Hello everybody, I'm back! This marks the first part of the story and will also began the first story arc I have planned for this season. It will also be setting up a few secondary arcs, some of which will take place during later episodes in season 4. I would also like to thank author Pearl84 for allowing me to use some of her OC characters. Hopefully, the next chapter won't take as long, but good writing takes time. And that's what makes a good story. So, let's begin, shall we? ;)
Previously on Danny Phantom: A costly battle between Vlad and Danny caused the both of them to reveal their status of half-ghosts to the entire world. But although Vlad is considered dead in the eyes of most people, Danny is alive and now known as the hero of the world. But after a year of enduring the changes in his life, the younger-hybrid is slowly starting to wonder if the choice he made a year ago was indeed the right one.
Meanwhile, Clockwork has been keeping an eye on the events to come over the next few years. But with his attempt of blocking the events to ensure nobody interferes in what is to come, the results had no doubt angered both the observants and ancients alike.
Skeptical at whether Clockwork's methods are a threat to existence rather than protection, the observants allowed him to continue with his ways, but not without the warning him of what the consequences would be if he didn't comply with the ancient's laws, should the situation ever get out of control. Regardless, Clockwork continued to do as he saw fit, even if his actions continue to anger the observants to no end.
The scene flashes back to reveal a series of events which took place during September 16, 1945.
In the middle of a small base, an old man turned around while slowly cleaning the lenses of his antique glasses.
As the old man watched his troops prepare for evacuation, Major Steinar came to him with the information he was waiting for.
"Sir, we are almost finished packing up the items from your vault." Major Steiner informed the man calmly. "The Second-In-Command will be bringing the one item you wanted out to you shortly."
The old man gave the Major a brief smile before pulling out a case and placing his glasses into it.
"Good. I want you and my second officer to head to our outpost in Siberia. Once you two arrive there, call me for your next set of orders." The old man informed him before turning away.
"Yes, General!" Major Steiner replied before heading off to the helicopter near the courtyard.
The General watched the Major leave before turning toward his second, who was heading towards holding what he wanted in his hand.
The item in the man's hand was contained within a black lockbox that required a key, meaning nobody could see what the item inside the box was unless he allowed them too.
"Here you are sir. I have the last two men loading the other items on the supply truck for immediate evacuation." The second said as he handed the box to his leader.
"Sir, if I may ask, what exactly is inside this box." The man asked with a slight hint of confusion.
The General hesitated to give his second an answer. He really didn't want anybody other than him to know about this item. However, considering his second was always putting him first, the General really felt it would be fair to give his second some kind of explanation.
The General gave his second-in-command a small grin before taking a deep breath.
"I'm sorry to say that I can't reveal the full truth of this item right now. However, I know that you have always been loyal to me since the day you were assigned under my command, and because of that I feel it's only fair to share some of the details with you, but only you my friend. But if I do this, you will not be permitted to speak to anyone about what you'll see. You are not to even mention it in your reports, do I make myself clear?" The General asked hesitantly.
"Don't worry, sir. I won't utter a word." The man answered before saluting.
"Put your hand down, second. You really don't need to do that." The General told him embarrassingly. He really hated it when people saluted to him like some sort of god. He wasn't Hitler, and as much as he hated to admit it, he was just an ordinary man.
The General walked over to one of the supply trucks before placing the item on the back of the trunk. He then took out two pairs of strange looking goggles.
"Here, I need you to put these on." The General informed him before placing his own pair on his eyes.
The second-in-command looked at the googles curiously. He had never seen goggles of this design before. But deciding not to question it, the man carefully placed the pair of goggles over his head and onto his eyes.
"Now, what you're about to see is highly classified, and more importantly very dangerous." The General explained as he inserted the key into the lock and turned.
"Sir, what exactly are these goggles for?" The second-in-command asked as the man placed the key into his back pocket.
The General took another deep breath before giving him an answer. "The item in this box is not meant to be seen by the eyes of humans. The goggles you're wearing are to protect you from harm." He informed the man.
"Now remember what I said, not a word to anyone." The General repeated before unlocking the two straps on the box.
