It was the next day, a Friday, that I knock on the large wooden doors leading to Xavier's office "Excuse me, Professor Xavier?" he looks up from his...whatever he does
"Yes Daniel?"
"I was uh, I was just going to let you know that I was going to go to the ghost zone, so, if you look for me with Cerebro, don't freak out when you can't find me, because I still exist."
"I see. How long do you think you will be gone?"
"I can't really say, it should only be for a few hours or a day or something, but time flows differently in the zone. Sometimes it goes faster, sometimes slower, sometimes it goes in reverse or doesn't move at all. I'm sure if I asked Clockwork he'd-" I stop in the middle of my sentence as suddenly there's a piece of paper taped to my face.
"Daniel?" the professor asks. I pulled it off and read it aloud.
"Danny, I'm not your personal taxi. If you want to learn how to operate the medallion or my time portals I would be happy to teach you, some other time. For now just wear the medallion and time will flow as it should for you. -Clockwork"
"There's more on the other side Daniel." I flip it over and sure enough.
"The dark without, the light within, look true to clear the din,
What acted once, be not acted twice, the answer lies therein,
Hold heart to one and hand to second, bring death's touch to skin,
When Heart twist in two and chase itself, look toward western Kin,
Answer sought and answer found, to wait be should be your sin,
When moment brought and feelings bare a kiss will slay chagrin.
-Clockwork
P.S. -don't forget the last line."
I blink, having a brief moment of 'what the hell?' before I hear a chuckle and look up
"Your friends certainly are interesting Daniel." the professor's grinning for some reason. I narrow my eyes.
"Do you know what this is supposed to mean?" he just grins some more
"I have my suspicions, but I think it best for you to work it out by yourself for now and let everything play out as it will. I think all will be well, in due time." facepalm
"Great, now I'm getting Clockwork-esk cryptic-nes even when he's not here." he's still smiling so I grumble "Stop smiling, it's not funny." this seems to amuse him some more
"Of course not Daniel, enjoy your time in the Ghost Zone. If I should need to reach you?"
"Get Kurt or Kitty or someone who can fly to get into my room. On my bookshelf is one of those switches you always see in cartoons where you pull the book and the wall moves." the professor raised a brow at that "Yeah, I know, but seriously, it's hard to pass up a classic."
"And how exactly did you do such extensive work without our noticing?"
"I didn't, I just made a small intangibility generator and stuck it to the wall. It deactivates when the door opens, the heat signatures leave that side of the room or when a button is pushed on the other side. Oh and don't worry, unless the button is pushed the generator won't turn the wall solid through anyone. Anyways, there's a motorcycle in there that a ghost named Johnny Thirteen got for me for my birthday. It comes with a portable portal generator and it should be able to find me in the zone. Just press the button with my old logo on it and hang on."
"Interesting Daniel, I can certainly see why you would keep such a vehicle out of the garage where it may fall victim to the younger students' joy rides. And Tabitha's...unique brand of fun. Which book exactly is the trigger?" I smile and reply
"Why, the biography H. P. Lovecraft of course."
I went into my room and got my time medallion but I still had a stop to make before I went to the ghost zone. All I had to do now was go out and find her. Where could sh-oh, right there. I ran over and waved her down in the middle of the entryway
"Hey, Rogue!" she looked to see who was calling her name and groaned when she found out.
"Oh great, what do you want?"
"Well, to sort of apologize...for kissing you. I shouldn't have just...y'know, so I'm sorry."
"Okaaaay." now she was stareing like she expected something else...oh yeah.
"And, I was wondering if you wanted to come visit the Ghost Writer with me."
"The who?"
"The Ghost Writer." she put her hand on her hip and cocked it to the side
"Ghost writer for who?"
"No, he's not A ghost writer, he's THE Ghost Writer." Rogue sighs exasperatedly then throws her hands into the air
"So? What's the difference?"
"Well," she rolls her eyes. I don't think she was really expecting an answer. "instead of writing for somebody in secret he writes for his own pleasure."
