The scars on his arm were vanishing quickly, quicker than expected, but that just meant he was given a clean bill of health faster and easily discharged the next day.
While his arm was still bandaged where the scars were the worst, he was happy to be going home, it would give him more space to think, and an opportunity to use the portal to find Clockwork. The priority was going to be remembering what happened before he had woken up back in the past, after that it would be about formulating a plan to fix whatever it was that had sent him back in time.
He rested his head against the glass of the Fenton RV as his mom drove them home.
"Are you sure you're feeling okay Danny? We can still go back and get you checked out some more." Maddie said.
"I'm fine mom, just tired, and they already ran a bunch of tests on me." he said as he looked over at his mom. "I just have a lot to think about."
"Well, if you want to talk, I'm here." Maddie said as she glanced over at him again and gave him a reassuring smile.
"I know mom, I appreciate it." Danny smiled.
"Did you… did you see anything in the portal?" she asked curiously, Danny had confirmed he was fine after all, and she was a scientist.
"No… not really, I was also in too much pain to really look around, and it just looked like the inside of the portal, I wasn't in the portal, I was just in the energy vortex that creates the portal, so no, I didn't see any ghosts." he said with a shrug.
"Energy vortex? I didn't realize you paid so much attention to our inventions." Maddie said surprised. "But you did mention a ghost when you came out of the portal, then again you were a bit delirious."
"In the portal no… I was very confused and in pain after the accident… I don't really know what I meant. Sorry mom." he said with a weak smile.
"Well, I suppose that makes sense." Maddie nodded as they pulled up in front of Fenton Works and she parked. "Let me know if you need anything sweetie."
"I will. Thanks." he said with a smile before unbuckling and slipping out of the RV, heading up to his room and collapsing on the bed. "I've got about five minutes before Jazz comes in to check on me." he mumbled to himself. "So… before then…" he sat up and tried to transform, the light bounced around his fingertips before vanishing. "This used to be as easy as breathing." he frowned. As he stood and closed his eyes tightly, focusing on his energy core and bringing it out.
He felt the transformation wash over him like falling through a pool of ice, too cold and burning all at the same time. His heart stopped as did his breath and he gasped, touching his chest as he opened his eyes.
"Well… that was harder than expected," he said softly. "I forgot how uncomfortable this used to make me feel." he sighed and floated above his bed, folding his legs under him and closing his eyes, focusing on his ghost core and mentally examining it as he floated.
"Hmmm…" he frowned and considered what he was feeling. "I didn't realize it was so small when I first got my powers… nor did I realize how out of sync my human and ghost half were… are…" he gasped as he lost his transformation and fell to the bed. "This is going to be annoying."
He looked down at his arm, the scars hand mostly vanished everywhere except the palm of his hand and up his wrist, he knew they would completely fade by the next day, but it was still strange to him that he was back in his old body, dealing with the same old power crises he hadn't had to worry about for nearly eight years.
"I used to be so… much more powerful… this stinks." he sighed and shook his head. "Using my powers in either form was so simple… maybe I can stabilize my two halves faster this time… Clockwork can probably help… or Frostbite… or someone." he sighed and shook his head before standing and pacing the room. He flickered in and out of visibility and tripped as his foot went through the floorboards.
"I so do not miss this." he said as he caught himself before he could completely sink through the floorboards. "Do I tell Sam and Tucker about the future? Do I tell Jazz?" he asked himself.
"Tell me what?"Jazz asked as he entered, knocking on the door only after she had opened it. Danny looked at her then shook his head.
"Nothing for now… It's complicated and I'll sound completely nuts." he sighed and shook his head.
"Well… even if you do, I'll let it slide given you've just had a near death experience." She said with a smile before approaching and helping him up. "But in all seriousness little brother… are you doing okay?"
"I'm fine… or I will be soon… I just…" he sighed and walked to his bed, sitting on the edge, before gesturing to Jazz to sit. "Is there any chance you remember anything… about me… and ghosts?" He asked, testing the waters. Perhaps it wasn't only he who had come back to the past.
