Pocket Watch
I need to start a plan

Nothing but hope and luck

CLICK.
"No."
CLICK.
"No."
CLICK.
"NO."

This was the routine Sam took since Danny's absence: clicking on various news channels to see if the famous "Danny Phantom" was mentioned in anyone of them. So far, this was her only leading method in hopes of finding her best friend. Tucker stuck to his predictable routine of using his PDA and other source of technology. Jazz's task fell on keeping her parents from falling apart. She found her mother constantly crying, often wondering if it was her fault Danny ran away. Jack's behavior turned a 180, his usual optimistic, boisterous self replaced with a man dressed in silence and sorrow, spending most of his time in the lab perfecting or making new ghost gadgets, but never actually testing them out or using them. It was his obvious way of dealing with the pain of losing his son. Aside from school and keeping tabs on where her brother was with Sam and Tucker, trying to keep the parents' oppression down became to be a thankless job in itself.
Danny's absence even affected his peers, including Valerie whom Sam encountered after about a week of Danny's absence in the school hallway.

"Sam, I need to ask you something and you probably already knew this was coming, but…where's Danny?"
Sam eyed Valerie with wide eyes, casually clinging onto her locker door as she eyed whom she considered a threat to Danny, both when it came to his ghost form and his love life. Valerie could easily see the hostility in her eyes, so she let out a sigh.
"Sam, I know you don't like me that much and I get why, but you and I are both concerned for Danny." She started, "So can't you please tell me where he is?"
Sam eyed the floor with a sorrowed look, knowing Valerie's concern for him matched the same level as her's.
"I…I don't know." Sam finally admitted, "…He ran away. Jazz told me."
"…I didn't do anything to push him away, did I?" She asked weakly, rare in her case since like Sam, Valerie had strong opinions whenever she felt the need to say it. Now she sounded absolutely terrified. She wasn't even sure why she asked that way. Perhaps her ghost hunting life got in the way of pursuing Danny, that is, if he still liked her. Sam struggled with the answer. After all, she could easily shout out to her that Phantom and Fenton, being one and the same, grew sick and tired of the ghost hunter in red always after her and near succeeding in some aspects as well, but blaming Valerie on something she didn't know, that would be too harsh, so she gave off the best answer she could.
"I don't think so." Sam shook her head. Valerie proceeded to give off a relieved face until Sam continued, "…I think it's all of us."

It hit her like a bag of hammers as it did Sam who felt like putting her foot in her mouth. Now Valerie took her turn to eye the floor in dismay. Sam closed her locker door and did something she normally wouldn't do as she placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. They had nothing but hope and luck to rely on for the time.

An Encounter

A week passed since Vlad blurted out Danny's trip to the heavenly gates to which the boy spent the majority of his time lying or sitting on his bed, hardly uttering a word, his lips clenched tight as if a zipper ran between it. Unusually whenever he left his room for whatever reason (mostly for breakfast, lunch, and dinner), Danny ate normally and suggested words here and there ("Pass the salt, please"), but he said it in a weary voice. His face however gave off a more serious pondering look then sadness, like the face he usually gave when answering a hard question in his math homework rather then a look of sorrow over his death which he still somehow gave off a vibe.

Vlad felt it weird the news of his death resulted in a quiet, near stoic Danny despite whatever looks he gave. He had expected the child to throw himself onto the expensive, recently shampooed carpet and cried out in anguish. For Danny to take this remarkably well concerned Vlad, yet he never bothered to talk this over with him. In fact, Vlad found himself too afraid to talk to him, only briefly staring at him from time to time before cowering over to his newspaper/food/work paper, obviously filled with guilt for what he said to him.

April ended and May came, but Vlad didn't bother asking Danny if he chose a disguise name to enter Madison Private High. In fact, he never made any note of it for obvious reasons. Yet May would be the start of some changes around both Vlad and Danny's lives…

………………

Vlad peeked inside Danny's room before leaving for work. Danny started to make it a habit of sleeping past seven and to add insult to injury, he's entire room's curtains shielded the windows, so even on such a nice, bright, and sunny day, Danny spent it all lingering in his bed, blanket only covering the lower half of his body, sleeping it all away. Vlad suspected this was Danny's new way of dealing with his death since previously, he woke up earlier, if not to keep as much suspected eye on his arch nemesis as possible. Now, he slept it out; after all, it was the closest thing to death he's going to get at this time. Vlad opt to leave, but his concern and guilt got to him, so he barged right into his room, walking close to his bed to eye Danny. Seeing his face and how peaceful it looked made him even guiltier, so before he left he wrapped Danny's blanket up to the boy's neck before quietly walking out to go to work, however little that would help him in the future.

