Chapter 17

The Far Frozen medical staff weren't able to find anything wrong or serious with Danielle but Danny suspected that they could've found something interesting. He could tell by the muffled dialogue and tone. She was able to recover quickly enough and not a moment too late. The enemy was nearby causing damage and trouble. They slipped out through a secret way to avoid their enemy from noticing and thus allowing them to keep the element of surprise.

While he was practicing shooting at boulders they launched an attack on him using duplicates. The duplicates gave the Dark Phantom a great surprise attack. When he turned to face what he thought were attackers Danny and Danielle were able to attack Dark Danny in a safer way. He face the duplicates and once his back was turned both Danny and Danielle launched an assault. Quickly Dark Danny turned his head at a 180 degree angle bearing his fanged frown and glaring red eyes. He then created three other duplicates to face his attackers with their weapons. Oh how he would love to trap the both of them inside the Fenton Thermos.

"Not so fast halfas!" He snarled. "You of all ghosts should know better than to confront me! If you're going to defeat me, you'll need to do better than that!" Their enemy continued. Then he and his duplicates shot out their own ghost rays and a couple of ecto constructed ghost nets. However both Phantoms were prepared for what he planned to do. Not only were his shots and attempts block but he was taking a beating. The modified gadgets were able to stun all enemy ghosts without either Danny or his clone getting too close.

Upset that a pair of hybrids were outdoing him, he let out his ghostly wail as both a scream of frustration and as a last ditch effort to keep them at bay.

Using that power forced both Danielle and Danny to abort their attack on the Dark Phantom but they still had several tricks but they didn't exactly have time on their side. So the hybrids repositioned and stuck with their plan. However their target abandoned his attack and location by creating a portal into the real world. They were certain that he would continue to face them. However he left leaving their planned attack and trap useless. He must have figured out that they were on to him. He was positive that he could take them on by himself but he decided against it in case they had a trap for him. So he to leave for the real world to give the hybrids a real surprise or what was to him a treat.

Danny and Danielle wasted no time in finding another portal into the real world. However he was long gone but they heard on local news about an evil ghost raided a government facility and destroyed loads of weapons and equipment. His menacing countenance and statements about his evil acts was all over the media. Latest reports were of him heading to a military site. This trouble Danielle greatly because in the alternate timeline he utilized American weapons to launch attacks at or near the borders of other countries to start wars. Fortunately the Guys in White were able to delay him long enough.

The news media couldn't get enough of this story about there being another Danny Phantom that was evil and an older female one. Seeing that his plans were foiled again. Seeing that the public and media couldn't seem to get enough of this epic ghost battle. So the Dark Phantom decided to give this massive and captive audience a 'real' show.

Finally Vlad escaped the Ghost Zone, however he had to find another portal instead of the known artificial ones that were commonly used. It took him a short time to figure out where he was and a while to return to Amity Park. He did send a duplicate to his mansion in Wisconsin to check on the damages there if there were any. Once Vlad arrived to Amity Park he discovered the city was practically deserted and so were nearby communities. Quite a bit of it was trashed as if an evil and powerful ghost went on a rampage. He had also never seen such a large group of Guys in White. By checking out the news his absence wasn't unnoticed nor was it taken lightly. He was going to have to conceive an excuse about why he was gone. Perhaps he could blame the one of the Phantoms but he had to make believable and blame the correct one. The one that the public would agree on.

Luckily for Vlad, the duplicate that checked out on other property of Vlad's discovered that it didn't seemed to be trashed or raided by the enemy. Possibly because this ghost didn't know about Vlad's official residence. At least the other Phantoms didn't raid or vandalize it.

Meanwhile back at the military compound 'Dan Phantom' abruptly disappeared and one of the commanding Guys in White was commanding his subordinates to shoot the remaining Phantoms despite shouts of the contrary from numerous military service personnel only to have a commanding officer silence them.