The General slowly but cautiously lifted the lid to the box, allowing the man to see the item inside.
The item appeared to be some kind of glowing green gem. The gem was attached to a piece of silver jewelry, which somehow resembled an armlet.
"My God, sir…" The second in command said with a mixture of awe and horror.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" The General asked with an eerie smile.
"What the hell is this thing, Sir?" The second-in-command asked warily.
"I'm not entirely certain, second." The General answered with a frown. "You see, I discovered this thing when I was searching through the book that you and your men recovered last month, and since then I've been trying to figure out how it works."
Gideon then slammed a first onto the trunk metal, causing it dent with the impact.
"What I don't understand is why I can't find anything else about it in the book, other than the location. I swear to god it's making me nothing but angry!" The General sneered before slamming the box closed.
The General's second in command jumped back with the sudden hostility. Why did his leader care so much about this dumb object anyways?
Seeing he was scaring his second-in-command, the General relaxed himself internally before continuing.
"I apologize, second. I suppose this hunt is starting to get to me. Anyway, you may leave now. Just remember what I told you." Gideon said to him.
"Yes, Sir. I'll head out now." His second-in-command replied before taking off towards the helicopter. However, the man turned back around before giving his leader one more piece of assurance.
"Oh, don't worry about me saying anything sir. My lips are completely sealed unless you say otherwise." The second assures before resuming his walk towards the helicopter.
The General watched the helicopter take off before turning away. He quickly noticed two of his men securing his other items in a large containment unit and walked towards them.
"Are we ready to move out yet?" The General asked the two men as he towered over them. He was clearly a little more than impatient by his current body language.
"Don't worry, sir. We're almost finished here. We're just making sure everything's secure before we leave the premises." The officer replied as he held a clipboard in his right hand.
"Good, the sooner we get out of here the better." The General muttered, before scanning the area around him.
The two men had no problem noticing their leader was looking a little more tense than usual.
"Sir, is everything okay. You're look a bit on edge there." One of the men asked concerned.
The General was about to answer them in denial before a large explosion rattled inside the base, causing all three men to turn around in surprise.
As soon as the General turned around, he was forced to take cover as a second shell fell in front of him. The shell then exploded, sending him flying backwards into the wall of the eastern compound.
The General looked up at the sky after recovering, only to see a large gunship hovering over the base. Gideon immediately knew the gunship belonged to the Allies, considering their symbol was imprinted onto the side of their hull, and it was pretty large to say the least.
The General quickly got and ran over to sound the alarm while the gunship continued to fire at the base.
Another shell struck near the western side of the base, causing the entire western part of the compound to collapse from the resulting explosion.
The General quickly reached the alarm. However, upon pressing the button the man realized it wasn't going off.
"What the hell is wrong with this thing!" The General said to himself angrily as he pounding on the big red button with his fist.
The reason the alarm wasn't working instantly filled the General with horror. His fear was confirmed upon seeing the power grid was completely offline. That meant they couldn't call for backup, nor could they defend themselves using their primary base defenses.
The General ran back to his two men, who were no arming themselves to the teeth.
"The main power grid's down. Hand me some more bloody weapons, Dammit." The General yelled as he grabbed the remaining weapons from the chest.
"Sir, we're all out of guns." One of the men protested, only for the General to glare angrily at him.
"Then go down to the armory and get some more!" The General told him angrily while loadiing one of his handguns.
The officer jumped back at hearing the man's frantic demands, but he quickly composed himself and ran down to the armory.
Meanwhile, the General grabbed anything else he could see lying on the ground. He knew he was going to have to improvise, at least until his officer returned with some more ammo.
The General glanced at the gate, quickly determining the Allies would breach the gate in a matter of seconds.
That fear was confirmed as the man observed three Allied jeeps stop in front of the gate and unload several armed troops before proceeding forward.
"Sir, I don't think he's going to make it back in time." The officer said while aiming down the sights at the gate.
The General just narrowed his eyes at the officer beside him. "Well, then we're going to make every shot count here." He replied before too aiming at the gate.
Unfortunately, the front gate exploded into pieces, causing them to fly back from the force. They hadn't even gotten a single shot out.
