all safe?" Grandma asked, coming over.
"Yeah," I said, "they are. Sharon, Travis, Leo, and their families are all fine. They also said that no one's tried to kidnap them." I then remembered what Mr. Lancer had said. "Um, you guys have been knocked out for longer than a week."
They gave each other confused looks before turning back to me. "We have?" they said in unison.
"Mmm-hmm. According to Mr. Lancer, this has been going on for about a week now."
"But it only felt like a day," Grandma protested.
I wonder why they feel like that. Drake couldn't have knocked them out that hard. To them, it felt like a day, but it was really a week. That's a lot of time…It then hit me.
"Clockwork," I thought out loud.
"What, sweetie?" Grandma asked.
"I need to go see Clockwork. I'll be back as soon as I can." I quickly let the purple-blue rings glide over me, changing my red t-shirt, black pants, and black and white shoes to a black and light purple jumpsuit. My black hair was quickly wrapped in a bun, now white. I could feel the electricity dancing in my eyes as they changed from blue-purple to green with gold flecks. I jumped a little in the air, and my ghostly tail appeared. I waved a quick goodbye before flying into the portal as fast as I could. The green ecto-energy of the Ghost Zone was swirling all around me, with a few doors here and there. The repeating color made me slightly dizzy. Soon, I saw Clockwork's tower, hearing the clocks as they ticked.
"Clockwork!" I shouted, not seeing any form of him anywhere. A flash of light suddenly appeared behind me, and I whirled around. Clockwork was floating there in ancient form, dusting himself off. He glanced up and, seeing me, gave me an odd look.
"Ah, Lilith, I see you've come." He gave me a warm smile while changing to his child form.
"Lily," I corrected. I hated being called Lilith as much as Mom used to hate being called Samantha. If anyone called us by our full names, we usually gave them a couple of bruises, but I couldn't do that to Clockwork. I needed his help right now.
"Sorry," he apologized. "Now, what is your reason for being here?"
I figured that he knew, but I still answered him. "Someone's been coming in and messing around with time. Grandma and Gramps say they were only knocked out for a day, but according to the citizens of Amity Park, it's been going on for a week."
Clockwork frowned deeply as he changed to his middle-age form. "Ah, yes, that would partially be my fault." He looked at me warily, as though asking me to continue. I raised an eyebrow, granting him permission to go on. "An ambush, I'm assuming from Drake's army, came in here and attacked me. I tried to stop them, but they soon knocked me unconscious. I'm assuming that they messed with the time stream while I was out cold. Because your grandparents were unconscious, they only felt a day go by, but the people of Amity Park felt a week go by. I was knocked out, so it only felt like a day for me as well, but when I looked at the time stream, I knew it had been a week. There's nothing I can do to change this, though, because it was going to happen in due time."
"Clockwork," I moaned, holding my hand to my face. "You're supposed to be the master of time. Why can't you just set it back and let it happen when it's technically supposed to?"
"As I said before, Lily, it was going to happen soon enough. Don't be like the Observants, and let time go on like it's supposed to."
"But I thought that doing that damaged the time stream?"
"No. Having someone from your future or your past come into this time period will mess up the time stream, but not altering the way time happens or when it happens."
"Oh," was my short answer. "What if I went backwards or forwards in time?"
"Depends. If you were seen, then it may alter the time stream. However, I can always set it back, no matter what happens, as your father learned. I can also wipe everyone's memory so nobody remembers that it happened. So, whatever happens," he smiled, "I can always set it back."
"Then why can't you set the week back and let it take its due course?" I argued.
"Lilith," he said, sounding angry. He changed to his ancient form. I knew whenever he called my dad by his full first name, he was frustrated. Dad had told me that. "It was going to happen anyway, so let it be."
I looked down ashamed. "Okay," I said quietly. "I'll be on my way then."
"Goodbye, Lily." I flew out of Clockwork's tower quietly, deep in thought. Well, one piece of the puzzle is solved. I just can't help feeling that I forgot something. My eyebrows furrowed together in thought. I felt slightly dizzy again watching the swirling green ecto-energy of the Ghost Zone. It then hit me.
"Oh, my God," I whispered as I flew as fast as I could back to Clockwork's tower, nearly hitting some of the doors along the way. I saw Clockwork's tower up ahead and put all of my speed into my flight. "Clockwork!" I shouted.
He turned around abruptly, shocked that I had returned so early. "What is it, Lily?" He changed to his child form, shock still on his face. Instead of answering, I just flew around the tower in a panic, desperately looking for it.
"Where is it, Clockwork?" I worriedly asked. I couldn't find it anywhere. I phased through everything, over turned a few tables, looked in all of the rooms, and I still couldn't find it. If it was gone, we were all doomed. I kept flying around, ready to scream. "Where is it?!" I kept rambling on, not sure of what I was saying anymore.
"Lily?" Clockwork said sharply. He flew over to me and grabbed me roughly by the shoulders as he aged to his middle-aged form. "What are you talking about? Where is what?"
I took a deep breath in hopes of calming myself down. "The Fenton thermos holding Dan Phantom. Where is it?"
It was Clockwork's turn to look away, ashamed. "Your brother has it. He's using Dan Phantom in this war." My blood run cold and thoughts swirled around in my head. No, no, no. It can't be happening; it just can't be happening. Darkness swam in front of my eyes, rendering me unconscious. My vision was blurred, butI was able to see as Clockwork's expression turned from one of shame to a look of surprise before I finally closed my eyes and hit the floor.
Sorry that it's so short, but I don't have too many ideas for this chapter. I hope you still enjoy it!
dreamwriter2010