WELP, new rule, whenever I estimate the next update, add at least a few months onto that estimate... xD Sorry about the wait (AGAIN)... I just kept putting it off I guess. Luckily I pulled myself together before I'll be unavailable for a whole week... so that's good, right?
THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO FOLLOWED/FAVED THIS STORY SINCE THE LAST CHAPTER: hlf1495, 2000girl, estrella. ahr. 22, Tmejia, LalaSpade, vindom21, Maleficus Animus, Asurau, Commander M2, Gajeel-rocks, The New Mystical Arca Master, Lizard LIZZY, Kazex0okami, LuffyLover27, Willow D'Forest, the. millieal. in. gen. Z, SuperKirbyLand234, TheDarkTactician, Ren8Ichigo, JKrlin, Terin96, thatsmartchick, NATSUxERZA, iheartanime101, I-AM-THE-LOVE-MONKEY, and Shay McSudonim.
THANKS TO THOSE WHO FAVED/FOLLOWED ME AS AN AUTHOR: Tmejia, Asurau, the. millieal. in. gen. Z, and I-AM-THE-LOVE-MONKEY.
And THOSE WHO REVIEWED SINCE LAST CHAPTER: Invader Johnny, angelvan105, Kimera20, Serlenia, jeanette9a, memmek10k, Commander M2, and vampireharry the 2. I read every review and thanks so much to everyone for the support and nice words! :D :D :D I got great ideas from some of you for future chapters so thanks so much for that!
(I'm sorry to those with .'s in their names, the site was being weird and not letting me type them normally... 0-0)
With no further ado, I give you the rewrite of The Ultimate Enemy, The Ultimate Adversary! (Amazingly creative name am I right)
Disclaimer: I only own my changes to the plot, all characters belong to Butch Hartman.
The Ultimate Adversary
RECAP: Everything happened in the beginning as in the original; Dark Dan finally destroyed Amity Park in the future, Clockwork sent Box Lunch after Danny to attempt to change the future, and he and his friends went to see Clockwork and were later sent to the future (and etc, I can't remember every single event right now but you get the gist). This picks up with Jazz after she found out about the stolen test answers.
Jazz sighed as she sat in her room. The teenage girl, or "young adult," as she preferred to be called, was lying on her pink bed and staring at her brother's open backpack, which had been dropped carelessly in the corner. The envelope containing stolen test answers was propped up against it.
The older Fenton child sighed once again; she felt very disappointed in Danny. The truth was, she had known about his secret identity for months. Ever since the Spectra incident at Casper High School, Jazz had known about her brother's alternate ego and heroic acts to protect their town. Wishing to be a silent helper, she had covered constantly for her brother, hiding the truth from their parents and Danny's teachers alike.
She had smiled proudly every time the newspaper published a positive article on the mysterious ghost boy, or when a news reporter would happily inform the town about the ghost's newest deed. Of course, there were also negative opinions on the ghost boy, newly known as "Danny Phantom" to the town, but the opposing reports were considerably less in number than the approving voices heard commonly in Amity Park.
Of course, Maddie and Jack Fenton remained on the negative side, and they wholly believed that Phantom was malevolent and only played the roll of "hero" to trick the town into trusting him. No matter how much Danny and Jazz had tried to persuade them otherwise, nothing could change their strong opinions.
The girl hoped that someday, her parents would see that the ghost boy wasn't an evil, unfeeling being that deserved to be ripped apart molecule by molecule.
Jazz had been so happy for her brother, from the first minute of knowing his secret. She had really, truly believed that he would refrain from using his powers to gain an unfair advantage. Danny was too good-hearted for that. But shockingly, the orange-haired girl had been wrong.
Danny had stolen the test answers to the most important exam of the school year. And Jazz, the resident goody-two-shoes and straight-A student of the household, viewed cheating as a very serious offense.
The girl slowly stood up and picked up the backpack and packet, hiding them behind her back as she made her way to her brother's door. She had to get answers, and hopefully make Danny understand that he had made a grave mistake.
"Danny?" Jazz called hesitantly as she pushed open the door to his room. "We need to talk."
"What do you want, Jazz? I'm busy." Danny stated darkly, clearly not in the best mood.
"Yeah, busy cheating!" The red-haired girl accused, moving the backpack and packet of test answers out from behind her back. "Lancer was right, you did steal the answers!" The girl sighed in disappointment, her aquamarine eyes shining sadly. "Don't you understand?"
"That I'll be destroying my future?" The boy in found of her chuckled cynically, acting out of character for Jazz's usually-lighthearted brother. "You don't know the half of it." He roughly stole his backpack and test answers out of his sister's hands.
The older teenager sighed again, preparing herself to tell the truth about what she knew. "Danny, I know all of it. About everything." She picked up the Booo-merang, that was carelessly lying on the floor. "That you're part ghost, that you were always doing the right thing with your powers... until now." She glared disapprovingly at the raven-haired boy in front of her.
"You knew?" He whispered in shock.
"I know! And I've been covering for you with Mom and Dad because I'm proud of you, and the good that you do! But not anymore." She put her hands on her hips in a no-nonsense fashion.
"You always were smarter than I gave you credit for." Danny grinned almost evilly at his surprised sister, and a pair of bright white rings changed him into his true form: Dan Phantom. Complete with flaming white hair, blue skin not unlike Vlad Plasmius's, glowing red eyes, and the most intimidating smirk Jazz had ever seen, the evil full-ghost was a fearsome sight.