Acting on a suspicion, Danielle shot a specialized ghost ray at both the commanding officer and the leading Guy in White revealing them both to be duplicates of the dreaded Dan Phantom. With both covers blown he fought back with one being captured by the agents. The other fled to avoid being fought by the hybrids and agents.

Angered that he was foiled again by those pesky weakling hybrids and was weakened in the process his mind raced on not only how to beat them but how to exact the perfect revenge. If only he could find out were Danny's friends and family were hidden. Where would he hide them, or better what where would Danielle hide them. To avoid any unwanted attention from others he transformed into his present human form. Hopefully he could coax someone about his family's whereabouts. He hoped that he could take advantage of someone else's sympathy and not only hit his younger/former self were it hurt the most of all to nullify the older clone.

He happened to notice a large gathering of people in a camp of evacuees. He could easily kill them all here instead Amity Park however he did spot an agent for the Guys in White with anti ghost weapons. Even if he harmed any of these people in any way it was highly doubtful that he would succeed at turning his younger self evil. Even more the present Danny had his clone for support. He could take out that agent first until he heard a dreaded voice that was a source of fright and distress for Danny.

"Hey Fentoad!" Why did your folks leave town?! Did they abandon you too?! My party got crashed no thanks to your family. They're supposed to fight ghosts or are they too chicken? I guess your parents are just a pair of scammers!" The burly blonde boy called out.

No doubt that was Dash Baxter being his stupid bully self and blaming others for stuff outside of their control although this could very well be the last mistake or action Dash made. Suddenly attention had turned on Danny blowing his cover and plan. Dark Danny should've taken on another form of a random human instead. It was too late now with so many people staring and making comments.

Until recently he almost forgot that his former tormentor existed. Dash grabbing him by the shirt triggered stressful and painful memories. To Dash's sudden horror his favorite target/living punching bag morphed into the menacing ghost that everyone feared. People screamed and sprinted off in panic. Meanwhile Dash found himself in the clutches of the very ghost that the public fled from. The agent tried to fire an ecto gun at the evil ghost but Dark Danny was too quick for him. A pair of plains clothes agents were able to come to their uniformed comrade's defense and fired shots of anti ghost properties that stunned and shocked Dark Danny and as a result he released Dash who sprinted off screaming like a little girl. However he was able to resist enough and overpowered the agents with a ghostly chain. They were just not equipped nor trained well enough to face such a powerful ghost.

"If I can't take out a dumb blonde jock who picks fights first, I guess giving a trio of ghost meeting a gruesome death." He cackled with a sinister sneer and his fists glowed a bright green. Suddenly his ghost sense off and bright green flash hit causing him to release two of the agents because he could hardly react. He figured out in an instant of who it was- the clone of his former hybrid self. But where was his past/present self? Dan Phantom smelled a set up.

He glared and hissed at the female Phantom to discover that Danny blasted him through the ground and was using the infamous thermos. Quickly he used his final hostage as a human shield in order to thwart being captured. However that also equaled losing the power of negotiation due to the loss of a hostage. However Dan still knew their secrets he could still blackmail to expose them.

Dark Danny shot a ghost ray but a simple ghost shield was created by Danielle to thwart him to which he retreated. "HOW IS IT THAT YOU ALWAYS ARE ABLE TO TRACK ME?! He bellowed out with a roar that seemed to be just beneath his ghostly wail forcing the hybrids to keep their distance. This seemed too easy as Danny and Danielle decided to follow him as he was never up to any good.

Eventually Vlad was able to return to Amity Park and contact a few of his support staff and had invented a story about what happened to him. He blamed the odious ghost that had impersonated and imprisoned him which was bought without question. Still the danger was present. Blaming Danny Phantom or this new mysterious Danielle Phantom wouldn't be a smart move. But could she be the same Danielle Phantom that he created in one of his many cloning experiments? If so then she really grew up quickly and got way more powerful as well. From what he could see was that she knew how to face the very ghost that both defeated him and was causing all this havoc. Still Vlad figured that it was in his best interest to check on his bunkers possibly the remote ones too.

