After flying around the town for nearly an hour, Danny finally landed in an alleyway near his school, and transformed back into his human half calmly. Flying had always been a great way for him to clear his head, and this time was no exception. Moving out from the alleyway, the teen jogged up to the Casper High building, before he started walking to class.
Despite the horrible side-effects of having constant nightmares, one upside to the situation was that less ghosts had been attacking Amity Park recently, which was a surprising amount of weight off of the halfa's shoulders. 'Actually, come to think of it,' Danny thought as he sat at his desk with Sam and Tucker. 'I haven't seen many ghosts at all for a while now. None last night, and none this morning.'
"Hello? Earth to Danny." Sam's voice broke Danny out of his thoughts, and he turned to face her. "You feeling okay, Danny? You spaced out again."
"Yeah, it's just…" Danny lowered his tone of voice, as his friends leaned closer in to hear what he had to say. "I haven't seen any ghosts recently, and I don't know why."
"Maybe you scared them off. You have been acting pretty off, dude, ever since you started having those night-terrors." Tucker commented, noticing the light bags under his friend's eyes, and that his hair was even messier than usual.
"I doubt it. I haven't seen the Box Ghost, and he's always around. Heck, I even went to see Vlad, to see if he was behind any of this, and he wouldn't even tell me to "go away!" I'm starting to think something bigger than night-terrors are going on with me." Danny said, and his friends quickly noticed the paranoia setting in once more.
"Danny, if you're so worried about the future and the other ghosts, why don't you just go see Clockwork?" Sam suggested, and Tucker nodded.
"Yeah. You can check on the ghost zone, see that your jerky future self's still sealed up tight, and get some confirmation that nothing's wrong." He said, and Danny thought it over.
Then, he smiled and nodded. "Yeah, you're right. Thanks guys; I'll stop by Clockwork's tower during lunch today. Er, you'll cover for me, right?"
Sam rolled her eyes. "You've been asking that question for 2 years, Danny."
"Right, right." Danny said, smiling sheepishly. He still couldn't believe it… 2 years.
2 years, and nothing had really changed. Sam was taller, with slightly longer hair, and that was about it. Tucker was the same way, though he traded in his glasses for contact lenses last year. And Danny hadn't aged a day, which was… concerning, but far from his mind at the moment. A few hours later, and Danny left the cafeteria, before he sprinted in the direction of the boy's bathroom. Then he stopped in his tracks, and hid behind a corner.
Dash.
Unfortunately for Danny, his friends weren't the only ones that remained the same. Dash still picked on him, even more so now that he was getting closer to the real world. With no luck at getting into a college with his crumby grades, the A-lister was far more agitated nowadays, and took all of that agitation out on Danny.
Taking a breath, Danny steeled his nerves, before his eyes flashed green, and used one of the new powers he had learned over the past couple years. Besides his cryokinesis, and other prior ghost powers, Danny finally managed to hold 3 duplicates without being drained, and he learned to bounce his voice off of walls while changing it. It was quite impressive, if he did say so himself. Now, if only he could master changing his appearance…
Smiling slightly, Danny manipulated his voice to change to one of the nerds he remembered, before he threw his voice so that it seemingly came from the other end of the hall. "Aw, geez. I just dropped all my stuff. I sure hope no bullies come and kick me from behind while I'm picking them up!"
Dash, and the football players he been talking to, nodded before taking off down the hall, leaving Danny plenty of time to duck into the bathroom and go ghost. He then turned invisible and intangible, before he took off into the direction of his parents' ghost portal.
And once inside the ghost zone, he made his way towards Clockwork's tower, though not without noticing the distinct lack of ghosts. What was even more off-putting was when the ghosts that Danny did see didn't even breathe at him. It almost seemed like they were preparing for something, and could only focus on that. Even the Box Ghost, Danny caught a glimpse of, wasn't saying anything as he carried boxes in the, exact, opposite direction of Clockwork's tower.
Actually, a lot of the ghosts were either going to, or leaving, the time master's tower. Suddenly full of dread, Danny flew top speed towards the tower. Upon reaching it, he opened the door, and peered inside, quickly taking notice of the figure staring at Clockwork's screens, his back to the halfa.
"Clockwork?" Danny asked, unable to keep the nervousness from his voice. Something about this ghost scared him, and he didn't really know why.
"Close enough for me to say yes." The ghost said, his voice sounding similar to Danny's mentor, but not quite. There was something… sickening to it, Danny concluded. "Can I help you, or are you just going to stand in the doorway?"
Shaking his head, Danny took a defensive stance as he watched the suspicious ghost, who kept his back turned to him. "Who are you?"
"Your worst enemy, and greatest ally. However, you may call me Dark, much like your future." The ghost said, a smirk heard in his voice. "If you're here about your night-terrors, maybe I could shed some light on that issue for you."
"How do you know about that!?" Danny demanded, floating upwards while he charged his hands with ecto-energy, paranoia and panic weaving through his mind.
Chills ran up Danny's spine, leaving him frozen in place, as the ghost glanced at him, revealing flames of hair and solid red eyes, framed by a white cloak with black insides. "Oh Daniel, trust me when I tell you, I know everything. I know all that is, was, and ever will be."
"No… no, it can't be…" The energy Danny had been building up fizzled away, as fear clouded his mind. He could process nothing, save for the flaming white hair, turquoise skin, and fanged teeth of a predator. A predator known as his future.
"It isn't, or not anymore, in any case." Dark said, turning back to watch the time-stream, where natural disasters were being displayed from multiple eras. "I am Clockwork. I'm also Dan, so by extension you and Vlad, and it certainly provides an interesting thought process. Tell me Daniel; what happens when you mix infinite knowledge with non-existence and sadism?"
Danny didn't say anything as his mind screamed at him to run, but he knew there was no where to go. He had to fight; he had no choice. Charging up his powers again, the halfa fired at the dark time master, only to gasp as he vanished into thin air. Looking around frantically, he jumped as the man's voice called out from above him.
"Well, that was very rude of you, Daniel. I was trying to hold a civil conversation with you, and you try to kill me." Dark said, though his eyes were alight with amusement, as he watched the ghost boy try to blast him again.
When Danny didn't reply, Dark chuckled. He vanished from sight once more, before appearing directly in front of the boy, causing him to fall backwards with a yelp. "Now, please be polite and answer my question."
Danny narrowed his eyes as he looked up towards the man. "Do you get a monster?"
"Mmm, close. You get a ghost who can accomplish anything, and everything." Dark reached down, before he lifted the halfa by his throat, a sick grin on his face. "And with that in mind, it would be so easy to snap your neck right now. I wouldn't even have to think about it, but that would be such a waste of grand potential. I'd much rather follow the timeline in which you join me."
Danny wrinkled his nose as he struggled against the grip around his neck, thankful he didn't have to breathe. "If I said no to the fruitloop, what makes you think I'd say yes to you, especially when he's part of you?"
"Oh, that's a very easy question to answer, Daniel." Dark said, carrying the boy towards the screen that displayed the future.
He then dropped Danny, only to pull him close, while ignoring how hard his back hit the glass casing covering his chest. He then held the halfa's eyelids wide open, while the future flickered to Amity Park, where society was alight by flames. People were screaming, crying, and begging for mercy as the majority of the ghost zone's inhabitants murdered them all in cold blood, including Danny's family and friends.
And finally, Dark answered Danny's question, a cruel smile on his face as he whispered. "Very soon, you will have no one else to turn to."
He then released the boy, allowing him to fly out of the tower, knowing that he intended to put a stop to yet another painful future. Unfortunately for him, this time, time wouldn't be there to have the outcome swing in his favor.