"You-you're not Danny!" Jazz exclaimed in fear, slowly backing up towards the open doorway. "That's why the Booo-merang wasn't homing in on your ecto-signature! You're not Danny!"
"I was," the ghost in front of her remarked in a deep voice, "but I grew out of it. The Danny you know is floating helplessly in the Ghost Zone, ten years in the future." His victorious smile communicated clearly that he had little faith in his younger self.
"He'll escape." The teenage girl declared bravely, shooting a glare of her own at the ghost in front of her. "He'll beat you!"
"How?" Dan asked with an arrogant smirk. "Is the answer A: the Fenton Portal? Destroyed it. B: the only remaining portal, the one my cheesehead-former-mentor has? As soon as I find it, that's going too."
"Cheesehead?" The orange-haired girl muttered in confusion, before thinking of the only cheesehead her family knew. "Vlad Masters? He's your 'former mentor'?"
Dan ignored her, probably realizing he'd said too much. "Is it C: you? No. You can't stop me from cheating on the C.A.T. and solidifying my future, so it must be D!" A large green laser was shot at the girl, lifting her up from the ground, frozen in midair. "None of the above!"
Jazz watched in horror as the ghost released her roughly back onto the ground, and he adopted the disguise of her 14-year-old brother again. His triumphant smirk was the last thing she saw before everything faded to black.
"Danny... no!" Jazz screamed and shot up in her pink bed, breathing hard at her nightmare. "Huh? What?"
Had it been a dream? No, no way, it had felt too real. She had to do something!
Before she could move to get out of bed, her parents came in to see if she was okay. They explained that Danny had already gone to the school for his test, and that she was such a good sister for helping him study the night before.
Secretly horrified, Jazz felt her heart pounding in her chest. Evil-Danny had already left for the test. His plan was succeeding.
But not for much longer if she did something about it.
The teenage psychologist ran to the swirling Fenton Portal just minutes later, panting from her panicked rush. Future-Danny was already at the school, about to cheat; there wasn't time to lose!
She tightly tied a folded up note she had written onto the Booo-merang, with her signature teal headband holding it in place.
"I need you to find Danny. Fourteen-year-old Danny, ten years from now!" She murmured to the invention in her hands. With a deep breath, she threw the metal trinket into the Ghost Portal and prayed that it would reach her brother in time.
"Please..." Danny Phantom choked, exhausted and beaten up from his encounter with his usual enemies, except ten years in the future.
Normally, he could have easily held his own, even against four moderately powerful ghosts, but he had an anti-ghost-power rope binding his arms to his sides. He couldn't do anything to fight back, and none of his ghost powers were working right, so escaping unnoticed didn't seem possible either.
After so many months of advancing his powers and becoming stronger, this beating he was getting was just demeaning.
"I didn't do all of this to you! It wasn't me!" He tried to explain, tiredly pleading with his biggest enemies yet another time.
"Oh stop." Skulk-Tech growled, "You're responsible for the horrible things that happened to your world and ours."
"To everyone you'd ever come in contact with!" Technus added from his place on the robotic suit.
"Your family, your friends, and most importantly, us!" Ember said darkly, green eyes glowing with hate.
"But-" the ghost boy interrupted, "I didn't do any of that!" At least not yet, he thought bleakly as he remembered his terrible future self and what he had done.
His enemies simply got ready for another round of attacks, smirking meanly at the tied up boy in front of them.
"Get away... get away!" Danny yelled, closing his eyes in fear, "Get AWAAAY!"
Powerful green sound waves pushed the screaming ghosts back. The blasting sound lasted for more than half a minute before stopping, leaving the boy panting with exhaustion, and he felt himself tiredly transforming back into his human form.
He realized with dread that he had just used his future self's Ghostly Wail.
"My voice is changing...?" Danny muttered in annoyance, not quite managing to mask his disbelief. "Great... now I'm going through evil puberty. Everywhere I turn, my stupid future is smacking me in the face!"
At that moment, something ironically smacked the half-ghost in the back of the head. After yelping and rubbing the sore spot, he picked up the floating metal contraption curiously.
"A note?" He questioned in confusion while unraveling a familiar aqua headband, which tied the paper securely to the Booo-merang.
He carefully opened up the folded note and read it, every word adding to the shock and confusion he felt, but also giving him an idea. "Wisconsin... Vlad! Maybe he could help with this!"
Dark Dan grinned evilly as he slammed down his C.A.T. test on Mr. Lancer's desk. He had finished the test before anyone else in the class, but not without the help of the answer key, of course.
"Finished so soon, Mr. Fenton?" Lancer asked, a knowing glare on his face.
"Is that a problem?" Dan, disguised as teenager Danny Fenton, answered darkly, smirking in his teacher's face.
"How should I know? I don't have all the answers..." The teacher accused suspiciously, knowing about the answer key. "Do you?"
Dan remained silent and smiled proudly as he strutted out of the room. What idiots his classmates and teacher were!
He only had one thing left on his agenda that day: destroying his family and friends in the Nasty Burger that evening.
And no one was going to stop him. All according to his plan, Vlad was completely unaware of anything that was happening, and Dan's younger self was stuck in the future with no way to return. Everyone else in the picture was a pathetic human that the future-ghost could easily take care of, or a weak ghost whose power didn't compete in the slightest with Dan's.
The ghost smirked at his success, almost within his grasp. Just a few more hours and his future would be solidified, ensuring that he would remain in existence.
He could taste the victory already.
