Author's Note: Sorry for what I know was probably a slow start, here is the second chapter with some action and the first of many universes our heroes will find themselves in. Please read, enjoy, and review if you so desire!
Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom.
They were having a nightmare, surely y they were in some sort of twisted dream was all the three could think as they gazed at the dark haunt they hoped to never see again. A mane of fiery white hair flickered wildly above its sneering green face. Two blazing red orbs glared down at the group, eyes filed with a burning hatred and malice. And upon its black and white jumpsuit, as if silently mocking the young hero, the Danny Phantom logo shined brightly. Dan Phantom, what had once been the dark future of Danny Phantom, was free.
"We meet again, younger me, and without those accursed inventions to help you beating you will be a - ack!" Dan cried out in pain and fell to the ground, unable to maintain his power of flight. With the powerful enemy clearly suffering, the three were able to find the words that had escaped them before.
"Is it just me or does he look…weaker?" Sam asked.
"Maybe it's because…no, that's ridiculous," Tucker was mumbling to himself.
"Spit it out, Tuck," Danny instructed his friend, "What do you think is going on?"
"Well when you beat him," he pointed at the groaning ghost on the floor, "you eliminated him from your future."
At Sam and Danny's blank stares the boy sighed and continued. "Theoretically, he doesn't exist in this reality and therefore can't exist in this reality. The only reason he was still here before was because he was in the thermos."
"So he's fading away?" Sam gasped, her violet gaze turning towards Dan who was now breathing heavily due to some unforeseen pain. The evil rendition of Danny's future looked up at the teenagers, his eyes narrowing in anger at them before flicking to the nearby portals. A wide grin split his features and the ghost suddenly didn't seem as weak as before.
"If I can't exist in this reality," he began to push himself to his feet, "then I'll just find a reality where I can exist!" Dan forced his body into a flight as he hurled himself into the nearest portal before anyone could react. A few seconds passed before the realization of what had just happened finally sunk in.
"Did he just say 'reality' as in a different reality?" Sam's pondering was ignored by the boys who were having a minor meltdown.
"If I didn't have such bad aim…I am so sorry Danny," Tucker was saying while Danny was screaming, "This is bad. This is really bad. We have to go after him!"
Sam pinched the bridge of her nose between two fingers and let out a long sigh. Sometimes it felt like she was the only level headed one of the group. The Goth picked up the medallion Tucker had thrown earlier and tossed it to the panicked ghost boy, who managed to catch it this time.
"Put that on, ghost boy, we're going after him, or would you like to stay here and freak out some more?" Danny and Tucker fell silent, hanging their heads in shame as if she were a mother scolding her children. "Oh and change back, Danny, we don't know if ghosts exist in other realities."
"Are you saying you actually believe that those are portals to other realities?"
Sam raised an eyebrow and let her eyes slide from Danny to the ground and back, pointing out the fact that he was floating several feet from the ground. "Danny one thing I have learned these past months is that nothing is impossible."
Accepting her reasoning, Danny floated back to the ground and transformed back into Danny Fenton. After making sure everyone was wearing a time medallion, he led them through the portal Dan had taken only moments ago.
"Spooky, distract Skulker. I'll deal with Ember first." The voice sounded extremely familiar to Danny, but he couldn't quite place it, not with the persistent pounding in his head. After traveling through the portal in Clockwork's tower, they found themselves thrust none too softly out the other side onto rough pavement.
"You want to make it a one-on-one, dipstick? Fine by me!" Tucker's groaning beside Danny drowned out Ember's voice and slowly he cracked his eyes open. The scene before him was a strange one, to say the least.
Skulker hovered high in the air above him, waving his hands wildly as he tried to keep a snow white owl away from his face. The bird seemed to be toying with 'Ghost Zone's greatest hunter' as it managed to make the mechanical ghost smack himself in the face a couple of times while trying to grab the bird. A few yards away, Ember was blasting ghost rays from her guitar at a guy on a sleek black motorcycle. Danny couldn't help but admire the man's style in carrying out his heroic duty. The man wore a long black trench coat that billowed out behind him as he performed numerous tricks on his bike to dodge the deadly rays. Every time he revved up the motorcycle's engine, a glowing green liquid flowed from the along the body that Danny swore was ectoplasm. Perhaps the most intriguing thing about this man; however, was the pure white mask he wore over his face, making him seem more like a ghost than the ghosts themselves.
"Ouch, that hurt. Hey, Danny where's-"Danny smacked his hand over his friends mouth, not wanting Tucker to draw attention to themselves. He gestured for the boy to simply watch and not speak before removing his hand. If Danny had not been so enamored by the fight, he might have wondered why Sam hadn't said anything yet, but he currently had eyes only for the mysterious guy on the motorcycle.
"What's wrong, dipstick, don't like my music?" Ember laughed as she blasted yet another ghost ray at the masked man. He easily dodged the attack on his bike and pointed a thermos Danny had grown familiar with over the past few months at the rock star ghost. She screamed in pure anger as a blue beam of shot out of the device and sucked her inside. The man turned his masked face on his next target, Skulker still having trouble with the small owl pecking at his armor.
"Good job, Spooky, now let's give Ember some company, shall we?" Skulker barely had enough time to recover from the bird's attacks before he joined Ember in the thermos. The man slammed the lid on as soon as the ghost was secured inside and the owl flew to him, perching itself on his shoulder.
"Alright, Spooky, it's about time we got back to Sam and Uncle Vlad."
"Uncle Vlad!" Danny had jumped up, the whole not drawing attention plan failing miserably, "As in Vlad Masters?"
What next came out of the masked man's mouth surprised Danny and Tucker. "Suffering spooks! Who are you two?" The little owl on his shoulder let out a disgruntled shriek at his outburst before hiding his head beneath his wings and falling asleep.
"Suffering spooks? Doesn't your dad say that Danny?" Tucker whispered to his friend, who gave a small nod, his brow furrowed in deep thought.
"Wait a minute, if this really is another reality then…" Danny pointed at the masked man, his eyes wide with wonder, "you must be Danny Phantom!"