Danny woke up at around quarter pass noon. Eyeballing the clock and seeing he was about 6 hours late then the usual time he's been waking up in, he honestly didn't care (wouldn't be the first time he woke up that late before after all). After stumbling out of bed, putting on whatever clothes he could find (preferably ones he left hanging on the tea table chairs), brushing his teeth and washing his face, Danny made his way downstairs to the main room. Eyeing the TV, he flicked it on with the remote; immediately he got the news channel where he stared briefly at a tragic report over a car crash and twelve lives lost. After hearing that, he closed his eyes tightly and walked towards the kitchen.

Opening the fridge, he wondered whether he prefer the effort of making himself a sandwich or gorge down on Lucky Charms located on the kitchen counter nearby all the while pondering the words Vlad uttered to him a week back, "You're dying."

"I'm dying." He repeated.

Fridge still open, staring at the platform of foods, Danny's silence and manner seem fit to show he's depression over the matters of his death when in reality, for that exact week, he actually spent time pondering over something completely different. He's thinking face he gave for the past week grew of no random chance, but of something he did that remained of a small important to him. He remembered when he was a child; he made a list on a piece of loose leaf, about the age of seven. That said, that single piece of loose leaf paper lied in Danny's mind, knowing full well that now he had to make good use of it while he could. The little importance of that single piece of paper suddenly grew bigger in the past week. If only he could somehow get it without using his powers…

Suddenly, out of the blue, his ghost sense took off, sending a quick shiver down his spine. Danny quickly closed the fridge and lean over the kitchen entrance. Nothing. He left the room entirely and casually walked, eyeballing his back every now and then, only to turn around and bump into a very familiar ghost.

"What th—YOU!" A giant metallic hand pointed to Danny: Skulker.
"Oh, it's just you." Danny sighed, closing his eyes with relief, "…What do you want?"
"I came to see if I could catch up with Vlad before he left for work, see if he had a particular weapon I needed so I could—wait, what do you mean, "Oh, it's just me?" I'm not a threat to you anymore?" Skulker hissed. Danny tried to speak, but Skulker continued.
"Is that why you didn't give an effort to fight me about a month back?" Skulker gasped, "Oh, man, what the hell did I do to make you think that way? Am I getting predictable, am I too tiring for you, what? WHAT?"

"Skulker, shut up!" Danny shouted, "It's NOT you, it's me. I'm DYING. My human DNA and my ghost DNA are basically fighting each other to the point where using my ghost powers will crap out on me and cause me to suffer. I'm DYING." And with that, he returned back to the kitchen. Skulker stood stunned, standing like a useless lump before he had the sense to follow him and give off a cocky look.
"Okay, I get it; this is some sort of stupid joke to lead me off. Ooh, clever, but I'm not falling for it. It's a rather stupid excuse anyway." Skulker crossed his arms, eyeing Danny.
"Fine, whatever." Danny shrugged, pulling a carton of milk out, deciding on cereal. Skulker clearly didn't like the idea of not being taken seriously, so he jabbered on.
"I mean, you HAVE to be lying, no way in hell a normal person would take it so easily that they're dying."
"Well, I'm not exactly a normal person, Skulker."
"That's not what I meant." His voice started to raise, "You CAN'T die. I'M suppose to kill YOU. ME. Not death, not some bizarre accident, not disease, ME! It's NOT fair!"
"Well, then if you must, go ahead and kill me now." Danny said with a mix of calmness and irritation. Skulker stuttered around and waved his arms around frantically before speaking.
"NO! That's not how it works! You have to fight back; it's the thrill of the HUNT!" He screamed, "You standing there like easy prey is NOTHING to me!"
"Wow, you really are hardcore." Danny unimpressively said, "Well, if you desire that, then your luck is through since I don't have any plans to prance around for you. I got other matters to attend to."
"Oh, yeah, LIKE WHAT?"
"I don't need to tell you." Danny finished the reminder of his cereal, cleaned up the kitchen counter he was eating from, and walked away. In another time, Skulker, being ridiculously close would have sent him on the defensive, but now...what was the point?

The rogue ghost hunter however refused to leave him alone for the reminder of the day, basically going on that even if Danny did die, he could chase after him endlessly in the Ghost Zone regardless.

"…After all, when you die, it's where you'll most likely end up…unless you get everything you needed done before then."
"What do you mean?"
"Look, the only way you can get in the Ghost Zone is if you were born a ghost or died without having any sense of peace left in your mortal life." Skulker answered in a rather surprising sincere tone, "The Ghost Zone is basically Purgatory. If you haven't finished anything you needed in the mortal world, you'll most likely end up there."
"…But I don't want to."

