Chapter three! I promise the back story stuff is almost over and things will get rolling soon! Thanks for reading!
I do not own Danny Phantom! Danny Phantom belongs to Butch Hartman. OC characters are mine.
It started as it always did in the room. But this time it was more clear. She felt as if she was actually there.
"What should we do?" She heard a female voice ask.
"I don't know. We know people are becoming uneasy. They want me gone..." A male voice answered. Suddenly a crash sounded. Panicky the female voice said, "They're here. What are they doing? We have to do something!" The voices left the room towards the sounds out of the room. Again, Bethany turned to the right and saw the eyes, the eyes that plagued her nightmares.
"It is time you come with me."
Bethany woke with a scream in her throat. She took deep breaths to calm her racing heart. Suddenly, a cold chill swept the room and she knew something wasn't right. She slowly turned her head to the right and saw red. The ghost has an eerie glow and floated calmly, its lack of legs doing nothing to keep Bethany's panic away. It seemed to be carrying a staff of some sort and it wore a strange purple cloak. She noticed something that look like clocks inside its chest. The scream wouldn't escape her and she sat paralyzed by fear.
"It is time you come with me." Next thing she knew, she passed out and everything went black.
As Bethany slowly came too, she first noticed the faint sound of ticking in the background. She was on a coach in some sort of study. Looking out the window she saw a swirling green sky. I'm in the ghost zone. Her original panic began to resurface as she quickly got up and fled the room. She entered a larger room, filled with various viewing screens. The same ghost from earlier floated nearby, watching a screen.
"Hello Bethany" it said without turning around. She held her ground and said nothing. The ghost sighed.
"I'm sure you would like to know why you are here. I will start by introducing myself. My name is Clockwork and I am the ghost of Time." He paused but she continued the silent treatment. He turned to face her and continued speaking.
"The time has come for you to return to your past." Bethany's brow furrowed.
"What are you talking about?"
"There is no way for me to explain this without shocking you. Therefore I will do my best to tell you clearly." Her heartbeat picked up at his words.
"I know you have learned of ghosts in your schooling, especially two: Vlad Plasmius and Danny Phantom."
"Yea we had to take a class about all of the ghosts. What does this have to do with me?"
"As you know, Danny Phantom was captured by a group of rouge agents almost 12 years ago. He is still alive, being held so he can be used as a weapon in the war against ghosts." Bethany raised her eyebrows.
"A war against ghosts? Why? And how can they use him?"
Clockwork turned back to the viewing screen. "They threaten to harm his family if he does not cooperate. He is the best chance they have of winning this war. As you already know, humans do not think kindly of ghosts." Bethany suddenly felt a wave of guilt. Maybe Seth was right about her. She was just like everyone else. Clockwork turned back to her with a serious expression.
"This is where you come in. You need to free Daniel so he can help stop this group and prevent a war."
"Umm in case you haven't noticed, I'm a 15 year old girl. How can I possibly free him?"
Clockwork smirked. "You would be surprised. After all, I would think you would want to save your father."
"My…my what?" Bethany's jaw dropped, her eyes grew to the size of dinner plates. "My dad…is Phantom…he's…but he's evil! And a ghost! He can't be my dad!"
"Please let me continue explaining. Danny Phantom is a unique ghost. He is actually only half ghost. The other half is human. An accident in his teen years left him in that state. Half dead and half alive."
Bethany eyed Clockwork as if he had grown two heads, although for a ghost that probably wasn't abnormal. She tried to form words or questions or anything to react but her mouth simply kept moving, opening and closing over unknown words. Clockwork continued on, knowing she had knowing to say.
"Now, of course the public does not know this fact, otherwise his capture would have drawn more controversy. However the Guys in White, the organization that took him, were able to figure this out. The night in your dreams is the night he was taken."
"So how did I end up in California?"
"That was where I came in." Suddenly she recognized where she had seen those eyes before. It is time you come with me. "It was you…you took me." Bethany felt her head spin and before she knew it, she vomited on the floor. Clockwork waited patiently for her to regain her composure, going back to watch some of the viewing screens as she did so.
Bethany wiped her mouth with a shaking hand and stood up. Cautiously, she walked over to this Clockwork ghost and stood next to him. Quietly, she spoke up.
"I don't have any…ghost….abilities…I guess. How do you know I can actually help with anything?"
Clockwork had a small smile on his face. "I will train you of course."
Bethany remained skeptical, shaking her head slightly. "If you say so."
To that, Clockwork smiled again. "Shall we begin then?" He led her over to a viewing screen showing a large dark gray building. The words "Guys in White" was written on the side in large, black letters. Bethany already had a bad feeling about them. Clockwork waved his staff, drawing the view inside the building through various hallways and floors until a room was reached.
"This is your father's room. He is being held here, under constant watch with various security measures."