Meanwhile Dan Phantom headed to another small city that wasn't evacuated yet nor did it have a ghost infestation problem either; until he arrived. Plus if these hybrids followed him here he was going to give them a 'real treat.' As a bonus, there was a number of evacuees here from Amity Park. Many of the evacuees were conveniently staying in large community gymnasium until their situation improved.

He had a plan to kill and harm as many people as possible but most importantly lure the hybrids in order to get rid of Danielle one way or another and finally force his younger present self to become the evil ghost he was. If Danielle wasn't around he would have a chance to secure his future was what the Dark Phantom reasoned.

Just as he suspected both Dani and Danny Phantom arrived because he could sense them but not see them. No doubt that they were invisible in order to keep a low profile like he was. Still he could easily catch them off guard and become not only victorious but insure his existence and future.

Once they arrived they felt their own ghost senses off. With so many people they quickly came up with a plan on how to take proactive action to protect the evacuated citizens from the vile and corrupted Phantom that sought to spread destruction, fear, and despair.

Once the remaining compass pointed toward their enemy they tackled him in full gear exposing him and themselves as well to the crowd below. Once the people realized what was going on, they scrambled to escape. Dark Phantom tried to shoot deadly ghost rays at the regular humans but Danielle conjured ghost shields to deflect the harmful rays. Angrily he conjured up numerous duplicates but she just created some herself along with Danny thanks to her guidance. The citizens quickly and wisely took advantage of the opportunity to evacuate the gymnasium while the heroes fought their enemy. Fortunately they did so in an orderly fashion probably thanks to the emergency ghost drills. They didn't even need to be told. It didn't take long for the arena to empty.

Dark Phantom lunged at Danielle with his body incased in ghostly flames shooting everywhere (source form his fiery hair of course) hissing "Ladies first!"

"Fat chance Hothead! You need to cool it!" She snapped back with while shooting an icy blast that looked and sounded like a mini blizzard. Not only was she was counter and weaken him but his attack was proof that he was becoming desperate. That visit to the gryphon ghosts proved to be a wise move. Danny was able to capture him in the Jack -o- Nine tails but he was able to summon his duplicates to fight Danny back and keep the thermos at bay. What was most nerve wracking and even embarrassing was that a girl was keeping pace with him. No doubt that she had tons of experience. Now multiple duplicates of himself seemed to be caught up in various Fenton equipment. No doubt they came prepared and with a plan.

"I am not going to lose to you! Especially to a clone from that Cheesehead's experiments!" He roared in desperation.

"I hope you're hungry Hothead because you're going to be eating your words!" Danny bantered back in a sarcastic tone. This made the enemy even more upset, which equaled sloppier but also more dangerous.

The fact that Danielle was a clone apparently didn't upset her much at least not anymore and even if did come from an archenemy it was a desperate move like grasping for straws. Even if Dan Phantom exposed the other Phantoms' real identities to the public it would likely do little good because they would still have tons of public support.

Still he had something else for them; a power he didn't use as often anymore because it couldn't kill and it was less known from his infamous ghostly wail and other ghost powers. The weapons made him too weak for his ghostly wail but he still could do his special power disrupting pulse. He then let out some sort of shockwave from his form that knocked the hybrids back and stunning them for a moment and shutting off the equipment. As an extra precaution he blew up the thermoses so that he couldn't be trapped in one again. Even worse the hybrids were forced back into their human forms. The Dark Phantom's duplicates then reabsorbed back into the original which then headed toward Danielle picking her up by the arm and bringing her close to his fanged face.