Skulker gave off a shocked look and incidentally, a saddened one.

"…Why?" Skulker placed a hand behind the back of his neck, "I'd figure you being half ghost and coming into the Ghost Zone a lot, you'd have been use to it and maybe even…liked it?"
"No offense, Skulker, but the Ghost Zone isn't my idea of heaven." Danny shook his head.
"Heaven? Is that where you want to go?"
"Well…yeah, I'd figure lots of people wanted to go to Heaven." Danny shrugged, "…Why, does it not exist?"
"I don't know." Now it was Skulker's turn to shrug, "A lot of ghosts that have existed in the mortal world at one point have stated they desire to work hard to rest their souls completely so they'd descend into heaven or any afterlives they believe in. They don't know anymore then you humans do, really."

Danny kept his mouth shut, pondering over Skulker's words. He didn't very much enjoy the fact Heaven could only be a concept and not an actual place. Granted, Danny wasn't a religious boy, but he grew up knowing of that place so many times and seeing the Ghost Zone as actual evidence of an afterlife, Danny assumed heaven would be one among many. He fidgeted with his hands, wondering if he should go through with his plans.

"Hello?" Skulker moved in front of Danny, "Ignoring me now?"
Danny sighed and did nothing but stare, refusing to let anyone disturb his thoughts.

………………

Hero

Skulker's presence continued to dominate Danny throughout the afternoon and early into the evenings, his words continuing to prang Danny over how he wanted his head on a plate, or how he's destiny lied in the Ghost Zone after death…where he would place his head on a plate. Danny often just drowned it out, spending the majority of the day thinking. By evening, at half past six, Danny ventured back into the kitchen once more, only this time to prepare dinner and suitably, not just for him.

Skulker once again stared like a lump as Danny took out about three different kinds of pots, filled them with water, and started cutting up meats and vegetables.

"Trying to make a Thanksgiving feast, Chef Boyardee?" Skulker sneered.
"Making dinner for Vlad when he returns home." Danny answered, refusing to stare at Skulker, only concentrating on the food which he opt to give it his all, "I notice he doesn't seem to feed himself very well after work, possibly due to all that work. He's the president of his own company after all."
"Just what are you doing in Vlad's anyways? Ain't you two mortal enemies?"
"I just needed to get away from Amity Park…it's a long story."
"…I didn't even know you could cook."
"Well, not really. I watched my mom sometimes, but seriously, cooking shouldn't be that big of a brainer. Just make sure the meat turns completely brown, and chop up the vegetables without cutting your fingers off, lest you mistake that piece of carrot to be a part of my pinky."
"What the hell are you making?"
"I…don't know. Some pseudo meat and vegetable…soup?"
"Then shouldn't you add something like chicken broth or something?"
"Okay, since you're such an expert, why don't YOU help or something?"
"FINE, I WILL!" Skulker scooted Danny over and headed for the meat. Taking a butcher knife, he started to cut it into rather perfect square chunks while Danny watched in amazement.
"…Awww, come on, I hunt for a living, of course I actually know how to cook some of the food I kill!" Skulker groaned, "Now get the chicken broth and let's get cookin'."

……………………

Edging backwards, Danny sat on the nearest furniture (a coffee table) in the living room after dinner and with Skulker of all people! They even went the extra mile and sat up the dining table using the fine china, expensive silverware, and candles, as if they preparing Vlad for a date. Exhausted, he let the news drone on, not paying any particular attention to it until the words, "…fire in Madison Road is currently going strong."

Madison Road? That road lied about some 15-20 minutes from here. Danny glued his eyes to the screen to spot a raging fire going on inside a farm, one he couldn't recognize. What he did notice motivated him to stand up as several firemen worked tirelessly to put out the fire while the other half tried in vain to rescue the survivors while dozens of passerby, residences, and paparazzi watched/droned on. Immediately Danny, without a second thought headed straight for the front door, Skulker following behind.

"WAIT! You're not thinking about saving those folks?"
"That's the idea."
"What about the whole ghost power will kill you deal?"

Danny gripped the doorknob tightly as he cringe his face. Would he dare take such a risk? People die everyday after all. It seemed almost unfair for him to walk closer to death by saving the lives of strangers he probably wouldn't meet again, yet he's moral center got to him first, so he opened the front door and started to head out, the sky showing signs of darkness. He took several steps before eyeing Skulker.

"…Sorry, I gotta do this."
"Why?"
"Because if I don't, then no one else will."