"Danny, we both know ghosts aren't really… that accident must have really rattled you up, huh?" She said as she came to sit by him and put a hand on her shoulder.
"You don't know the half of it." he sighed. "I was hoping you did though… it would make things a bit easier." he thought for moment before looking over at Jazz who was studying him closely. He frowned then looked out the window.
"Hey Jazz… hypothetically if you had knowledge about the future, what would you do? Would you share it? Would you keep it to yourself? What if you could change things for the better?" he asked.
"Strange question… let me think." Jazz said as she considered it. "I suppose if you act according to altruism… the moral value of an individual's actions depends solely on the impact of those actions on other individuals, regardless of the consequences for the actor." she recited. "And according to Noblesse Oblige, those with the power to help others have a moral obligation to do so. Therefore, if you have the knowledge and ability to change things for the better you should, regardless of the consequences you may incur personally." she said then paused and thought.
"Then again, there is the butterfly effect to consider, however, it's not necessarily true that the ripple effect of changing time will have a negative effect. If we think that the universe has a balance of good and bad, perhaps changing the future to prevent one evil may create a greater evil down the road. Then again… this is all hypothetical and we can't really know anything." Jazz shrugged. "That was an unexpectedly deep question Danny… why are you thinking about this? Especially when you just had a near death experience?"
"Again it's complicated…" He sighed. "So… hypothetically… if I was the 21 year old version of myself trapped in my fourteen year old self's body and not entirely sure why or what to do… what would you advise?"
"That's an oddly specific question… but I'll humor you." she said with a nod as she thought before looking over at him. "Well I guess to begin with I'd pity you, you have to go through puberty all over again."
"Great… hadn't considered that." Danny frowned and sighed. Jazz chuckled and shook her head.
"As for what you should do… find out why this happened? If it can't be fixed then I'd advise you to seek out the answers to what you should do yourself." Jazz said as she thought for a moment. "If you really did have knowledge of the future, I think only you, or someone with the same knowledge of the future, would have the knowledge to know what to do about this situation." Jazz said as she looked over at Danny, considering him for a moment.
"Yeah… I kinda came to the conclusion myself… I just… I needed an outside perspective." Danny sighed and hung his head. "As if I didn't have enough going on when I'm fourteen with high school and the ghost portal and ghosts."
"You're sounding a little nuts after all… then again, near death experiences do strange things to people. Let me know if you want to talk." She said with an encouraging smile.
"Thanks Jazz… but for now I just need a little space to think. I don't think I've said it enough, but I appreciate you." he said with a smile before pulling her into a hug.
"Okay… you're definitely acting weird." Jazz said, shocked by the hug. "But I appreciate you and love you too." She said before returning the hug. "I guess I'll give you some space to think now. Take care little brother." she smiled, kissing his forehead before leaving the room. Danny smiled and waved her off before sighing and laying back.
"I don't think I'm strong enough right now to make it to Clockwork's lair." He sighed. "He has to know what happened and why I'm here." he said as he stared at the stars stuck to his ceiling and thought about everything he had been through and everything he would have to go through again. For now his biggest concerns were Freakshow and Vlad, there were plenty of other enemies along the way, but he was confident in his ability to beat them again. Freakshow and Vlad were a different story, Vlad for his conniving ability to adapt to any situation and Freakshow for the mind control orb he most certainly still had in his possession now that he was back in the past. He sighed and closed his eyes as he sat on the bed.
For now meditating would have to be the way to go, it would at least help his strength of mind when it came to Freakshow and hopefully he'd be able to synchronize his human and ghost half through it, if he was lucky anyway. A lot of his powers had evolved in intense emotional states, even if he wasn't able to get his full power back, hopefully he could stabilize himself before school started in a week.
Danny smiled as he saw Sam and Tucker coming up the stairs. His folks had insisted on him resting for a few days, but had finally given in to Sam and Tucker's requests to see him, it helped that Danny had been pressuring them too.