A second later, numerous Allied soldiers waltz directly into the now destroyed gate before holding them at gunpoint.
The Commander stood in front of his own men as he aimed his own rifle at the three man before him.
"That's enough, now all of you put down your weapons and surrender peacefully, or we'll shoot every last one of you Nazi scum." The Allied Commander sneered at them.
The General felt a surge of anger at the commander's bold words. He was tempted to resist the arrest and shoot the annoying man's eyes out.
However, he knew that unless he wanted an early death, there was no other way for him to get out of this.
The General just swallowed down his remark as he threw his guns on the ground, right in front of the commander. The other officer quickly followed his commanding officer's action.
"Now, get down on the ground and place your hands behind your back." The Commander ordered.
The two Nazi's hesitated before kneeling on the ground with their hands raised in the air.
"Subdue them at once." The Commander said as he looked at the soldier beside him.
The soldier nodded before taking out a pair of restraints and placing them both men's arms.
Seeing the soldiers had the two Nazi's under control, the Commander bent down and picked up the guns on the ground.
"These items are now under protection of the United States Armed Forces. As for you two, you'll be taken to a military facility in London to await trial as prisoners of war." The commander informed them with a smirk.
The General stood there silent, just staring at the Allied Commander in front of him. He was now shaking with barely contained rage. It was taking him everything single ounce of control to not lash out at the man in front of him.
Unfortunately, the horrible reality began to sink in to him. Everything he had worked for his entire life was now tossed down the drain.
The General didn't care if he got shot anymore as he moved towards the man in front of him angrily.
"You won't stop us." He snarled angrily, causing the other soldiers to hold him tighter. "You're delusional if you think locking us up is going to stop our plans."
"Restrain him you idiots!" The Commander yelled. He was clearly getting angry with the General's actions toward him.
"You realize we'll be back one day! I can assure one way or the other, all of you will pay dearly for your actions! I swear it!" The General vowed darkly as he continued fighting against his captors.
Unfortunately for him, the General's futile efforts to escape only pushed the Allied Commander over the edge.
In a desperate attempt to silence the Nazi General, the Allied Commander walked up to him and promptly smashed his at the side of his face.
The impact immediately sent the General falling to the ground and into unconsciousness.
The Allied Commander growled as he now stood over the fallen body. Although he couldn't deny the Generals audacity to taunt him like that amused him, he really didn't have the patience or the mood to sit there and listen to his empty threats.
The commander scoffed before turning away towards one of his officers.
"Pick him up and secure him on the Jeep. I'll meet you over there shortly." The commander ordered him, his voice still showing some signs of anger within it.
The soldier quickly nodded before picking up the body over his shoulder and dragging it towards the jeep.
The Allied Commander just watched with angry eyes as the officer dragged take General with him.
"That Nazi pig is really going to be the death of me." The Commander muttered to himself while curling his fist into balls. He already knew he'd have to deal with the general during his trial, but he made a mental note to avoid him for as long as he could.
The Commander scoffed before heading toward another two of his men. Both were standing near a supply truck located in the center of the courtyard.
Apparently, they had found a multitude of items, and by the looks of it, they were having trouble deciding what to do with them.
"Is there a problem here?" The Commander asked them with a scowl.
The officers jumped at the sound of their commander's voice, they were so busy arguing they hadn't even heard his footsteps.
"Not really, sir. We're just trying to decide what to with these items here." One of the officers while pointed to the items on the ground.
The Commander glanced at the items that were on the ground in front of him.
To him, most of them resembled artifacts due to their appearance. All except for one, which was a black lockbox just sitting on the supply truck, sticking out like a sore thumb.
"You two can go ahead and get these items secured on the truck. I'll be over there in a minute." The Commander told them.
The two officers nodded before beginning to grab the items one at a time.
Meanwhile, for some unusual reason, the Commander couldn't keep his eyes off the lockbox in front of him.
Glancing back at his men to see if they weren't looking, the Commander walked a bit closer to the box before putting his hand on top of it.
