Chapter 3

The young Danny turns to face me, his red eyes pulsing with energy. I smirk at him and fold my arms across my chest. Better to wait for him to say something first. He doesn't disappoint.

"What's happening to me?" he asks pathetically.

"I've already told you. You made a promise," I sing-song.

"That's right," he says, "But I didn't expect it to take effect this quickly."

Poor, poor boy. He's too secure in his 'fight for justice' to come to terms with reality. He opens his mouth to speak again, and I'm expecting something along the lines of: "How long have I got?" or "I'll never turn into you!"

He pauses before he says, "How am I supposed to fool these idiots into trusting me?"

"But, you're already turning into me you little… wait, what?" I stop in my tracks.

Danny rolls his eyes in exasperation.

"I know you heard me, and I'm not going to repeat myself", he mimics my pose by folding his arms across his chest, mocking me.

This is the first time anything has managed to surprise me in a long time.

"Well look at you," I say condescendingly to mask my astonishment. I stop there, not only because I can't think of anything else to say, but also because my mind feels like it is about to explode. With new memories.

Emotions rocket through me and new thoughts take root as if they have been there all along.

Suddenly, I realise what young Danny is trying to do. I storm up to him and grab him by the front of his childish jumpsuit, my eyes blazing furiously.

I laugh scornfully into his face, and take delight in the utter terror I see in it as the fake menacing smile falls away.

I draw in a deep breath, charging up my ghostly wail.

I am going to destroy Danny Phantom once and for all.

Before I can end the miserable wretch who dared think he could fool me, another wave of memories attacks me and as I decipher them, the result forces me to exhale weakly and gently lower Danny to the ground.

"You - ?" I can't finish the sentence.

Danny, who had been looking at the ground, now looks up at me and nods wordlessly.

So, now you see. If I hadn't made that promise to myself, I wouldn't be who I am today. I would be a splatter of ectoplasm on the pavement in another time stream.

But frankly, I like me better now.

And that's not the end, my friend!

Far from it. The most interesting part is still to come.

Just sit back and relax. Do you like the little 'habitat' I created for you? Although I never spent time in that container the other me was prisoner to, I imagine that what you're experiencing now is something similar to the confines of the Fenton Thermos… - thing. Yeah, I've never really been good at remembering the names of those ridiculous inventions mom and dad made.

So, let's get on with it, shall we?

WHAT IS HAPPENING TO ME?!

After he put me down, Dan started pacing a little ways off from me. Impatient to put his plan into action, obviously. I sneaked farther and farther away from him, so I could actually sit and think about what was really happening.

I can feel Dan's darkness taking over. But the good in me won't go down without a fight. For now though, I'm going to have to pretend. Which will be hard because Dan seems to know when I'm for real.

I have to try.

I turn around to face him again, but he isn't there. I whip around and look all around me. Dan isn't anywhere to be seen.

Then, it hits me. The only way I could defeat Dan was to become him. I'd always known that. And now, he's gone. Vanished from the face of our world and, I'm assuming, the ghost world too.

That means…

It's too late.

I crumple to the ground, aware of my fate more so than I'd ever been. No one can know what I've done. They'll destroy me for sure. Heck, I'd destroy myself before it was too late. But I had to accomplish what I came here for in the first place. Otherwise, I'd have sacrificed my fate for nothing.

As if on cue, a portal opens up right in front of me. Dan and I had been standing in an alleyway behind the Nasty Burger before he vanished unexpectedly. But, I'm not alone for long. The other future Dan Phantom steps out of the portal, disguised as me in my human form.

He lets loose with an evil chuckle that I, inexplicably, want to compete with. I shake my head at my own unreasonableness and try to focus on the Danny imposter. He clears his throat and the portal closes just as Sam and Tucker round the corner.

I want to shout a warning to them and expose Dan for who he is, and…for who I am about to become. I gulp at this realisation, swallowing my words of warning too.

They both hug him, and then the trio walk off together.

Fury builds up inside my body. How could they not tell the difference between the evil me and the real me?

Well, I'll show them evil.

No, wait. That's exactly what I'm not going to do…

Oh, but I wanna…

I catch a glimpse of my reflection in the mirror and am shocked out of my dangerous mood.

I forget that my eyes now glow red, instead of green. That will take some getting used to. But I see something else that deeply disturbs me. I thought my teeth had been feeling too big for my mouth and when I open my mouth to examine them, I am greeted to the ghastly sight of two impressive sets of fangs. The mirror image of Dan's before he disappeared, into me I guess.

I have to catch the Dan disguised as me alone, before it's too late.