He was now scar free and had managed to stabilize his core some, enough that he wasn't randomly passing through things; getting his core that stable had taken months the first time, then again he didn't know what he was doing back then. He still wasn't confident in his ability to navigate the Ghost Zone without changing back, but he could probably manage to fly to Tucker's or Sam's if they hadn't been given permission to visit, but luckily they had been able to visit.
He smiled as he saw them come up the stairs and ushered them into his room, receiving hugs from both before he closed the door, putting his chair in front of it to keep anyone from walking in right away.
"I'm so glad to see you guys." he said with a smile as he crossed his legs and sat on the floor.
"You're looking a lot better too." Sam smiled. "Um… are you feeling better?"
"I'm getting back to normal… or an approximation of it." He said with a shrug as he leaned back against the wall and sighed.
"Are you sure you're feeling alright… you kinda screamed like you were dying." Tucker frowned.
"Well.. I kind of was." Danny shook his head and looked at the ceiling before steeling his nerves. He needed to explain things, not just his ghost half, but surely his best friends would notice he was acting strange. It was something not just being half-ghost could explain away.
"What? You're clearly alive." Tucker said and poked Danny's arm.
"Well… looks like it doesn't it." Danny said before speaking again. "But trust me it's more complicated than you think." he said. "First off I'm sure you have questions about the portal accident… and what happened. Especially because my ghost half looks different than me. We should probably get that explanation out of the way before I start getting into the really weird stuff."
"Ghost half? That's not the really weird stuff?" Tucker asked as he frowned at Danny. Danny laughed nervously and shrugged.
"Trust me Tuck, it only gets weirder from here on out. Especially with what I'm going to say after we get the whole being half-ghost thing over with."
"Okay, so let's talk about Nega-Danny." Sam said. "Or rather Ghost Danny… What exactly happened to you in the portal? Why do you even have this whole ghost half?"
"Long story, the ghost portal basically infused me with ecto-energy, completely altering my body and creating my ghost half. Well I can still become human, as you can see." he said as he gestured to himself. "But my ghost half was very unstable at the beginning, that's why I phased through your hands when you tried to help me up… and why I passed out so quickly. If my core wasn't so unstable it would have only taken me a few hours to recover given my enhanced healing factor… If I wasn't so unstable my parents wouldn't have needed to find out about the accident…" He trailed off. "I guess there is a lot to go over with my new half-ghost status, lets start with any more questions."
"How did you figure all of this out?" Tucker said. "Ghosts? Ecto-energy? Human and ghost half? It's a lot to take in. Even more confusing is how you've accepted all of this in just a couple of days, let alone figured all of this out."
"For starters, my parents are ghost hunters… but also… this is where things get weird." Danny admitted as he ran a hand through his hair. "I'm… kinda from the future?" he said tentatively. There wasn't a way to ease into that conversation, so he just decided to say it. Sam and Tucker exchanged looks then frowned.
"So you're from the future and you're half ghost? Are you sure you're not possessed? How do we know you are even Danny?" Sam asked suspiciously.
"Second grade, Ricky Marsh." Danny said, looking at Tucker and smirking, there was more he could have said to prove himself, but the throwing up in Sam's lunchbox incident had obviously worked well before.
"Yup, he's Danny, no need to discuss that anymore." Tucker said a little too fast. Danny laughed and then sighed smiling at his friend.
"Okay, I'm not going to miss reliving highschool but I did miss holding that over your head." he smiled at Tucker. "Listen though, in the future we've been through a lot, and a lot of strange things… me coming back in time and somehow merging with my younger self… it is admittedly one of the stranger things that has happened." Danny looked down at his hands for a moment then back up.
"Um, if you are from the future… why tell us when it would make us more suspicious about if you really are Danny." Sam said, not entirely convinced.
"I'm telling you guys because you were there at the accident, you saw what happened, and what I turned into after coming out of that portal. Plus you guys are my best friends, you'd know that I was acting different, and just having the accident wasn't enough to explain it. Also… I thought about keeping the whole being from the future thing from you guys but… I just couldn't bring myself to do it." he admitted. "You're my best friends, I didn't want to keep it a secret from you, especially after all we've been through together."