And with that, he turned ghost and flew off.

………………………

Defeating ghosts grew to be only ONE of Danny's many agendas as a growing superhero. He found himself, in given time, to handle all manners of super heroism from rescuing cats from trees to making sure that large piece of building doesn't fall on top of innocent civilians, and although he's faced fire many times before, Danny still broke a sweat every time he got near one. After all, Danny still remained alive and one tiny mistake could cost him his life in what is known as the deadliest of all elements.

The red barn couldn't have been more redundant with the colors of the flame flickering, poking out of every window available, so much so that the current survivors' muffled cries could barely be heard, so they couldn't hear the whoosh from the wind when a half ghost flew towards their direction. Every single person's attention shifted from the burning barn to the young halfa, flying straight through the barn using his intangibility. Formerly known as "Inviso-Bill" to many, "Danny Phantom" in the two short years he's been a hero, gained phenomenon and fame over the United States, quickly spreading to Canada, Mexico, and other parts of the world. After all, genuine superheroes existed only in the realm of comic books and television, yet here is one who literally must have popped out from the very pages of a graphic novel. So boldly he goes inside the barn without a second thought, coming out with three people in his arms: a man and his two little daughters.

Fellow residences quickly ran over to comfort and conceal the survivors, the rest tried to congratulate Danny. Danny however split when he started to lose focus as his eyelids started to drop and when the paparazzi started to head his way. He didn't need nosy reporters poking microphones and video cameras in his directions, so he immediately flew up until he felt sure he couldn't been seem (which helped as the sky darkened) before he dropped like an anvil in a Saturday morning cartoon, landing on Skulker's arms of all places, the ghost hunter having followed him, trailing behind and keeping watch over Danny's heroism. He now turned back into his human form, fainting in Skulker's arms.

"Stubborn." He muttered before flying the kid home.

…………………

A Favor

Danny woke up from the couch Skulker placed him on inside the main living room when the sound of the front door opened with Vlad shouting afterwards, "I'M HOME!" Working his way to said living room, he dropped his suitcase so suddenly when he saw Skulker kneeling, eyeballing Danny who managed to utter a weak smile and a short wave.

"Hi, Vlad…"
"Oh, my God, Daniel, what happened?" He ran over to him and kneeled, placing a hand on Danny's forehead, feeling for any increased temperature.
"Oh, just…just…saved people."
"WHAT? Did you use your powers?" Danny only casually nodded.
"What did I TELL YOU about using your powers?"
"There was a fire…needed to save…people…no choice."
"There is ALWAYS a choice, Daniel!" Vlad stopped, arched his head back, and sniffed, "What's that smell?"
"I made you…dinner." Danny weakly pointed to the dinner table. Vlad hardly could get angry after seeing that rather pathetic attempt at pointing, especially when afterwards, Danny closed his eyes again and drifted off. Vlad eyed Skulker who gave off a "Don't-give-me-that-look".
"Hey, I tried to stop him, okay!"
"Why the hell are you here?"
"I was wondering if you had a particular weapon I could use, so I tried to catch you before you left for work, but I obviously didn't do that. Then I meant the whelp and I've been with him all day."
"And you didn't try to kill him?"
"No point in killing a prey that refuses to play the game." Vlad sighed. He lowered his head as he enveloped it over with his hand.
"…Come on, have dinner with me. Can't let food go to waste." He finally muttered.

……………………

Again Danny stayed in bed for an extensive period of time. It seemed the more he used his powers, the longer he'd stay in bed. Vlad seem fit to constantly keep an eye on Danny without actually interfering so much. Skulker unfortunately lead the opposite direction by barging in on Danny every chance he got, refusing to let down that he's head would be on a mount for all to see. Danny took in those words with a grain of salt, continuing to ponder once more, occasionally halting to see the news on TV (where Danny Phantom's report of saving the three civilians went heard) or to rest his eyes. By the near end of the week, he decided Skulker's constant presence would do well for his current goal, so while Skulker droned on and on, Danny (still in bed) casually interrupted.