It was almost as if whatever item was inside this box was urging him to see it for himself. But as much as he tried to resist the strange feeling, he just couldn't ignore it.
The Commander quickly reached into his pocket and pulled out a small needle before inserting it into the box's keyhole.
"I bet the General has the key in one of his pockets." He muttered to himself. Still, he made another mental note to get the key from the General later.
As soon as the Commander unlocked the box, he took one last glance at his men before opening it slowly.
The Commander was instantly amazed upon seeing the item inside the box. Apparently, it was some kind of gem. But the Commander had never seen anything quite like it before.
The entire gem was somehow encased in a dim glowing hue, almost as if it was producing its own energy. He could feel the pull he was getting from the item, and to be honest, it was kind of freaking him out.
The Commander continued to stare at the Gem for a few more seconds. However, the man endured a sudden flash from the item, causing him to cover his eyes in pain.
"Ah!" The Commander yelped as he jumped back and rubbed his eyes.
Meanwhile, one of the officer's helping taking of the items noticed his commander in pain and quickly ran to help out.
"Sir, are you all right!" The officer asked as he grabbed the man by the arm. However, the commander didn't appreciate the man's sentiment.
"Get your hands off of me!" He screamed, causing the officer jump back in surprise. Little did he know the Commander was just as surprised by his actions as he was.
"I'm sorry, sir. I didn't mean too…" The officer stammered, clearly stunned by his leader's reaction.
The Commander closed his eyes before pinching the brow of his nose. What the heck had come over him back there?
"There's no need to apologize. You were just doing your job." The Commander reassured him calmly. "However, I would definitely appreciate if you'd get back to work. We need to be wheels up in five minutes.".
"Yes, Sir!" The officer saluted before grabbing the remaining items.
The Commander watched him leave before taking out his pocket watch and opening it. They really did need to get going as soon as possible. They couldn't afford to be late.
Still, the man turned to give the lockbox one last glance. He reminded himself to look into this mystery gem a little bit more later.
Meanwhile, the Commander had other important matters to attend too.
Placing the watch back in his pocket, the Commander headed over to the jeep and grabbed a clipboard from the passenger seat.
He decided it would be smart to take inventory before leaving. After all, he knew how important it was to make sure his men didn't miss anything during their sweep.
The last thing he needed was to leave some dangerous artifacts behind, let alone in enemy territory.
Besides, the Commander knew that even with the Nazi's pretty much gone, there was always a chance any of those dangerous items could fall into another enemy's hands. That was something the Commander couldn't allow.
The commander muttered to himself as he pulled out a pen from the front of his shirt pocket and began checking off the list.
Meanwhile, he kept stealing glances at the two men that were still loading the items. The commander tensed as he observed his officer move the lockbox into their own supply truck.
Why the hell was that gem giving him these uncomfortable feelings.
Trying desperately to shake off the tension he was feeling, the commander shook his head before finishing up the checklist.
Once he was done, he placed the clipboard and pen back into the passenger seat before turning around to wait for his men.
He watched as the two officers bought the last item to the truck and placed it inside.
"Are we quite finished here yet?" the Commander asked them with a frown.
"Yes, sir. We've double checked interior of the base, and I'm happy to report that there's no sign of Nazi activity in the area." The officer answered, doing well to maintain his smile.
The Commander's frowned melded into a smile at the news.
"Good, you two get yourselves on the trucks. We'll be heading out of here in a minute." He informed as he pointed them to one of the trucks behind him.
The two officers saluted him together before heading off toward their vehicles.
Once they were out of his sight, the Commander pulled out his pocket watch out again. He couldn't help but sigh as he looked at the currently displayed time.
He really needed to get his men moving to the extraction point soon as possible. His superiors would be meeting him in an hour, and he knew they didn't like to be kept waiting.
The Commander placed the watch back in his pocket before making the jeep in front of the convoy.
However, the second passed the supply truck with the items, the man reached both his hands to his head and gripped it.
An intense burning sensation was coursing through his head. It felt like his brain was on fire, and he couldn't keep focus on what he was doing.
The Commander quickly grabbed the side of the truck and squeezed, hoping it would help him withstand the pain. Too bad it wasn't helping him in the slightest.
