Chapter 8 *Past, Present,Future*

"Home, sweet home!" Jazz dashed inside. Danny came in after her and then Tucker, then Sam, and lastly Violet. Violet hadn't said a word since last night, Danny realized. He didn't know if that were a good or bad thing. For now, he was enjoying it.
"Danny, what do we do?" Sam asked, stepping in his way to stop him from walking past her. Tucker stood next to her with a determined expression. Sam's fists were placed firmly on her petite hips.
Danny looked between his two misfit friends and realized they were depending on him to figure this out, of course with their help. And he knew he couldn't let them down either.
"Well," he began. "Let's just let her go. Then... I guess that's when her true intentions will be revealed. There's nothing else we can really do." He shrugged.
Sam was about to protest, but nodded solemnly instead. Tucker bobbed his head in agreement.
"Good. So when do we tell her?"
"Now seems just as right a time as any," a voice from behind chirruped.
Danny whirled around to come face-to-face with Violet.
"Show me the way," she said.
And so they did. Danny went to the basement door without a word and opened it, mockingly gesturing to Violet that she should go first. She did a mock nod in appreciation back and high-heeled her way down the steps. Tucker went after, as well as Sam. Danny hesitated, but only to be sure that neither his parents nor sister were around. When he was sure they weren't going to be interrupted he quickly went down the stairs, closing the door lightly after him.
When he hit the last step he found Violet standing with her hands on her hips and appraising the Ghost Portal doors with an expression of interest and a hint of impressed hostility.
Danny walked past her and pressed the glowing red button that opened the doors, then turned back to Violet when she spoke for the first time in six hours.
"So, this is where it's been hidden all along. It was so obvious that I never even considered to look here. I mean, I've been everywhere else around this house," Violet said.
"Everywhere else?" Danny echoed, raising his eyebrows.
"Yup. This house sure is an unusual environment. But that's off topic. I see you have your memories back. That little blast I gave you last night was completely unfocused because of my interfering mother." Violet sniffed with disapproval, flipping her hair over her shoulder.
It took a few moments to sink in, but Danny finally blurted, "Wait, mother? Did you just say mother?" Danny was hoping he'd only misheard, but he saw a tiny smile pull at one corner of Violet's rose-petal lips.
Completely unfazed by the accusation, or truth, she said in a breezy tone, "Yes I said mother. Oh dear, are you hard of hearing now?" Violet's hand flew to her cheek as she pretended to look concerned. Actually, she didn't even try. The smile was plain to see on her not-so-plain face.
"But that means..."
Violet sighed dramatically."It means Penelope Spectre is my mother! Gosh, I knew you were clueless but I thought you had more sense than this!"
Sam spoke up from the corner she'd been observing in. "But you said your mother's name was Penny Prickston!"
Violet answered smoothly, absolutely calm with the accusations. "Yes, it is. Penny is short from Penelope and Prickston is her last name in the future."
"Future?" Tucker said quietly. He lifted his red beet to scratch his head. He was sooo confused.
Violet was patient with them and answered patiently. "I'm from the future. You know what, before you interrupt once again, Danny, I'll just tell you. I've come from the future to avenge my mother's sanity after you, Danny Phantom, destroyed her life. But I came back in a too-later year. I was planning on going farther back, which I'll be doing in a moment. But since I was here I attempted to rid myself of you here in this time period, but that didn't work out too well. I alerted my present mother of my existence so I could have her help in succeeding, but she hasn't been able to do much. She's too busy worrying over her future self's appearance.
And I know I said I would leave this town in ruins but I just haven't the time. So instead, I'll just be going." With a little wave of her long fingers, Violet jumped through the portal in one fluid motion.
"...Uh... I should go, shouldn't I?" Danny broke the silence with such a stupid question, Sam laughed.
Taking that as a yes he stepped up to the swirling green mass of an entirely different dimension that only his family and Vlad Masters were the lucky few to experience it.
"I'm going ghost!" he said with renewed confidence. He'd missed saying that in the few weeks he'd had to go without it.
Luminescent white rings appeared around him and split into two separate rings, encircling his body. One went upward and the other went down, transforming his t-shirt and jeans into a black and white jumpsuit with his signature D on the chest. His shoes were now white boots and he wore white gloves as well. His electric blue eyes seemed to change to a shocking green in one blink, and his jet-black hair shifted to a snow white that was just as radiating as the glowing rings around him. He was now Danny Phantom.
"Be careful!" he heard Sam yell after he dove into the Ghost Zone. Careful? In these past months he's had his ghost powers he soon accepted that the word "careful" had no more meaning.
The green abyss could make even the greatest navigator lose their mind, but Danny knew his way around like the back of his hand. He flew straight through without the slightest complication. But the only problem was...he couldn't see Violet anywhere in sight. The only sign that she'd been around was the path of destruction leading north. A couple of the doors were smoking from being hit with ghost-rays, others were cracked and splintering from forceful blows. And quite a handful were snapped completely in half. Violet sure knew how to keep it subtle.