"Well... that's Vlad for ya." Younger-Danny exclaimed, rolling his eyes upon seeing the giant football covering the entrance to the other half-ghost's portal. "Subtle as a flying mallet."
The portal wasn't far from where it usually was, but the fact that it had moved at all made Danny worry. What could have happened to Vlad in the terrible future? The boy was scared to know.
Phantom shoved away the football and cautiously entered the portal, unaware of what he was going to find.
He emerged into a dark room, countless dusty machines and trinkets cluttering the shadowed walls.
"Hello?" He hesitantly called out. "Vlad? It's Danny from the past! I have a problem and I need youuu!"
He was met with silence.
"Well I guess he could be-"
A bearded face appeared from around a dark corner, "Who's there?!"
"Vlad?!" Danny said in surprise, simply taking in the old man's disheveled and unshaven appearance, the long white beard and all. "You're... old!"
"D-Daniel...?" The man gasped, not reacting like he usually would to the "old" comment. "Is that really you?"
Danny watched in confusion as the man slowly stepped forward, reaching out a hand to touch the boy's face, as if to make sure he wasn't hallucinating.
"Fruitloop... what happened to you?" Danny asked sadly. He didn't pull away when he was brought into a tight hug.
"I-I haven't seen you in so long... you're so young." The former billionaire wheezed into the ghost boy's ear. "How are you here?"
"I came from the past," Danny softly began to explain, not moving out of the older man's shaky grip. "Long story short, I have one of Clockwork's time medallion's fused inside me, so I can't return to my time. And to top it off, my jerky future self is probably wrecking havoc in my place."
"He's in the past? In your time period?" Vlad whimpered uncharacteristically, stepping back to look right in Danny's eyes. "You have to stop Him. It's the only chance of making sure this future never happens!"
"I-I know!" The boy reassured, "I just need your help to return and stop Him. But before that..." he paused briefly, before continuing in a hushed, sad voice, "what happened? How did it turn out like this?"
"Oh, Badger..." the man began, depressed, broken blue eyes looking to the ground. "It was a tragedy. About ten years ago, it happened. You had come to see me after school, seeking advice after cheating on a big test..."
"The C.A.T.?" Danny repeated in shock, "I really cheated?"
"Yes," the man answered, sighing a bit before continuing, "But you regretted it, and wanted to fix the situation however you could. Not long after you had arrived... that burger joint you liked, the Nasty Burger... it exploded, with your two friends and your family inside."
"No..." Danny whispered, fully attentive to the retelling of the past. He had learned about that part earlier from Dan, but it sounded much more real when told from the defeated old man in front of him.
"You were devastated. You moved in with me after that, and I tried the best I could to help you," Older-Vlad looked away sadly, "but I wasn't good enough. You got worse and worse as weeks went by, until you begged for me to separate your ghost and human halves."
"What?!" Danny gaped at the man, shocked at how quickly the situation had escalated.
"I tried to avoid it, I really did. But you never gave up pleading, and one day I gave in and respected your wishes... Oh, what a mistake that was..." Vlad dropped his head onto his hands, shaking from reliving the memories from a decade before.
"So you did it..." Danny guessed quietly, having a feeling of how the story ended.
"Yes... Phantom had gone insane. Do you remember me telling you what happens when a ghost loses its obsession? Well that's what happened when you lost your family. You were convinced that it was all your fault that you couldn't protect them."
The boy looked down, simply letting his former mentor's words sink in.
"I had used your parents' invention, the Ghost Gauntlets. Once Phantom was separated, he stole them and used them to do the same to me and my ghost half."
"No..." Danny responded, watery blue eyes widening.
"Phantom ended up overshadowing Plasmius, and the grief of both ghosts caused a freak reaction; they fused into the being known to the world as 'Dark Dan,' your current future self." Vlad frowned in concern at the shocked half-ghost in front of him, but continued on. "He ravaged the world for a decade, up until now, using our combined powers to destroy city after city, until only Amity Park and a few other, well defended cities were left."
"W-what about my human half? What happened to him?" Danny questioned quietly, afraid to hear what he had already guessed.
Vlad's expression said enough, and dark-blue eyes looked down at the white-haired ghost sorrowfully.
After a few minutes of silence, Danny spoke up, confidence backing his words. "Don't worry. I'll fix this. I'll never turn into Him."
The former halfa smiled slightly, ruffling the boy's white hair. "I don't doubt that, Little Badger."
"Now, I need help getting back to the past. I have a future to change and a family to save."
Jazz pursed her lips in worry as she sat in the kitchen, staring at the wall phone beside her. Evil Future-Danny was already done cheating on the exam, and there was nothing the girl could do about it. She knew she was at a major disadvantage against the powerful ghost; he had easily knocked her out twice in the past 24 hours (once in Danny's room and once at the school, when Jazz had stupidly tried to stop him herself), so there was no doubt he could do it again if she tried to interfere with his plans.
She couldn't do this alone, and not even Sam and Tucker's help would be enough to defeat Danny's future self. That much was obvious.
The parent-teacher conference was scheduled at 5:00 that afternoon at the Nasty Burger, and Jazz had a bad feeling that it was a big part of Evil-Danny's plot. The analog clock on the wall read 2:56; there wasn't much time left for Jazz to think of a plan.
The orange-haired girl took a deep breath and picked up the phone, dialing in the number she had looked up just minutes before. If she was going to stop Future-Danny, she definitely needed help. And luckily he had let it slip that he had a "former mentor"...