"What the heck is happening to me." He quivered while squeezing his eyes shut.
IT HURT SO BAD! Now he knew how a person felt when they got third degree burns all over their skin.
The man gripped the side of the truck even harder, praying for the pain in his head to pass quickly. Luckily, his prayers must've been answered because it didn't take long for the pain to diminish, though it wasn't gone completely.
The Commander loosened his grip before taking a very deep breath. He really couldn't understand what had caused the pain in the first place.
'That was strange…' The commander muttered to himself before finally continuing to his jeep. He could still feel the pain lingering inside his head slightly. Still, he brushed it off and hoped that his men wouldn't notice it.
Once the Commander arrived at the jeep, he got directly into the passenger seat with the driver. It was clear to him the driver was unhappy with him at the moment.
With everything that had been happening earlier, the Commander had completely lost track of time. He and his men had in there for a half-hour, and he was certainly aware his driver wasn't quite patient when it came to time management.
However, the commander couldn't help but chuckle internally at the irony. He had always lenient when it came to the man, but he was also aware he couldn't indulge the man either. Being a driver required a great deal of patience, and it was truly ironic that his own driver lacked the most important requirement of the job…patience.
"Are we ready to go, Commander?" The driver asked, not hiding his annoyance with the him very well.
The Commander just turned toward the man and glared. He really didn't want to deal with the man's attitude right now.
"Yes, we're pretty much done here. We'll be heading out in a minute." The Commander said as he buckled his seatbelt. However, the second he did that the pain in his head spiked.
The Commander couldn't help but grasp the side of his head with both hands. The man had a feeling his driver had noticed it, but he really didn't care at the moment. All he wanted was to make the intense pain go away.
The Commander quickly loosened his grip before muttering something under his breath. However, he was unaware that what he muttered was in an entirely different language.
The driver was confused by the Commander's actions himself. He couldn't understand what the man was saying. What was more strange, was that in his line of work, he had been trained by professionals to speak more than 30 different known languages in the world. But out of all the languages he knew, the driver was certain the Commander had not been speaking in any of them. In fact, he was fairly certain he hadn't heard this language until his Commander spoke it today.
Still, the driver decided not to press the issue with his superior. If the man's life was in mortal danger, he was sure he wouldn't hesitate to tell him. Besides, it's not like he was leaving the man's sight anytime soon. If he needed anything he'd be right here next to him.
The Commander released the grip he had on his head before taking a deep breath. However, he felt a sudden surge of angry when he noticed his driver was staring at him. Why wasn't he moving out like he told him too?
"What the heck are you doing? I told you to move out!" The commander snapped as he leaned directly into the man's face.
The driver leaned back, going further toward the door the closer the man got to his face. He unconsciously wiped some saliva from his cheek the man had spat at him.
"I was waiting for you sir. You told me to wait a second before we left?" He responded nervously, his breaths turning a bit shallow as the man violated his space.
He had no idea why the commander was acting this way. Perhaps he said something wrong to him?
The Commander's anger instantly melded upon seeing the driver's face. He immediately realized he had yelled at the driver when he hadn't done anything wrong.
All he knew was when the pain splashed his head at that moment, he immediately felt a surge of anger course through his entire body. What confused him the most was the fact the man couldn't figure out where it came from. The man had no cause to be angry, yet he suddenly couldn't help but lash out at the whoever was close to him.
"You're right…I'm very sorry. Don't worry about it." The Commander assured him, sound a bit calmer than he was before.
Seeing the driver smile in response, the Commander leaned back before placing a hand to his forehead. He felt it was a bit hotter than usual.
The Commander removed his hand, trying to figure out what was wrong with him. Perhaps he was coming down with a fever? It was quite possible considering how hot his head felt.
However, there was one other thing that was nagging at him. He kept feeling there was somebody else watching him in the background. But that was stupid, the only other person with him at the moment was the driver.
Perhaps he was just feeling a little paranoid due to his sudden illness. For now, he decided to just let it go.
The drive instantly noticed his commander turn around and look out the back of the jeep. Now he knew something was wrong with the man, or at least bothering him.