"How is it that I was able to keep the Danny from your time period from following me but you're were able to make it?" He growled until he noticed the strange band on her arm that looked very familiar to him. "This thing has Clockwork's name written all over it." He chuckled in realization. He had badly injured the present Danny Phantom in the arm and it must have cause this time thing to short out. All he needed to do was to take hers away and she would be sent back to her time period and he could have another piece of Clockwork's time instruments to insure his existence.

"You know girly you sure gave me a run for my money. You won several battles but I am going to win the war. I think once I send you back I'm going to hunt down the younger Danielle Phantom of this time period. There can only be one Phantom afterall. And that's going to be me. No sexism intended." Dark Danny gloated.

"Let her go!" Danny shouted but Dark Danny just laughed at him.

"Or what?" Dan smirked. "You're as human as she is and will be for several minutes. I would really like to savor this." The evil ghost explained in a mocking tone.

Thanks to Danny's distraction, Danielle pulled something green out of her pocket and simply tossed it through the Dark Phantom.

"Savor that instead." She contended as the bright green blanket like thing went through him. Dark Phantom tried to go intangible but it was too late for him. Whatever it was somehow filtered out the time medallion inside of him and it landed on the gym floor below.

"No! NO! NOOO! NNOOOOO!" The Dark Phantom screamed in fright once he realized what happened. That medallion was the only thing that assured his existence. Once the medallion was removed he quickly became powerless and started to dematerialize because the factors that caused his existence were prevented. He tried to grab Danielle's time piece but she able to get out of his reach due to his loss of power. He quickly faded from existence.

"Oh yes! Yes! YES! YEESSS!" Danny cried shouted out with glee with the assurance that this dark future was defeated and thus prevented.

"Adios enemigo! It never was nice knowing you! You won't be missed." Danielle added.

"Dani, what was that you used?" Danny asked excitedly as he got to his feet until he stumbled back due to loss of balance. That ghostly pulse had not just affected his ghost powers but his human self too. Then Danny's tone turned to more worried one.

"Dani, is this only temporary is it?" He asked his older clone hoping for peace of mind.

"I hope so. I feel sort of funny myself. And not in a humorous way. " She answered trying to sound calm and in control.

Suddenly they both heard the muffled shouts and hum of helicopters and other large machinery most likely from the Guys in White. A mood of fear and desperation set in on the both of them because they couldn't be seen like this or be in a weakened or human state. What would these ghost authorities say or think once they stormed in to see these unbalanced people who could at best crawl and have the Fentons' ghost hunting and fighting equipment among them? Danny's mind rushed.

"Dani what do we do?" he cried out but then he noticed that she was suddenly she was right next to him, holding most of the equipment and the outside was super quiet.

"Danny we can still get out safely." She assured him and continued to explain why. "Keep that time medallion on you. I'm using this bracelet think that Clockwork lent me. I activated a time pause. We can still get out and remove all the evidence as long as you wear that time medallion you won't be affected by the pause. We'll be long gone before those agents arrive. Time is on our side."

"Will we get our powers back?" Danny inquired as he grabbed weapons and gadgets.

" I think so because he mentioned it lasting for minutes. I starting to feel a little stronger and better balanced now." She answered hopefully.

"Why didn't you pause time before?" Danny asked feeling that much of the danger and fighting could've been avoided.

"I can't pause time for someone wearing that medallion. Everyone else and everything else would freeze leaving me to fight him alone with you being paused. Not only would I be facing him alone but I would also reveal what I was using making me more vulnerable and giving him a greater advantage. Heck he probably used a time frozen you as leverage. I felt it was best to leave that unmentioned until now." Dani explained to her predecessor as they gathered up the last of the Fenton technology and headed out an exit. It all was making sense now because Danny recalled only wearing a time medallion once.

"What did you use to remove the time medallion?" Danny inquired again.

"Oh this, it is the netting from the Ghostcatcher." She showed with a grin.

"Oh my gosh, Dani you're brilliant." He squealed with excitement.

"Well I am a Fenton afterall." She chuckled and grinned wryly as they passed by various ghost fighting agents in their gear.