"Okay… say we believe you." Sam said, her brow furrowing. "Which, I don't see any reason why you'd lie… but how did this happen in the first place? To clarify, how did you somehow come back to the past?"
"I've been trying to figure that out myself. I can't remember… The last thing I remember from the future was spring break… Something must have happened then but I just… it's a complete memory blank. Eventually I'll go visit Clockwork, but my powers are still finicky." He frowned and looked at his hand forcing it to turn invisible then back, it took more effort than he remembered. "I can probably handle the first few ghosts that pop up… but an extended trip through the Ghost Zone… I'm not quite confident that I can manage that."
"You're starting to make less and less sense. Ghost Zone? Clockwork? Powers are pretty cool though." Sam said as she pointed at his hand. "What else can you do?"
"Right now?" Danny frowned. "Change forms, intangibility, invisibility, flying… maybe a ghost ray or being able to overshadow people… Not sure how many of my former powers I can recover… I'm basically at the starting line again… my mind might know how to use these powers… but my body isn't able to keep up."
"So if you came from the future, probably because of something bad that you need to prevent… why can't you remember what it was that made you come back or how?" Tucker asked.
"I don't know." Danny sighed. "That's the most frustrating part… perhaps it has something to do with the way I came back… or something about being back in the body of my fourteen year old self… or the fact I came back in the middle of the portal accident… I don't know. That's why I need to recover enough strength to go see Clockwork… he's a powerful ghost that can control time." he said, tacking on the explanation for Sam and Tucker's benefit.
"So… you think this ghost… Clockwork… had something to do with you coming back in time?" Sam said as she thought. "How far back in time did you come? How old were you before coming back?" she asked, wondering how much older Danny had become, he still looked like himself, and seemed to mostly act like himself, but he was still a bit strange, more mature. She thought of the implications and frowned.
"Um… Honestly I wasn't planning on telling you how old I was…" He said as he rubbed the back of his neck before shaking his head and switching topics. "But even if I can't remember it, I have this feeling that Clockwork was involved… I don't know how to explain it, but I'm certain he had something to do with it. I'm not saying that because he had time powers it just… it's not quite a memory, but this feeling in my core that I had been talking to him right before I came back. I'm still a bit confused about the whole thing honestly."
"Soooo… are you like 50 or something inside that body?" Tucker asked, switching the topic immediately back to what he was trying to avoid.
"Oh gods no!" Danny shook his head then rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I really would rather not say… I'm here now and fourteen again, what matters most is preventing whatever future led to me coming back to the past. If Clockwork interfered this much, then it must have been something seriously bad… world ending bad."
"Why won't you tell us? I thought you said we were your best friends? Why won't you say?" Sam frowned, still pushing the issue.
"Because it's awkward." Danny said as he buried his face in his hands. "My body is fourteen but my mind is an adult's and I'm still affected by these stupid teenage hormones. I have to go through puberty again and then I have to worry about High School again. I had graduated High School… Let's just say I was in College when this happened. I'm not telling you my exact age." he said.
"College… wow." Sam said, thinking about it for a second. "Did we all go to the same College?" she asked hopefully.
"Spoilers, not sharing that. I'm not going to be sharing future knowledge until it becomes relevant." Danny said. "Until I can sort this out with Clockwork, it's safer to keep most knowledge of the future to myself. If I need to share something to keep you or others safe, I will, but don't go asking for lottery numbers or future dating partners or anything like that… plus I didn't exactly memorize lottery numbers. I had no idea this would happen."
"You're no fun. The real Danny would tell." Tucker said as he folded his arms.
"I am the real Danny!" Danny rolled his eyes. "Just future Danny."
"Future Danny?" Sam thought. "Then… What happened to present Danny? Is he in the future now or… did you possess yourself?"