Should she be trusting Evil-Danny at all? He easily could have let the information slip solely to confuse her, or possibly to make her expose her brother's secret to someone untrustworthy.
But Vlad could be her only chance...
She waited nervously as the phone rang, her fingers trembling from the sheer anxiety the situation caused.
One ring...
Two rings...
Three-
"Hello, this is Vlad Masters."
"Hello Mr. Masters, this is Jazz Fenton," Jazz said, her hand continuing to shake. "Um, this is sort of urgent. Listen, I... I know about Danny."
Silence. Jazz hoped that her suspicious were correct, and Vlad knew also, or else she had just put her brother's secret in jeopardy.
"And... he's in serious trouble. We're all in serious trouble." She swallowed. "Oh boy, this is going to sound insane."
"Believe me, I've had my share of 'insane'." The man commented dryly, and Jazz smiled in relief at the response. "Please enlighten me. What has he gotten himself into this time?"
The orange-haired girl chuckled half-heartedly and began to explain. "All right, here's what I know. Danny's stuck in the future and his future self from that time is in the present, and he's disguised as our Danny. He let it slip that you're apparently his 'cheesehead-former-mentor' and also that he's here to cheat on the C.A.T. to 'solidify his future,' which can't mean anything good. There's a parent-teacher conference at the Nasty Burger at 5:00, and that has to be part of his plan too, so I think that would be our best bet to stop him."
A few seconds of silence passed once again.
"Well, I certainly wasn't expecting to hear that when you called." Vlad said uneasily. "I'll be right over, and we can discuss this more."
Before Jazz could reply, the line clicked.
The girl replaced the phone on it's holder, and she briefly wondered how soon the billionaire could make it.
Just then, there was a knock at the door.
Wondering who it was, the teenage psychiatrist answered the front door to see Vlad, looking more serious and concerned than she had ever seen him.
"Vlad? How did you make it this quickly from Wisconsin?!" The girl questioned. She opened the door wider to let him in.
The man ignored the girl's question and took the invitation to enter. "Are you positive that Danny-from-the-future is malevolent?" The man asked. "Maybe he came here for a different reason than you suspect-"
"Believe me, Mr. Masters, I don't want to believe that Danny becomes evil in the future either." Jazz shook her head sadly, remembering her earlier encounter with the ghost. "He already knocked me out twice today when I tried to get in his way. Plus, he explicitly told me that he trapped our Danny in the future. He's got to be bad news."
Vlad shook his head, wearing a similar grievous expression as the teenage girl. "I just don't believe it... Danny, malevolent? Those two words don't belong in the same sentence."
"I know what you mean. But we have to just accept it and hope that Danny makes it back somehow." Jazz smiled with as much reassurance as she could muster. "We only have a few hours before the conference starts." She motioned towards the basement door. "We have the ghost guns and stuff down there if you need weapons-"
"What makes you think I need weapons?"
Jazz watched in surprise as two pitch black rings transformed the smirking billionaire into the ghost her parents referred to as "the Wisconsin Ghost."
The orange-haired teenager stared at the ghost floating in her living room in shock. "So you are like Danny! I knew it!"
Vlad laughed a little, briefly forgetting about the dire situation they were in. "Actually, he's like me. I came first. And from what your brother has told me about you, I'm not surprised that you figured it out."
Jazz blushed sheepishly, obviously a bit embarrassed in front of the floating form. "Sorry, that was uncalled for. I'm still a bit new to this... part-ghost stuff."
"No worries, it's understandable." The black-haired ghost answered gently, putting the girl's worry to ease. "I'm sure Danny and I can explain more after this whole crisis is avoided."
Jazz returned the smile and pulled out her Fenton Peeler, showing it to the man. "I have this full body armor suit, so I won't be completely vulnerable. I think we should have a good chance, right?"
"I'm not entirely sure what we're up against, but once Danny makes it back we should have pretty good odds." Vlad said. "Now, do you have any ideas for the plan?"
Older-Vlad, ten years in the future, silently put on the Ghost Gauntlets, cringing at what he had to do for the second time.
It had taken a while to find the old things, but luckily they seemed to be working as usual. The man didn't know what he and his past student would have done if the Gauntlets had turned out to be broken after so many years of inactivity.
"I'm guessing if you could reach into me, and rip out my humanity..." Danny suggested, and then paused to make a strange face, "which, by the way, sounds totally gross... you can get the medallion out too. Then I'll pop to my present like Tucker and Sam did."
The man nodded, powering up the ghostly inventions, and his hands trembled from the memory of doing the same thing ten years before.
He could do this. It was for Danny, and for the brighter future that was bound to happen as a result.
Vlad Plasmius, back in the present, watched invisibly from the air, just out of range of any ghost sensors, as the Fenton Family Assault Vehicle pulled up to the already-half-destroyed Nasty Burger. The silhouette of Danny's teacher was visible in the bright yellow headlights as the RV parked in front of the burger joint.
He watched as the two parents and teen got out of the car and approached the annoyed teacher. Danny appeared normal from this distance, but the man still believed Jazz about her knowledge that there was something not right.
"Mr. and Mrs. Fenton, Daniel," Mr. Lancer droned, his baritone voice easily heard by Vlad's hyper-sensitive hearing. "This is the Nasty Burger. When people fail, this is where they end up. Whether they fail because they don't study, or because they cheated." He accused bluntly, holding up Danny's test from hours before.
The two Fenton parents gasped, twin shocked expressions looking at their son.