He followed the wreckage to a towering castle. Danny recognized it at once. Clockwork's castle.
He flew in through the doorway and made his way to the main room, which had the time medallions and portal. Clockwork was floating a foot off the ground as he blocked the entrance into the time portal. Violet was preparing to make him move.
"Move out of my way old man!" she snapped. Immediately Clockwork was suddenly a small infant, but he had the same hard stare and deep, booming voice.
"Who's old now?" he said with a smirk.
Violet growled with frustration. "Whatever. Move! Or I'll make you."
"Do your worst," he retorted, not moving an inch, not even flinching when she raised a hand with purple energy forming. When her power was to its fullest she flung it at Clockwork.
Someone came from behind Danny and practically tackled him to the ground, yanking a time medallion around his neck. When he hit the ground with a thud and looked up, it was Sam. She'd fallen on top of him and her hands had accidentally found his shoulders so she could keep from laying completely on him.
She shrugged weakly. "Oops?" She smiled sheepishly and scrambled up. Danny hurried up as well.
"Sorry. We kinda followed you and... yeah," Tucker said as he came up from behind Sam.
"I tripped," Sam said quickly when he gave her a questioning glance.
Clockwork interrupted their conversation with a loud, clear voice.
"Time: freeze," Clockwork said flatly. Violet's motions slowed and eventually she stopped, trapped in a position with her arm raised as she prepared to blast Clockwork into next week. Literally.
Danny, Sam, and Tucker were still moving at normal speed thanks to the medallions.
"Ah, Danny Phantom. I should have known you were involved." Clockwork was middle-aged now.
"You probably already know what I was about to say, so..." Danny said.
"Yes. I do. And I know what Violet was trying to accomplish. She somehow got past me before and ended up in that uncle of yours' portal. I was about to send her back to her own time, but it seems this chain of events is a little more complicated than I thought. Any idea on where this conversation is headed?" Clockwork was never one for showing displays of emotion, and now wasn't going to be the time for it either. His expression was blank.
"Uh...no," Danny replied truthfully. He honestly had no idea as to why Clockwork didn't just send her back right then and now.
"Well, first, I'll be sending this one back to her own time." Clockwork set the time portal to its correct time period. The scene showed an aerial view of Amity Park. The view was magnified it seemed and showed a close up of Danny's house. Someone opened the door and out stepped a younger Jazz, her vivid orange hair pulled up into an adorable sky-blue bow. She looked around seven.
Next came Maddie Fenton and little Jazz was bouncing up and down excitedly, tugging on Maddie's hand with childish impatience.
"Wait, what-" Danny said, but was cut off by Clockwork.
"You foolish boy. You really thought it'd be this easy to stop us?" Instead of Clockwork's usually smooth, deep voice, it was a satisfied woman's voice. Clockwork was surrounded in a black fog that swirled upward and completely devoured him/her. When the fog dissipated, Penelope Spectre was standing in the place of Clockwork, but she still wore the purple hood like a mocking reminder of her trick. In her hand was Clockwork's staff that controlled time itself.
"This was easier than I thought. I overestimated you, Ghost Boy. Your girlfriend was smart to distrust my daughter."
"-I'm not his girlfriend!"
"-She's not my girlfriend!"
Penelope snickered, enjoying herself quite so. Violet unfroze from her fake position. She put her arm down and stepped toward her mother, taking her rightful place next to the imposter.
"Beautiful performance, sweetie. I hadn't known any better I'd actually have thought you were trying to defeat me."
"I learn from the best," Violet said smugly.
Penelope smiled her wicked smile. Danny sprung at her, finally breaking from his confused stupor at all the lies and illusions that had made him to believe one thing, only for him to realize it was an entirely different thing.
He managed only to rip the staff from Spectre's grasp, but she somehow dodged his punch and leapt through the portal. Dropping the staff Danny readied himself and shot an ecto-blast at Violet. She was launched across the room and crashed into the opposite wall. She looked up desperately, but unfortunately, she'd crashed into the wall that conveniently beheld the hanging time medallions. She didn't do what Danny expected. He thought she'd snatch one of the medallions, but instead she went ghost. Her ghost half was just as frightening as her bewitching human half. Like mother like daughter.
"You've lost. Don't you realize it? Haven't you pieced together the puzzle pieces? My mother's power is the power to cause suffering and emotional pain. I believe I got the better half. I have the power of persuasion and beauty. I don't control you, I only make you do what you want to, but intensified by 10. You want to let me go. Don't you see?"
Danny shook his head as if to clear his thoughts of her cloudy words. "No, I don't. You're lying."
"True. I can persuade you to do what you don't want to. But still, to be clear, I'm not controlling you. Technically. You're not as daft as I gave you credit for.
"Enough talk, though. I better go meet my mother. You know how parents can be."
Violet flew at Danny and latched on to his arm, dragging him with her as she flew straight for the wall. He struggled against her grasp, and that's when he realized she already had a medallion. How else would she have been able to stay in this current time era? She had to be wearing right now and Danny just had to find it. He shot her with twice the strength.