"I don't know actually… but I do get the feeling that both the past and present version of me have merged into one… I do remember the recent past as if it happened recently… but I also remember the future as if it was my past. I feel like myself… but also like my future self… I'm pretty sure I'm not overshadowing myself and that I'm somehow both future and present me… or present and past me?" He groaned and held his head.
"That is confusing… but… I guess it's better and a bit less weird than the future you possessing the current you… still weird though." Sam frowned as she looked him over.
"I've only been back in the past for a few days now… but I think the two versions will eventually merge a bit more, making me feel less weird about being an adult in a child's body." he said as he laced his fingers together to emphasize his point. "I'm already feeling less out of sorts than I did in the hospital."
The three of them sat in silence for a moment as they considered it. Danny hoped that he was right about the two versions of him completely merging. It would definitely make things less awkward in the future. Sam and Tucker had similar thoughts, wondering what else future Danny had been through and when he would share with them, but also wondering how different future Danny would be to their current or former friend.
Danny sighed and looked down at his hand, wondering if he could focus his powers enough to create a ghost ray by the end of the week, and wondering how long it would take to regain his former strength. His hand sparked a bit and Tucker noticed frowning before speaking.
"Can we circle back to the ghost powers? What did you mean by changing forms? Is it the way you looked when you came out of the portal?" He asked as he looked down at Danny's hand curious about his powers.
"Yeah…" Danny glanced at the door to make sure his parents weren't going to come in and he stood up, focusing on switching forms, a ring of ghostly light appeared around his middle then split, showing the black and white jumpsuit underneath. Sam and Tucker gasped before the transformation failed, the light retreating and leaving Danny fully human. Danny frowned and looked down at himself.
"That was anticlimactic." Tucker said with a laugh trying to ease the tension. Danny scoffed and folded his arm as he thought.
"I'm having trouble focusing my energy, my human half and my ghost half aren't very well synchronized. Oh right! I had a battle cry back then, it helped me focus my power and visualize the transformation… Going Ghost!" He said, falling back into old habits easily enough, the transformation completed without a hitch this time, the battle cry helping direct his change as Danny smiled and floated above his friends.
"Whoa!" Sam said, standing and looking him over. "That's seriously cool…" she said with a smile.
"Going ghost? Seems a bit on the nose." Tucker teased. "But super powers… definitely cool. Plus with the power to change your appearance you don't even need a domino mask or need to worry about finding a nearby phone booth."
"The change in my appearance definitely helps with the whole secret identity thing… though not many people would even guess that a human could be half-ghost… except those who have already seen a half-ghost or are a half-ghost." he said, folding his legs and floating only and inch above the ground, bobbing slightly as his hair moved with an unfelt breeze.
"You mean you're not the only half-ghost?" Sam asked in shock, somehow processing the information amid everything else that had been revealed.
"Oops… spoilers… right now there is one more, I'll tell you about him later when he becomes more relevant." Danny promised before changing back into a human and landing on the carpet with a soft thump.
"No going human?" Tucker teased. Danny knew it was meant to be a jab at him, but decided to explain why he didn't need to say something like that to him anyway.
"Right now my human half has priority, it's easier to change back into a human than it is to change into a ghost, hence the battle cry." Danny smiled. "In the future when my two halves are balanced, the battle cry is less helpful, but it remains a habit for a long time. I do miss that feeling… the way my two halves were in perfect synch and it didn't take more than a thought to change back and forth." He paused and looked away from his friends and down at his hands before speaking a bit softly, more to himself than to them.
"I hate this… I hate this discord between my two halves, how difficult it is to control my powers and how weak I am!" He then buried his face in his hands and groaned. "I hate being a teenager and how angry and angsty these hormones make me feel… Not that my brain was fully developed in the future according to Jazz… but still… my emotions felt more stable than this."
"This is quite a bit to take in at once… but we'll be there for you Danny." Sam smiled and took his hand. "Even if you're an old man now." She teased.