"Danny, is this true?" Jack asked, glaring down at his son in disappointment.
"Did you cheat?" Maddie questioned in a similar manner.
"You have to get out of here!" The attention of all four people was pulled to Sam Manson and Tucker Foley running full speed towards them. The billionaire in the air looked around in surprise at the disturbance; that hadn't been part of the plan, for Sam and Tucker to be in danger also.
"The Nasty Burger's gonna blow!" Tucker panted desperately. "And we're three feet from it!"
"South Beach Diet, people, what's going on here?" William Lancer exclaimed loudly, ceasing the chaos.
"I'll tell you what's going on!" Jazz stepped away from the shadows in her Fenton Peeler suit, aiming a weapon straight at Danny. Vlad took a silent breath, preparing for his part in the plan. "Or better yet, show you!"
The ecto-gun shot a green beam that hit the raven-haired boy full on, and the floating halfa stared openly in slight horror as glowing cracks formed on the boy's form.
Once the green ecto-ray had dissipated, a glowering, evil-looking ghost was in its place, clothes smoking from the intense power beam that had just been hitting him. White, flaming hair rose off of his head, and glowing red eyes glared at everyone on the scene. Vlad refused to believe that Danny would become that ghost, there was just no way.
"That's not Danny!" The teenage girl shouted, echoing the billionaire's thoughts exactly.
Both Maddie and Jack quickly got over their stunned silence and steeled their expressions, pulling out ghost guns and training them on the furious ghost in front of them.
"Where is he?!" Jack growled as his ghost gun powered up with a high-pitched whine. "Where's our son?"
"What have you done to our boy?" Maddie added furiously, her gun doing the same thing as her husband's.
Jazz stepped up and shakily joined her parents; all three ghost weapons were lighting up and ready to fire at the dark form in front of them.
The ghost cackled, taking the two parents by surprise at his reaction. "I am your boy!"
He took to the air, and his long, black and white cape flapped in the wind. Vlad inched closer, staying just out of range of Future-Danny's ghost sense. His time to step in was coming soon.
"What kind of parents are you anyway? The world's leading ghost experts and you can't figure out that your own son was half-ghost!" The black-and-white-suited ghost grinned. "Hello? Danny Fenton, Danny Phantom? Ever notice the similarity? Jazz did."
Vlad felt his eyes narrow at the ghost that had blurted out Danny's biggest secret. The elder halfa now knew it was doubtful that he himself would escape the situation with his own secret intact.
"Liar! Don't move!" Jack bellowed, cocking his gun and preparing to fire at the ghost who had claimed to be his son.
"Actually, no one's going anywhere." Dan smirked, lighting up his hand with green energy and pulling it back to attack. Then to his surprise, his red ghost sense went off.
It was time. Vlad shot forward, remaining invisible, and he forcefully shoved the attacking ghost away from the vulnerable humans below them.
Despite the interruption, Dan had still managed to shoot a stream of green energy towards the shocked group, and they were stuck to the hot vat of Nasty sauce before any of them could move. Jack, Maddie, Mr. Lancer, Jazz, and Danny's two best friends all wore identical panicked expressions as they struggled in their bonds.
The two powerful ghosts had been knocked through the air and fallen down to the ground, and Vlad become visible as he held down the other. Evil-Danny's smirk was enough to make the older halfa shudder with unease.
"Ah, I see the Fruitloop has joined the party!" Dan exclaimed, his hands lighting up once more. Vlad was knocked back several feet by the familiar green beam that hit him. "What a pleasant surprise." The ghost hissed, not managing to disguise his annoyance.
"Nice to see you, too." Vlad muttered and abstained from rolling his eyes, as he wanted to keep his attention solely on the enemy in front of him. He refused to think of that... creature in front of him as sweet, innocent Danny. There was no way in hell that he would let the boy turn into that.
"Sadly, I can't explode you into bits with the rest of them." The ghost sighed in mock disappointment. "My bratty younger self needs you alive for me to come into existence. It really is a shame. I guess I'll have to settle for-"
"Hey old man!" A familiar voice called. "Ready for a blast from your past?"
A black and white blur zipped through the air, a glowing fist aimed directly at the other black-and-white-clad ghost. With a mighty wham, Future-Danny was punched back into the side of a nearby building.
"Impeccable timing, Daniel." Vlad said in relief once the ghost had been dealt with, for a few seconds, at least.
"Thanks for fighting this jerk while I was gone." The boy rolled his eyes, looking pointedly at the ticked ghost approaching them.
"You won't have that tone once everyone you love dies!" Dan laughed evilly. "It's only a matter of time." He blasted Vlad back a dozen feet and lifted up his younger self by the jumpsuit.
"I guess I underestimated you." Future-Danny hissed, his enraged red eyes glaring straight into equally-as-furious green. Danny kicked and punched and squirmed in the other ghost's grip, but every movement made the cold hand clench tighter and tighter around his chest.
"What are you going to do, waste me?" The boy asked threateningly, ceasing his useless thrashing around. "What happens to you then?"
"You don't get it, do ya?" Dan asked, a mock expression of pity on his blue face, and he blatantly ignored the ticked-off Vlad that was advancing. The future ghost got right in his younger self's face, "I'm still here! I still exist! That means you still turn into me." For a split second a look of horror and helplessness appeared on younger-Danny's face, until his captor was unexpectedly overshadowed.
Dan let go of the boy's jumpsuit, screaming in rage as he held his head, and his red eyes flashed different shades as he mentally fought off the invader.