"Okay...so why would ah want to go visit him?"
"Well, you like books right?"
"Yeah, so?"
"So, he has a copy of everything everything ever written. Ever. New book just came out? He has it. First words ever written? He has those too."
"So...everything ah write in my diary?" I rub the back of my neck
"Well, yeah, he has that too, though he makes it a point not to go through stuff like that...too much." her eyes narrowed.
"Ah think ah just might like to pay him a visit." I clapped my hands together
"Great, so lets go." I called up my transformation rings and changed into Necro. I pulled down my hood but kept my mask back on. "So lets call Sally and then we're good to go." *Sally, we're going to visit the people I told you about. Come meet us.*
*But Dan-dan! I'm eatin' stuffs!*
*Want to bring it with you?*
*...*
*Can you bring it with you? What are you eating?*
*Chocolate cake.*
"Chocolate cake?" Rogue leaned back and cocked her head
" 'Scuse me?"
"Huh? Oh, uh, Sally, somehow she got chocolate cake." I scratched my head
"I didn't know there was any cake."
"Yeah, me neither." *Sally, where did you get the cake?*
*O-ro made it for me. She said it's 'cause I'm super cute.*
"*You are cute.*" Rogue froze
"Ex-cuse me?" *Tee-hee.*
"Uh, that was for Sally." she crossed her arms
"So Ah'm not cute?"
"Uh..." she started to tap her foot. Think quick Fenton! "Jeep and Bike, Death and Life, between Kitty and Kitty with motor-head brown and motor-head blonde which who is whom and which whom belongs with who?" she closed her eyes and started to twitch
"W...what?" Sally flew over and landed on Rogue's head
"Hey Danny, can we go visit peoples now?" being very careful not to touch her directly, Rogue reached up and took Sally off and held her in her gloved hands where Sally immediately crouched down.
"Huh, she is pretty 'dorable." Sally began crawling around and ended up hanging upside down on one of Rogue's gloved fingers and immediately began swinging back and forth by one foot going 'Wheeee!'. Rogue's eye caught on something and her mouth quirked as she handed Sally to me. I held Sally by one of her legs lightly swinging her back and forth.
"What? What is it?"
"She uh," Rogue hid her mouth with her hand and turned away "she has some cake on the corner of her mouth." I looked and sure enough, there it was, so I licked my thumb and rubbed it off...ugh, parent things. I looked at Rogue "Hey thanks...Rogue? What's up?"
"Nothin'." Sally was on my arm now, walking back and forth before she walked over and leaned on my head
"No really, what's-" wait a second "Are you smiling?"
"No."
"You said that a little too quick."
"No I didn't."
"Yes you did. You are. You're smiling!"
"Shaddup! No I'm not!"
"It's alright Rogue, you can smile, it's allowed."
"Shaddup and just do the stinkin' portal thing deadbeat." I smiled. She was smiling. She thought Sally was cute and she couldn't hide it. Sally hung down from my neck and dropped down onto a hand I held out for her. She dove into my chest, sinking into me and settling down.
*Hey, don't get too comfy, you'll have to wake up soon, okay?*
*Mnnhhhmmm, mmmmkaay.* I rolled my eyes knowing she's going to be asleep in sixteen seconds. I opened up the portal and extended my hand to Rogue.
"Are you ready?"
"How 'ready' do ah have to be for one house call?"
"Not just one."
"What?"
"The reason I'm going into the zone is to see my friends that I haven't in a year. They all live in really different places. Frostbite lives in a frozen wasteland leading his clan of yeti. Kitty and Johnny always move around going on dates. The Ghost Writer lives in a library. Pandora lives on a floating Greek Isle guarded by a labyrinth and mythological Greek monsters. Queen Dorathea lives in a medieval castle and is doted upon by her subjects. She does have an evil brother in the dungeon though. Dani Phantom...well, Clockwork can probably find her. I haven't seen her in forever." my head hangs under the weight of my depression. I miss her so much. "I hope she's alright."
