Awesome, Well, It took me a couple days to type this, but I finished. I left it on the worst cliffhanger ever, but I couldn't write anymore for this chapter. Sorry!

Oh, and I've been looking for something to draw, so if there is a scene in the story you can't quite picture or just one that you'd like me to draw, just leave it in you're review or PM me and I'll draw it and post it .com

The Phantasmagoric Images

Chapter 8

"What do you mean 'you can't find her'?" Tucker yelled in disbelief. "You're the master of time! You see everything! You KNOW everything! You can't not know where she is!" Tucker began pacing the large, spacious room filled with clocks and various portals, with worry for Sam's life… for Danny's life.

The horrific images that had stored themselves in the back of his mind kept coming back to the surface, each a more gruesome scene of Sam's most probable death… And Danny hadn't spoken a word since they left school to go to Clockwork's tower. He seemed to be in an irreversible state of shock and who could blame him. His best friend was gone, most likely taken by a ghost, and Danny was sure that he was the one to blame. His eyes were wide open; he wouldn't blink; his cheeks were tear-stained. He had finally stopped crying just before they reached Clockwork's Tower. Clockwork already knew he had been crying, but he didn't want to show it. He felt sick to his stomach. His heart felt as though it were ripped out. He couldn't breathe. He wanted to scream, but his voice caught in his throat. He just wanted this all to end.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Foley, but I've tried and tried, but I cannot find her," Clockwork sighed, winding the clock on his staff and looking around the room at several portals and windows he used to look at different times. "It's like—"

"She disappeared from time," a low voice replied from behind the two. It was Danny, hoarse from crying. He had finally stood up from the corner her had balled himself into. He wouldn't look up from the floor, but the others could feel his heart breaking. This whole situation was killing him inside. Why did fate seem to have it out for him? Was Danny cursed from the start? Would he ever be allowed to have something good in his life without fear of losing everything in one mille-second? "She disappeared from time and…" Danny's voice began to tremble and his tears were staining the floor.

"Danny," Tucker whispered consolingly, walking closer to his friend. "You don't have to say it—"

"Yes, I do!" Danny screamed in an almost demonic voice, his face quickly rising to meet their gazes. "I'm never going to see her again, am I?" No one could muster up an answer. They could bear to break him down further. "Am I, Tucker?" He glared at Tucker sharply, his eyes like daggers, glowing a deep, sorrowful green. Tucker tried to answer softly, but his emotions finally got the best of him.

"It's your fault she's gone, anyway!" Tucker yelled. Clockwork slowly backed away from the two boys. "You're the one that made her go away!" Tucker was now in tears along with Danny, his face turning a deep shade of red. Danny stood at attention.

"I would never—"

"You shot her through a wall!" Tucker retorted, a bite in his tone.

"That was an accident!" Danny yelled, trying to hold himself together for just a little bit longer. "I—"

"Accident hell!" Tucker yelled. "You were trying to hit her! And now, even if we find her—"

"Shut up!" Danny screamed in a hellish voice, clenching his head within his grasp, begging for this all to just end.

"Even if we find her, she's probably already dead!" Silence fell over the room. It seemed as though the entire world was waiting for Danny to speak. He clenched his eyes closed to hide the green glow.

"Y-you like her, don't you?" Danny spoke with a voice that sounded as if it hadn't been used in years. The tension in the room softened.

"She's like a sister to me and you blasted her through a wall," Tucker stated, trying to stay calm. "How can I ever trust you again?" He choked on the words as they fell from his lips.

"By giving me a second chance," Danny said. "Tucker, I can fix this. I know I can." Danny gripped Tucker by the forearms, pleadingly. Tucker nodded; a slow, but sure yes. "Thanks, Tuck. I won't let you down… I won't let her die."

Ooooooooo

"It's not fair," a young girl cried as she sat on the corner, the rain pelting her silky, black hair. Her head was buried in her knees as she sobbed.