"Thanks Sam… I know you will… you already have been." he smiled and looked between the two of them before sighing and running a hand through his hair. "Sorry… my emotional state is a rollercoaster… I didn't mean to ramble about my stupid feelings."
"Nah, feelings aren't stupid, and hormones are a pain." Tucker said as he waved Danny off. "Plus I've got a better idea of how old you were if future Jazz said your brain wasn't fully developed."
"Speaking of Jazz, that brings me to my next problem… do I tell my family about what the accident did to me? I know Jazz finds out a few months from now… but… my parents don't find out until the end of junior year. Should I tell them? Should I hold off a bit? What if they try to fix me? I need these powers to stop the ghost that will come through the Ghost Portal… but if I don't tell them they'll be attacking my ghost half until I do." He sighed.
"I don't know Danny… Parents don't understand… they don't listen… all they want is to mold you into the perfect little dress wearing princess!" Sam snarled. Danny paused and laughed.
"That's your parents Sam… your issues and your teen angst… As far as my parent's go they won't be shoving me into a dress anytime soon." He said with a smile before sighing. "Revealing myself so early… and this whole time regression thing… I don't know how these factors will change their opinion of me."
"I say take it up with that time ghost… Keep it a secret until then." Tucker said as he glanced at the door wondering if there were any parental figures lurking, but according to Danny they were pretty obsessed with the portal now that it was working. Danny sighed as he considered Tucker's suggestion.
"Yeah… I was thinking that too… Maybe I'll tell Jazz about the whole time travel or time regression thing once she finds out I'm Danny Phantom on her own." he frowned and considered the different routes he may take in telling his family.
"Danny Phantom? That's a great name." Sam smiled, "It suits you."
"Oh… yeah… we all brainstormed some other names together after the first few ghosts I fought… we kept Danny because it ended up being a bit hard for you guys not to yell my name when I was in ghost form and getting my butt kicked… Phantom is a bit self explanatory." he shrugged.
"We have a good naming sense." Tucker smiled.
"Better than the media… I'm probably going to spend another few months of my life being called invis-o-bill." He grumbled.
"Now that's the truly strange and disturbing part of this conversation." Sam laughed, Danny and Tucker joined in and Danny smiled at his friends.
"I'm really glad you guys believe me… I figured you would, given our past but… the thought did cross my mind that you might think I'm crazy." Danny admitted. He had prepared for that future as well and how he would convince them. He needed his friends by his side if he was going to stop whatever was coming for them.
"Meh, you've always been a bit crazy… though I am jealous that you got to see our future." Tucker teased, Sam punched him in the shoulder at the comment.
"Tucker! You're not crazy Danny… Plus I'd like to think I have more of an open mind than most… plus I trust you, even if what you're saying sounds strange or even impossible." Sam smiled a slight blush on her cheeks.
"Thanks…" Danny said with a nod, then he looked down at his hands, so much smaller than he remembered, he hadn't realized exactly how scrawny he was when he was fourteen until he came back. "I appreciate that." He smiled as he looked up at his friends again.
"We're your best friends Danny. We got your back!" Tucker agreed, rubbing his arm where Sam had punched him.
"Thank you… really… I -" Danny held his head as a sudden wave of dizziness washed over him, he leaned back against the wall and his brow furrowed.
"Dude… you okay?" Tucker asked. "Is this a ghost thing?" He worried.
"Just… dizzy… don't know…" Danny closed his eyes, but the room still felt like it was spinning, his fingers dug into the carpet, he felt like he might fall off the surface of the world if he didn't, his ears began to ring… no… someone was screaming. He opened his eyes and tried to stand, to find the person who was screaming, but it was no use, he promptly fell over, his hand clamping over his mouth as nausea forced his lunch up his throat. He swallowed it back, his body trembling.
"Help… them… the screaming… I have to… help." He choked out as he tried to crawl to the door.
"No one is screaming Danny." Sam said, Tucker agreed and worried. Danny groaned and they reaching for him, intending to help him into bed, but before they could Danny collapsed, his eyes closing as a memory trickled in.