"There's another one of y'all named Danny Phantom? Isn't that confusing?"
"Well...to be honest it gets more confusing, but for now let's just call her Dani with an 'i'."
"You better explain everything once we're in that Ghost place."
"Ghost Zone."
"Whatever!" I roll my eyes and open a swirling vortex of green and extend my hand to her
"You ready?" she nods and takes my hand, and we step through.
"It wasn't that funny." I sulk. Rogue smirked.
"Yah made an entire tribe of giant dead snow beasts afraid for their aftah lives. They all ran screamin' as soon as they knew you were there. Ah think that's pretty funny." I throw my hands up in exasperation
"It was just an accident when I was new to my ice powers!" she just leans on her wall and crosses her arms
"Uh-huh. Well, apparently it was a memorable accident." I deflate. She's not going to let this go.
"You won't tell anyone will you?"
"Nah, I won't," she points behind me "but Kitty probably will." I turn to see a ponytail retreating through the wall.
"KITTYYYY!" I immediately run off after her and I could have sworn I heard Rogue giggle just before I went through the wall.
It was Monday now, a school day and Rogue was very happy. She frequently asked me to go into the zone, simply because she made some friends she doesn't have to worry about killing there. It was kind of annoying, I understood, yes, but it was still annoying. I was at my locker, ignoring everybody stareing at me when someone spoke
"Hey." I turned to see...blue. BLUE. She was about my height and looked at me curiously as I did her because...she was blue, not her skin, that was pale but...everything else. Her hair went down to her armpits in a braid on one side and was dark electric blue, a contradiction, I know but...the only way I could describe it. Even her eyebrows were that same blue. She had cerulean frames for her rectangular glasses, navy eye-shadow, blue lipstick, ocean blue snake bites and dark navy nails. She wore a baggy black and blue hoodie, a white circle in the center with blue sides and sleeves but a black body, separated on each side by a thin white strip. She also had a knee length blue pleated skirt, knee high striped light and dark blue knee socks on and, wait for it, dark blue kicks with blue laces.
"Blue...I mean, Danny, I'm Danny, who are you?"
"Sharandra." then she unceremoniously reached out and started to fiddle with my watch
"HEY! Stop that! What are you doing!" she actually looked up at me with her eyes, blue, almost like my own when I use my ice powers, and stared for a second
"I want to know how it works." she then went back to fiddling with it.
"Hey! Stop for a minute!" she sighed and looked back up at me, annoyance plain on her face
"What?"
"You could ask you know, I'm sure the professor would be more than happy to explain it to you if you asked politely and didn't go destroying my watch!"
"But the watch is just a screen on top that you flip up, I'm looking at the device under your watch." she promptly went back to fiddling with it.
"Will you quit that!" I finally managed to tear my arm away but I saw several components in her hands already. I looked at my watch to see it gutted and flickering before a puff of smoke comes out and I can see my scars again. I'm in the middle of school so I can't just make them invisible. Crap. Today was going to suck. Sharandra is looking at me from behind her glasses.
"They said you were horribly disfigured, but words don't do it justice. You're incredibly creepy looking. It's weird to see people with lines on them and bits missing. And your burns are really smooth." I growl and glare at her before snatching the parts back.
"Yeah, thanks." she smiled at me, a genuine smile.
"You're welcome. That's the first time anyone's ever said that to me you know, 'thank you'. It's been the first time I've been able to say 'you're welcome' so...thank you, for thanking me." she smiled and bowed at the waist. I arched an eyebrow
"Uh, sure, no problem." she came back up, still smiling.
"Goodbye."
"Uh, bye Sharandra." but she was already gone. "Okay, that was...weird." I get my books under my arm and close my locker heading to my first class of the day, thinking about what I would tell the professor about my watch. Maybe I could just close it and say I fixed it or something? Nah, they wouldn't believe I'm that smart.
"FENTON!" I stopped in my tacks, a mean smile making its way across my face, causing several people to back up even further than they already were.