"What's not fair?" a small voice came from behind the girl. She flinched at the sudden sound and looked over her shoulder to see the source. Who could be out this late? It was a boy with crystal blue oceans in his eyes who held an umbrella above her soaked form. Redness crossed her cheeks and she quickly wiped her tears that couldn't be seen anyway because of the rain.

"M-my kitty died earlier today," she said softly, placing her chin atop her knees again, looking at the road in front of her. "A man ran her over when he hit the sidewalk. He almost hit me, but hit my kitty instead." She cringed at the memory, but pushed it to the back of her mind when she remembered the boy standing behind her. "Why are you here? Where are your parents?" A smile crossed his face.

"Like they care where I am," the boy humored, taking a seat beside the girl, making sure to keep the umbrella over her head. "They're too busy with their experiments to pay any attention to me. Where are your parents?" Her expression changed from awestruck to that of aggravation.

"They might as well be dead," she said harshly, her tears beginning to fall again. "They never wanted a daughter and they definitely never wanted me. They wanted a little boy, but they got me who was, unfortunately, everything they never wanted." A silence fell between the two until the boy spoke again.

"I guess we're pretty much the same, huh?" the boy said with a slight laugh. "We were both mistakes. Unwanted mistakes that just… don't belong anywhere." The girl began crying again, slamming her head into the boy's shoulder, grabbing tightly to his arm. "W-what's wrong?"

"I-I miss m-my kitty," she cried softly. The boy switched the umbrella to his other hand and began rubbing the girl's back consolingly.

"My name's Danny Fenton," the boy said softly. "What's yours?"

"Samantha Manson," she answered, lifting her gaze to meet his. "My friends call me Sam… or they would if I had friends." She tried to laugh to make it seem like it didn't bother her.

"Well, Sam," he began with a big smile. "I'll come out to this street corner every time it rains and look for you if you'll come."

"Sure," she replied, wiping her tears away and holding her hand out to him, which he gladly took. "I hereby dub thee my first friend!"

Oooooooo

"There's no way," Sam was awestruck as she stared into the all too familiar, crystal blue eyes.

"Uh, WAY!" he stated with a bit of a smirk. She stared at the tall, muscular figure and had to bite her lip to keep from reaching out to touch him, if only to see if he was real.

"W-what was with the evil act?" Sam asked to distract herself. "Unless you are evil."

"It depends on how you look at it, I guess," he replied with his signature smile. "The Guys in White think I'm evil just because I'm a ghost. My parents think I'm evil for the same reason. Your parents think I'm evil for god knows what reason! The town thinks I'm a murder! And Tuck thinks I'm evil because I'm in love with his sister—"

"Tuck has a sister?"

"No," he shook off the question. "But that doesn't matter. The point is… the whole world thinks I'm evil, but… I don't feel evil." Silence filled the room again as he walked over to the dresser that sat on the other side of the room and took a picture from the top drawer. "Do you think I'm evil?" he asked in a whisper, his gaze never lifting from the picture grasped firmly in his hand.

"What?" She looked at him as if it were the strangest question that ever left his lips.

"Do you think I'm evil like everyone else?" he yelled, turning to face her with tears streaming down his cheeks. She didn't answer. She only stared at the man. He seemed so cold when he first entered the room and now, he just seemed like a lost little boy. He sighed heavily when she didn't answer. "You're wondering why I brought you here, right?" he asked, regaining his composure, trying to seem menacing. She nodded nervously. "Well, everything went screwy in my time. Something changed the timeline, but I was the only one who remembered the other timeline; the real timeline. I went from world renowned hero to the worlds most wanted! I lost everything!" He crumbled the picture in his hand and it fell to the floor. Sam slowly picked the crumbled paper off the floor.

"What's this?" Sam asked, unfurling the picture.

"It's my baby girl… our baby girl," He replied with a sorrowful look. He couldn't meet her eyes. "She doesn't exist anymore."

REVIEW PLEASE!