"So he's being held in the GIW headquarters in Amity, with maximum security and numerous guards and weapons? And you want me to free him?" Bethany sat with a perplexed expression, mouth slightly open with wide eyes. It amused Clockwork. Her confused facial features reminded him of Daniel whenever Clockwork cryptically spoke with him.
"The headquarters are impenetrable for ghosts. And with the security measures, only top officials can gain access into his room. This is where you come in. You have the abilities to go through the walls and into his chambers, but in human form, you won't set off any ectoplasmic alarms." She stared at him cautiously.
"Okay, got it…"
Learning about her father's secret had not been easy. Well, learning any of this had not been easy. Clockwork showed Bethany the accident on one of his viewing screens, Danny Fenton going into the portal and Danny Phantom coming out. He showed her Danny defeating numerous ghosts and even him and Sam falling in love. He also unlocked the mystery of her nightmare, showing her the scene of Danny's capture when she was only 3 years old. Sam and Danny had been worryingly talking in her room as she slept. Suddenly, the GIW broke down the door, the crash in her dream, and stormed the house. While Danny and Sam put up a good fight, it wasn't enough. The GIW had come prepared.
It took her some time to process everything she saw on those screens. Bethany always knew she was adopted. Her parents made an effort to tell her the truth early on to prevent any harm later. It became increasingly obvious as she grew up too, her dark, jet-black hair and blue eyes nothing like her parents' blonde hair and brown eyes. She loved her parents dearly. Never in her wildest dreams did Bethany guess that her birth father was Danny Fenton/Phantom.
Clockwork was patient with her. He went over the plan as slowly as she needed, allowed her time to process, and handled the difficult topics with grace. Bethany surprised herself with how quickly she grew to trust Clockwork.
"So, shall we start training your powers?" Bethany raised an eyebrow and shrugged her shoulders.
"I guess so." Clockwork chuckled and led her to a bigger room with space to practice. And so they began. Clockwork decided to start with the easiest powers: invisibility and intangibility.
"Focus on the cold feeling inside your chest and let it expand throughout your body. Imagine you are the only solid thing in this world and everything else is impalpable. You can pass through any surface at will." Bethany found herself holding her breath as she tried to imagine this. Her forehead creased with concentration and her hands moved into fists. Despite the effort, she didn't become intangible. Bethany let out a huff of frustration and looked over to Clockwork, giving him an exasperated expression. Clockwork only chuckled.
"You must be patient. These are not abilities that will be easy to bring forth." It amazed Clockwork how much he saw both of Bethany's parents in her. The stubbornness of not being able to gain a skill quickly was something Danny always displayed. Her ability to adapt to this new situation was a trait Sam exhibited, something that had saved the trio numerous times when things took an unexpected turn. It made Clockwork guilty, knowing he had to take her away from her parents and wait this long. It was the only way, though. This timeline was the only one that could prevent a war. An aggravated groan drew Clockwork from his musings and he looked back over to see Bethany trying again.
She tried to close her eyes and mentally picture the world blurring out, with her as the only solid being. She tried conjuring up the cold feeling and letting it spread throughout her body. She tried everything she could think of and got nowhere. It left her angry, defeated, and overall exhausted. Clockwork sensed that Bethany had reached the end of her rope and floated over to lay a hand on her shoulder.
"It is alright. I think some rest would do you well. We can try again tomorrow." She simply nodded, continuing to stare down the wall across from her and making no move to face Clockwork. He led her out of the room and into another small space, with a bed and a dresser set up in the corner and a bathroom across from the bed. She stepped inside and turned to mumble a "thanks" before Clockwork left her be. Of course he knew when she would finally gain access to her powers. Clockwork knew everything. This also meant that he knew what he needed to say to push her in the right direction.
"It will come to you. All in good time." He floated back to the main viewing room and resumed his duties.
That night, Bethany's sleep was interrupted by a new dream.
She stood in a dark room with her parents from California standing in front of her. Out of the darkness, two new people stepped next to her parents. Bethany did not recognize them.
"Choose." Her mother said in a monotone voice. It unnerved Bethany and she gave her mom a confused look.
"Choose what? What are you talking about?" Her parents and two strangers continued standing there, emotionless.
"Choose." This time it was her father who spoke, his empty voice nothing like his normal loud, booming voice that loved to tell cheesy dad jokes and talk about baseball. Bethany was growing more and more uneasy. She still didn't understand.
"It is us, or them." Her mother spoke again and Bethany finally began to understand. The two strangers were her real parents. It was obvious now. They had dark hair, like Bethany's jet black, and she had the same blue eyes as her father. Her pale skin matched the stranger's shade as well.
"No. I don't want to choose." She took a step back, suddenly very afraid. The two sets of parents simply stepped back out into the darkness, leaving Bethany alone and confused.
"Wait!" She cried. "Please don't leave me here! Wait!" She grew panicked and in the dark room all alone, she realized she didn't know who she belonged to.