"Ah, the sound of a prank well done." I started walking again, trying to imagine Dillon's face when he saw the jar of pickles in his locker.
"FENTON!" Jazz looked up and around the silent library, brushing her hair behind her ear, trying to pinpoint the source of the noise.
"Yes?" she looked around, just to be sure. Jazz checked the two people beside her. "Robert, Horace, did you hear someone call me just now?" Robert was a small boy, Jazz thought, with orange blonde curls almost seeming cherubic on his head, he didn't even look up from his book. Horace, an Egyptian american, stood at six foot seven, possessed both a voice deeper and a skin darker than anyone else she have ever known, looked up from his drawing and ran his hand over his smooth head and asked
"Did you say something Jasmine?"
"Jazz. And I guess that answers my question. Sorry to bother you."
"It was no problem Jasmine." he went back down to his piece of paper so I shrugged and looked to my book only for a new voice to interrupt
"Hey everybody, I found her!" Jazz looked up to see...someone who could possibly her twin or older self, she was escorting a blue girl...blue didn't even begin to describer her she was...RAINBOWBRIGHT Blue. All the shades of blue and...BLUE.
"Jean Grey and Sharandra Felle?" Jazz asked. The two boys finally looked up from their activities, Horace with a curious analytical smile on his face, like he was going to test out a theory, and Robert like he just saw something distasteful. He had quite a superiority complex for an eight year old.
"Yes. Sharandra was causing trouble for a friend of mine. He's going to have a hard day now." Jean shot a meaningful look to Sharandra that was ultimately lost on her.
"I just wanted to see how it worked." she defended
"You could have just asked instead of breaking it. He's been through enough, he doesn't need anybody stareing at him any more than they already do." Sharandra shrugged
"He shouldn't hide, it's not good for the mind. He'll get a complex." Jean was exasperated and Sharandra sat down at the table and immediately locked onto Jazz's blue head band. "I like your head band."
"Um, thanks." Sharandra beamed. Two people thanking her in one day? It really was a good day.
"Don't just change the subject!" Jean said "Complex or not, you broke his inducer and now he'll get in trouble with the professor."
"Blame it on me. And really, a professor shouldn't encourage behavior so deceitful and unhealthy."
"It wasn't deceitful. He told anyone who asked what he looked like! He just didn't want any un-due attention."
"It's not un-due, it's because he's horribly scarred and has a temper."
"Who are you talking about?" interrupted Jazz. As soon as Jean saw her it was like looking into the past. This girl looked just like she did when she was younger.
"I'm sorry, I don't believe we've met. I'm Jean Grey."
"Jasmine Fenton." Jean froze up and her face lost some of its color before she regained herself.
"F...Fenton? As in family of ghost hunters Fenton?" Jazz sighed
"Yes," Oh my god, this was Danny's sister "but I have no obsessions or delusions. I solved my problems long ago." Jazz stated confidently, then she frowned sadly "Well, I did, before..." she trailed off into a memory "It doesn't matter right now, I'm coming to terms with it, and in a healthy way." Jean seemed to shake herself and tremble for a moment "Jean are you alright? You look...as if you had a frightening epiphany. Is everything alright?"
"I..." by now everyone was stareing at Jean
*Jean?* Jean jumped
*Hold on Danny.*
"Jumpy much?" asked Robert in his usual smug tone of voice
"Yeah, I just...I just realized I forgot something, and...then my back twitched. It scared me for a second. Just, go on, I did't get to go to the bathroom before I went looking for Sharandra. I'll be back in five minutes." So saying, she left the library and let Danny into her mind
*Jean, what's up? You seriously freaked out for a bit there. Is everything ok?*
*I saw something, and it triggered a memory. One of your memories actually.* Jean felt the equivalent of Danny's mental Grimace
*Well, which one? You got pretty shaky there. You're still kinda shaky.*
*You...once told me that you miss your sister.*
*Yeah, I do. She was my only true friend in everything. She was pushy and overbearing and overprotective...and loyal and caring and she loved me very much.*
*How would you feel about seeing her again?*