She let to of him in a moment of pain and he grabbed her arm instead, making both intangible as they went straight through the wall. Violet's ghost half flickered, but she didn't shift. She turned the tables and wrenched his hand away and flew back through the wall.
Danny followed in her wake. On the other side she was on her knees and hands. Violet was now in human form, but when she heard him land on the ground she jumped up and ran for the portal. Danny flew at her and noticed she was wearing a belt, and sowed onto it was a single time medallion. How had he not noticed before? At the last second Danny lunged forward and grabbed the medallion and yanked. The medallion ripped off, but Violet could do nothing as she plunged into the portal, unable to hold onto anything. The last thing they heard her say was lost in the time separation from which divided them and her.
She was gone.
"Danny. You did it! You sent her back!" Sam rushed forward with Tucker.
"But where's Clockwork? He never would have let this happen," Tucker said, taking a look around the room.
Danny heard a muffled voice just before Clockwork barged in, hands bound behind his back and his mouth gagged with ecto-rope.
Danny came forward and undid the ropes around his arms. When his arms were free Clockwork jerked the rope from his mouth.
"Pleh! Where is she? I'll send that she-devil back to the Ice Age!" Clockwork looked outraged, which was strange for him to show any emotion. After all, who knows how long he'd been alive. Danny often wondered how old all his ghost enemies were, like Skulker or Ember, or the Ghost King, or even the Box Ghost.
"It's okay, Violet is gone and back to her own time," Sam said.
"No, I mean Penelope! I've known her long enough to know she would do something like this!" Clockwork said angrily, almost like he was blaming himself for her escapement.
"You know her?" Tucker asked with disbelief.
"How long do you think I've been around, human?"
"Good point."
"She got away," Danny said to get back on topic.
Clockwork was back to his neutral-self now. His face have nothing away. "To which time?"
"...The past," Danny muttered. He'd forgotten about Penelope until Clockwork had brought her up. "How did she trick you?"
Clockwork obviously didn't want to say, but didn't let it show. "She somehow dulled my power and that gave her enough time to sneak up on me and lock me up. But do not change the subject. You're in grave danger-"
"When am I not?" Danny interrupted.
"-and Penelope can change your past so greatly, many loved ones could be harmed or...ahem."
"Why can't I just go in after her?" Danny asked.
"You're too clumsy and we both know how immensely you've changed the future and present with your previous attempts at helping. Time traveling isn't the best job for you."
"Then why can't you?"
Clockwork sighed heavily. "I cannot change, only influence. We've been over this. But I have a solution."
Danny perked up. "You do?"
"I know I've given this option before, but I can protect you. But you would have to stay here, within the Ghost Realm and in the Time Palace. You could become my apprentice and work here. No matter what Penelope does in the past she would never be able to alter your life if you were to stay out of time itself. But this is the only resolve I can propose. Your decision?"
Danny didn't know what to think. If he stayed he would be protecting his family, Sam, and Tucker, as well as himself. He would still exist and Penelope would be working in vain.
But that meant Danny would have to give up the life he had and leave the ones he cared for. Who would protect Amity Park? What would he tell Jazz and his parents? Nothing, of course. He would just vanish. He couldn't stand to think what that would do to Jazz. He'd seen the way she reacted to him losing his memory. If he completely left, well, he didn't want to know how much that would hurt her. There was so many things that were and needed to be done. He couldn't. He wouldn't.
"Danny?" he heard Sam whisper from behind. Tucker said nothing, but Danny knew he didn't want him to do this.
"I'm sorry, but I can't," Danny said. He stood straight and waited for Clockwork's disapproving tone.
But he never got it. Clockwork simply nodded his head once in respect and said, "Very well. You have sealed your fate." Clockwork gathered his staff off the floor and two it firmly against the ground.
Danny blinked and everything was gone. He blinked again and he was back in the ghost laboratory. The medallion's weight was gone. He saw Tucker looking as baffled as Danny felt. Sam sighed with relief and closed her eyes.
"So, there's a chance we could all fade into nonexistence any moment now. Fun," Tucker muttered. Then he gave Danny a grateful look. "Thanks for not taking him up on that offer."
Danny smiled, feeling better than he looked. "I'm exhausted. I don't want to worry about poofing into nothing right now."
"I second that," Sam mumbled, raising her hand weakly.
They all stumbled up the steps and were about to go up to Danny's room when an explosion and smoke came from the direction of the kitchen.
"No! Catch it! Catch it!" Maddie Fenton shouted. Some banging came from the same direction and the Protestant shout of Jazz drifted to them.
"Why don't I live in a normal family! Am I adopted?"
Danny ignored the abnormality of it all and went to his room as if he hadn't heard the shouts and yells of his dear family. Sam and Tucker followed, knowing this wouldn't be the last time something weird happened. It was a daily thing for them all.

•THE END•...or is it?

~The Next Book is: The Show Must Go On~