Danny recovered from his encounter and looked over to see his mentor smirking at the screaming, outraged ghost.
"A duplicate?" The boy questioned, grinning knowingly despite the tight feeling in his chest from what his older self had said.
"Yep." The man answered with a satisfied smirk, and he created a few more duplicates to keep Dan occupied.
The two halfas quickly flew over to the trapped humans. The heat dial was shakily but steadily inching toward the red, indicating that their time was running out.
Both half-ghosts began frantically pulling on the green bonds, but nothing seemed to lessen their tight hold on the six hostages.
Now that Danny Phantom was near his shocked family, he grimaced at their obviously-fearful expressions.
"Don't worry, I won't turn into that. Ever. I promise." He said, truth and determination ringing through his voice. "And I'm guessing this sort of explains my periodic absences, huh?" He grinned sheepishly at his flustered teacher.
"We don't have the power to get rid of this." Vlad muttered, ignoring the boy's pitiful attempt at conversation and glaring down at the sticky green ectoplasm. "Only the creator can dissolve it."
"So we have to catch him off guard then?" Danny replied uneasily. That would be difficult to do.
"Or better unconscious." The older half ghost said with a smirk, the boy returning the expression.
"Are you two having fun over here realizing that their deaths are inevitable?" Dan grabbed both halfas by the neck and yanked them up into the air. It seemed he had dealt with Vlad's duplicates, and he now looked even more angry than before.
"You realize that I don't have to beat you, right?" He growled at the two half-ghosts, glaring pointedly at his younger self. "I just have to run out the clock until your entire life falls apart!" Danny peered fearfully over to the boiling vats of sauce, that had started to steam from the increased heat. His ghost-core jumped into his throat as he realized that Dan was right; the future ghost didn't have to defeat the two half-ghosts. He just had to keep them occupied until the Nasty Burger went up in flames!
A pink glow lit up in the corner of the younger halfa's vision, and the two half-ghosts were released from Dan's grip as he screeched in pain from the intense ghost-stinger shock. Red eyes glowed with hate as the ghost took a familiar deep breath.
"Look out!" Danny forcefully shoved the older ghost beside him, propelling them to some ground cover below.
A painfully loud, echoing roar filled the air, green waves of energy plowing down everything in their path. The two retreating half-ghosts were forcefully blown back into nearby structures by the ear-splitting wail.
Once the sound had drawn to a close, Dan floated over triumphantly, his fanged grin showing how proud he was of his new destructive attack.
"Do ya like it, Vladdie? I call it my Ghostly Wail." The black-haired ghost glared hatefully back at the speaker. "I'm afraid teenage-me here won't get that power until ten years from now. It's only real use is demolishing entire cities, after all."
With a simultaneous look to each other, two half-ghosts sprang forward and attacked in unison, knocking future-Danny back with alternate shots of pink and green.
The ghost from the future hit the asphalt, hissing angrily at his attackers. In front of their eyes, four more Dan's came into existence, all wearing the same expression of fury. Vlad and Danny followed in suit, and soon the air was filled with fighting duplicates.
One by one, each ghost popped out of existence, until only the three originals remained, facing each other across the concrete. The skirmish had not been in vain; Danny had a plan, and Dan had unknowingly gotten right into position.
"Get behind me." Danny almost seemed to growl to the older half-ghost beside him, green eyes lighting up in an anger that rivaled his future self's. "And cover your ears."
Vlad blinked in confusion at the strange request but moved to be behind the boy's lean, beat-up form, completely trusting in Phantom's order. Only a few dozen feet away, Dan was glaring ominously at the two half-ghosts, his hands glowing in preparation for his next attack.
Danny dug his boots into the road below and took the deepest breath he could muster. The weird feeling in the back of his throat grew and grew as the boy forced out the air as a Ghostly Wail, just as powerful as his future self's.
Unbelievably loud, almost painful noise began, traveling with visible green waves of energy. Nearby cars were blown back, flying through the air for several seconds before crashing into buildings and other cars. Foundations cracked, and lightposts fell over from the ear-splitting force. The earth seemed to shake as the wall of noise echoed through the air.
By the time the incredible sound had died out, Dan had been forcefully thrown into the asphalt dozens of feet away, with various debris and chunks of concrete surrounding him.
"That power!" The future ghost sputtered in shock, staring at his younger self as the two half-ghosts approached. "That's not possible! I don't get that power until ten years from now!" For the first time during the fight, an expression of fear was visible on the ghost's face.
"I guess, the future, isn't as set in stone as you think it is." Danny replied darkly, panting from his taxing assault from only seconds before, and he continued to glare despite his exhaustion. His mentor floated up behind, just as surprised as Dan was, but smiling proudly nonetheless.
Since the powerful ghost from the future was still down and distracted, Danny took another deep breath and repeated his new attack, the green energy blasting forward through the air for the third time that day in Amity Park.
At such a short distance, Dan received the brunt of the attack, and he was knocked back into an abandoned building with a loud crash. A large, dented car followed a similar path, and the second impact caused the walls and ceiling to cave in, hopefully giving the future ghost some considerable damage.
Phantom coughed violently as the loud Wail ended, dropping to his knees as twin rings of light forced him back into his human form. Vlad looked down concernedly at the tired half-ghost, but remained upright and ready to defend against Dan should he launch another offensive.