"Sir, are you sure you're okay? You're looking a bit pale" The driver asked reluctantly. He was kind of afraid the man would get angry at him if he wasn't careful.
The Commander gave the man a glare as he grabbed the PA radio.
"Don't worry about it. I'm probably just coming down with a bug." The commander reassured him before clicking the PA system on.
"Alright, sir. But if you need anything, I'm here for you." The driver replied as he buckled his own seatbelt before starting the car.
Once they were ready, the Commander brought the PA radio speaker to his lips and spoke.
"All units, we're heading out to the rally point now. All of you follow and stay close." The Commander informed the convoy through the loudspeaker. "Make sure you stay in standard formation as well. Don't break unless I say so."
The Commander looked in the rearview mirror, and once he saw the other drivers acknowledge him, he carefully put the PA radio back in its place.
"Alright, let's get out of here." The Commander told the driver before leaning back in his seat again.
The driver quickly acknowledged him before shifting the gear and starting out of enemy territory. The other drivers followed behind them in a straight line.
"Sir, the items we recovered…what exactly are they?" The driver suddenly asked him out of nowhere.
The Allied Commander just shrugged offhandedly. He really didn't care about to think those stupid items right now. All he wanted was to nap until they got to the rally point. Besides, the commander couldn't provide him with an answer even if he wanted to. He barely knew anything about the items himself…
"Are they some kind of artifacts?" The driver pressed on.
"Just focus on getting to the rally point, please." The commander said as he held the front his forehead again. He really just wanted a nap right now.
"Wake me up when we get to the rally point driver." The Commander told him before shutting his eyes.
The driver just acknowledged him without turning to face him, trying to keep his eyes on the road. He wasn't very good with multitasking apparently.
The Commander soon fell into deep sleep, which was plagued with horrible nightmares that he couldn't understand. He began to moan and groan in his sleep, his body twitching as the images he was seeing scared him into submission.
Meanwhile, the camera zoomed out, showing the other drivers that were following their commander from behind. However, none of them were aware they were being watched from a nearby rooftop.
The unknown figure smiled evilly at the moving convoy. His glowing purple eyes locked directly onto the Allied Commander, who was currently asleep in the front passenger seat.
The unknown creature continued to hop from roof to roof so he wouldn't lose them.
Luckily, the device on his wrist allowed him to travel in phase mode, which made it almost impossible for anyone other than his own kind to him unless he wished it.
He looked at the device as his smirk grew, he was pretty sure it would work the same way if anyone else were to wear it.
The creature was well aware his master had given him the small device so he could keep an eye on the gem without being seen. However, the creature now had a keen interest in the sleeping man.
Somehow, this human was able to sense him even when phased. And knew that was a big enough problem all on its own.
Still, there was one other thing that was bugging him. He was trying to figure how this man could even sense him in the first place.
His first thought was that the device had been damaged somehow, but upon looking at it he saw it was working perfectly.
So, it didn't make any sense to him. If the watch wasn't broken, then there shouldn't be any way for the man to sense him now. Unless…
The creature snickered to himself as he jumped over two more roofs. If the evidence meant what he thought it meant, then he needed to inform his master as soon as possible.
'I'll be keeping on you myself." The creature whispered while giving the convoy a dark glare. He then jumped to another rooftop so that he could see the front of the commander's jeep.
"I'm going to find out where you're taking my prize you fool." He sneered at the convoy. "And once I rip the item from your cold dead hands, I'm going to take pleasure in bringing down your kind once and for all."
The creature walked towards the roof and turned towards the still moving convoy one last time.
"I will be watching in the shadows for now. But I guarantee you fools that I'll be back to finish the job very soon." He vowed as he fisted his hand into a ball. "I promise you one thing. You'll never see us coming until it's too late."
The creature then threw his head back into an evil laugh before disappearing in a puff of strange purple smoke, leaving little to no evidence behind in his wake.
Like I said before, this is the opening scene and a preview to the first chapter. But don't fret, the rest of the chapter feature Danny and his friends. Hopefully, I'll have it ready soon.