"…and once I do have your head, I'll use the rest of your body and turn it into a—"
"Skulker, can I ask you something?" Danny asked, interrupting Skulker.
"…Hey, don't interrupt!"
"Skulker…"
"Oh, WHAT?"
"I know this is highly unorthodox of me, but…I need you to do me a favor."
"…E-Excuse me?"
"I need you to go to my house and get me get something from my room."
"…E-Excuse me?"
"It's a shoebox under my bed. Look for a folded piece of loose leaf paper inside, can't miss it."
"…E-Excuse me?"
"Don't read it, just quickly find it and bring it back to me, please. If you see anyone, don't tell them jack, no one else knows about my shoebox, just get out and go."
"…E-Excuse me?"
"Skulker, expand your vocabulary."
"EXCUSE ME!" Skulker backed off, "After all the crap you've put me through, all the threats I'm currently making to you right now, you just expect me to go and do YOU a favor?" Danny nodded.
"FORGET IT!"
"…Fine." Danny lied down and covered himself with his blanket, turning away from him, "After all, it's not like you got anything better to do until I actually feel the need to pose a level of threat to you." Irritated, Skulker let out a groan and muttered an anguish "FINE!" And with that, he left via the window, leaving Danny to smirk.

………………

Skulker's been to Danny's house before, but rarely did he really step inside, let along to his room. Either way, he knew which window to enter to get to Danny's room.
"Under the bed." He muttered to himself. Getting on his knees, he shoved his left arm under the blanket.
"Let's see…pointy, pointy, soft, SLIMY, can't even make out that shape, ahh, something boxy." Skulker guessed correctly when he fished out an old Nikes shoebox. Opening the lid, he found a variety of items that in his mind would usually be used as clues to find any weakness Danny possessed, so it was to utter disappointment that most of the junk in here were useless; an old CD case, a picture he drew in the first grade of a dog (eerily he colored it green), few photos of his friends and family, few football trading cards, some newspaper clippings which contained "Danny Phantom" articles, and finally, the folded up loose leaf paper. Skulker fetched that out and place the box back under.

He didn't set off right away; instead he held that piece of paper like it was the Holy Grail. What if this contained everything he ever needed to know in order to defeat Danny? Oh, but what would be the purpose of even lifting a finger to him if he won't lift back as well?

"Damn it, what a fine time for you to arse me around, you little whelp!"
"Hello? Is someone there? Danny, is that you? Are you back?"
"Oh, crap!" Skulker quickly staggered up, trying to reach for the window, but he only reached the tip by the time Jazz came in, who proceeded to scream the moment she laid eyes on him. She quickly whipped out a Fenton thermos which seemingly came out of nowhere and pointed it towards him.

"FREEZE, BUSTER!"
"What th—NO! This isn't what it looks like!" Skulker cried out, raising his arms up a bit like a prisoner caught in the spotlight.
"Oh, I know what it looks like! You were trying to find my brother, but couldn't!" Jazz assumed, "And just when you were about to leave, I come in!"
"I…NO, geez, put that thing down!"
"PREPARE TO BE SUCKED!"

"YOUR BROTHER SENT ME!" Jazz stared at Skulker like he just came out of the insane asylum.
"…I don't believe you."
"Well, believe it. He told me to get something from him."
"PROVE IT!"
"H-How can I prove it? He told me he's the only one who knows about the shoebox and—"
"The shoebox?" Jazz finally lowered the Fenton thermos and noticed the piece of paper Skulker held in his hand, "…You know about the shoebox?"
"Apparently you do, too." Skulker lowered his arms.
"Of course I know, I've gone through a lot of Danny's stuff in the past without his knowledge." Jazz grinned, "…And I hate to admit it, but you must be telling the truth. Nobody knows about that shoebox, not even his friends."
"Why is that box so secretive, it's just filled with junk?"
"Everybody has their secret private things." Jazz answered, "…Why does he need that piece of paper for? He barely covered everything in there, what's going on?"
"I can't say, partially because I don't know."
"Where's my brother?"
"I can't say that either, but he's safe if it helps."
"What are you planning to do with him?"
"NOTHING…well, for now." Jazz merely eyed him.
"Look, I just have to deliver this for your brother, nothing more. He's safe and I don't think he wants me to reveal where he is."
"…No, I didn't think so." Jazz shifted her focus to the floor, "He can hold quite a bit of a grudge…okay, fine. Go on…but please tell him his family and friends miss him and think of him everyday."
"Yeah, okay, whatever."
"But if you hurt ONE hair on his head, I-I'll chase you to the ends of the Earth, you hear me!"
"Yeah, whatever." And with that, Skulker took off.
To Be Continued…

…………………

Author's Note: Ch.6 uploaded. Not much to say, but I'm finally getting the general plot moving. I had a lot of thought on how to handle Skulker which proved a bit difficult. Hmm, his speech seemed a bit casual then normal, but he's probably just frustrated. After all, he's biggest hunt is dying, ahahaha. Expect more Skulker in the future. I DO have plans to bring the other ghosts that Danny has fought as well, it'll be tough, I assume. I mean I had to make Skulker have a civil enough conversation to Danny and in a way, work for him of sorts, ahaha.