After a few seconds of heavy breathing, the boy rose to his feet again, struggling to pull out his empty Fenton Thermos. Vlad took it gently from his hands and aimed it at the slowly emerging Dan, who was shoving aside rubble and looking worse for wear. His flaming hair had nearly sputtered out, and his suit was ripped in many places, revealing burns and scrapes from both the battle and his unpleasant encounter with the building.
The ghost's evil red eyes shot his adversaries a final glare before his form was stretched out and sucked into the containment unit in a flash of blue.
"Your family can't escape!" The ghost growled pathetically. "And you're too late to save them!" His voice died out as Vlad capped the thermos tightly, glaring at the metal compartment, and by extension the vile ghost inside of it.
Gasping, the two halfas processed Dan's final words. Behind them, whistling steam shot up from the Nasty Burger.
"No!" Danny shouted, another bout of coughing following his exclamation. He shakily stood up, and a white hoop flickered to visibly, but died out just as quickly.
"No, don't overexert yourself." Vlad said sternly, several duplicates appearing beside him and zipping towards the restaurant. "Don't worry. I'll handle this."
The man peered in worry at the half-destroyed building in the distance, frowning as he sensed his duplicates having the same trouble as earlier. Dan's imprisonment inside the thermos hadn't loosened the ectoplasm's hold on the trapped humans, like Vlad had hoped.
Suddenly the man seemed to have an idea. "Danny! Your ice! You could freeze the vat before it explodes!"
Danny's light blue eyes widened in realization, and he frantically attempted transforming once again, just to witness the same result. He dug deep within him, searching anywhere for the familiar cold of his ice-core, pleading for his powers to save the ones he loved.
To his panicked dismay, it was nowhere to be found.
The currently-human boy felt his heartbeat racing in his chest as he futilely tried to access his fickle ice powers. He felt the older half-ghost beside him tense, and in haste the man prepared to fly off and join his copies in a last effort to save the trapped humans. But to his surprise, the boy's shaking hand halted him.
"Please... I don't want to lose you too." A rasping voice whispered, sounding defeated already.
Only a few fleeting seconds later, an orangey red explosion reflected in glistening, horrified blue eyes, and the two halfas were blown back from the force of the explosion. Despite his shock and deafness from the abrupt explosion, the red-eyed ghost wrapped the other in a protective embrace, swiftly turning them both intangible as shrapnel and debris sliced through the air.
As quickly as the explosion had happened, time slowed down to a halt. The fire became thousands of still, fragile tongues licking the sky, and ash and dust floated motionlessly. The two intangible forms were frozen mid-flight. In the blink of an eye, the chaos had been replaced with still, peaceful silence.
A glowing clock-like form winked into existence, and when it faded away, the Ghost of Time had materialized in its place.
The purple-cloaked ghost floated purposefully toward the motionless figures, and in a fluid motion, shining time medallions were placed around their necks. Simultaneous gasps of air broke the silence, and both half-ghosts flailed in alarm at the unusual feeling of being frozen in midair.
Once they had gathered their bearings, both sets of eyes widened at the glowing form in front of them.
"Clockwork?!" Danny and Vlad exclaimed in surprise, and then shared a confused and bewildered look with each other.
"It is an honor to meet your acquaintance." The older ghost-hybrid said breathlessly, dipping his head in an awkward half-bow.
"Thank you Vladimir, but there are no need for the formalities." The Ghost of Time answered sensibly, smiling a bit at the older halfa's dumbfounded expression. Switching into his child-like form, Clockwork looked to the blue-eyed boy, who's panicked expression showed that he had just begun to realize the gravity of the situation. "And hello again, Daniel. Do not worry, everything has gone according to plan." The Ghost of Time became his middle-aged form again and floated aside to reveal a group of floating figures, suspended in the air not unlike how the Danny and Vlad had been, and to the boy's relief they appeared completely unharmed.
Danny gasped upon seeing his family and friends, safe and sound. "You-you saved them!" His voice was filled emotion as tears began to gather in his eyes.
Clockwork appeared almost surprised when the human boy rushed forward and enveloped the Ancient in a hug. "Thank-you thank-you thank-you!" The boy pulled away after a few moments and wiped away the few escaping tears. He floated closer to his saved loved ones, smiling in relief at the sight.
He felt an arm drape over his shoulder, and shakily he allowed the only other existing halfa beside him to pull him close.
He had come so close to losing everyone he cared about, and he hadn't been strong enough to save them on his own. But, he didn't have to face it alone. His friends, Sam and Tucker, remained beside him every day fighting ghosts alongside and helping in any way they could. Vlad had been right by his side the whole time, too. And now Clockwork had been there for him, and the Master of Time had saved Danny's family and friends from destruction.
"The Observants watch time like they're watching a parade." Clockwork wisely began to explain, referring to the council of Observants that assisted him as he overlooked the time stream. "One thing after another, passing by in sequence right in front of them. I see the parade from above... all the twists and turns it might, or might not, take."
"You knew all of this was going to happen." Danny muttered quietly, smiling and shaking his head in disbelief. "All of it! Even this!" He gestured to his family and friends, still suspended in mid-air.
"Everything's the way it's supposed to be, and here we are, with you, a fourteen-year-old child, risking everything to save the people you care about. And also with you," the ghost addressed Vlad, "not related by blood, and not always appreciated as you should be, but still doing everything in your power to protect Danny and his family, no matter what it costs you."
The two half-ghosts smiled thankfully at the unexpected compliments, and then listened again as the Ghost of Time continued.
"The other Ancients and I have been watching the two of you closely for some time now." The Ghost of Time switched into his oldest form, complete with a long, glowing white beard. "You both have great power and a huge responsibility on your shoulders. You are the connection between the worlds, the ones in the middle that have the ability to testify for both ghosts and humans alike."
Danny and Vlad shared a silent, awestruck look at the Ancient's words.
"As you are probably aware, you are both gifted with immense power, and it is very important that you remain devoted to protecting both the Earth and the Ghost Zone from whatever may pose a threat. And so far, the other Ancients and I have not been disappointed by your efforts." The ghost nodded contentedly to the quiet forms in front of him, simultaneously becoming his middle-aged form once again. "But of course, we will continue to keep an eye on you two." The ghost winked and morphed into his youngest form.
"Time in!" Before either of the two half-ghosts could respond, the three forms were swallowed in a wall of light. They opened their eyes to see Mr. Lancer's classroom, frozen in time during the morning of the C.A.T.
"You've given everyone else in your life a second chance... why not you?" The Ghost of Time asked with a wise smile and handed the test answers to the boy in front of him.
Danny smiled gratefully at the Ancient, before he was frozen in time just like the rest of his classmates.
"He is destined for great things." Clockwork said aloud, once only the Ghost of Time and eldest half-ghost remained aware.
Vlad nodded in agreement.
"Sometimes I worry that I'm not doing the right thing, by training him." The halfa explained with a sigh. "He deserves more than what I can give."
"Daniel does not need a ghost that may be more skilled in his abilities." Clockwork paused, a wise twinkle glinting in his eyes. "He needs a ghost he can trust, and who trusts him in return. He needs you, Vladimir. Do not be discouraged; you're doing just fine."
The black-haired ghost smiled gratefully in response, waiting a few seconds before replying. "Thank you, for everything. On both of our behalves."
The Ancient nodded understandingly to the remaining halfa, and with a wave of the cloaked ghost's hand, the two ghosts were teleported to the front of the school, where Vlad could be when time started up again.
"Will we get to see you again?" Vlad asked the Ghost of Time with a hopeful tone, interjecting before the ghost would let time run its course again.
The ghost's knowing smile was the only answer the half-ghost needed.
"Time in!"
The mid-morning sun shone brightly in the sky, signifying that time had indeed been reversed to the prior morning. Vlad lounged contentedly on the school's front steps, waiting to ensure that everything turned out all right after the biggest fiasco since Pariah Dark.
Luckily for him, the streets and sidewalks seemed to be abandoned, except for the occasional passing car. He couldn't imagine how many strange looks he would be getting if people had been around; it wasn't very often that a billionaire such as himself was spotted in small towns like Amity Park.
He was startled out of his thoughts by the distinct sound of a door opening. He peered around, and the sight of a familiar black-haired teenager confirmed his suspicions.
"Done already?"
"Not exactly. I have to come back next week for the make-up test." Danny explained sheepishly and sat down on the school steps beside the other halfa. "If Clockwork hadn't interfered, I may have actually cheated. Ugh, that was a lot to go through just because I almost made one stupid mistake."
"Lucky for you, the Ancient Ghost of Time seems to favor you." Vlad teased and ruffled the boy's messy black hair. "You learned a valuable lesson, right?"
"Yes; cheating ultimately leads to everyone you love dying in an explosion caused by a huge fight with your evil future self and-" he was silenced by a sarcastic look from the man beside him. Danny chuckled, "All right, maybe that wasn't the point. I won't even think about cheating on anything, ever again."
Vlad smiled approvingly at the boy next to him, before they were interrupted by a certain orange-haired sister, who was the next to emerge from the school.
"Vlad Masters? I didn't think you'd be here." Jazz commented curiously upon seeing the billionaire.
"Oh, hello Jasmine." The man greeted. "I thought I'd drop by. I figured that the famous 'cheesehead-former-mentor' had better be here to make sure a certain student of his doesn't become a problem child." Danny rolled his eyes and elbowed the man beside him in annoyance.
Jazz's eyes widened almost comically, and she looked back and forth between the two half-ghosts. "H-how did you know that?"
Vlad waved it off and stood up. "It's not important. I'd better go, I have important... business-y things to do."
"See ya later then, Fruitloop."
"Likewise, Badger." The man looked around cautiously for any other witnesses. Upon seeing none, he swiftly morphed into his ghost half and disappeared in a swirl of pink light.
Jazz simply stared in major confusion at the events that had just unfolded before her eyes.
"What's wrong?" Danny grinned at his dumbfounded sister. "Hey, we know you already know. I got that note with your handwriting, and your headband, remember?"
"It-it worked...?" She wondered aloud. "But I just... and I... what?!"
The boy laughed a bit at his sister's reaction.
"So... how long have you known?" He questioned once his sister had gotten over her mass confusion and sat down in Vlad's place.
She shrugged sheepishly. "Since the spectra thing. I didn't want to tell you until you wanted to tell me. It's your secret, after all."
"Well, it's our secret now." He grinned at his sister, and Jazz pulled him into a brief hug.
"Don't think this means I'll stop being meddling and overprotective." The teenage psychiatrist warned her brother, meriting a chuckle from the halfa beside her.
"I wouldn't have it any other way."
Ahhh the feels... I hope it was worth the wait! I realize I could have changed up the plotline a bit more, but oh well. More chapters are in the works! I'm not making any promises about when the next update will be... But stay tuned! I have plenty in store! :)
As always, thanks so much for reading, and I hope you enjoyed!
-Specter14