Danny woke up to the sound of beeping and humming. He opens his eyes to a stark white room with monitors and screens surrounding him. Fenton glances down to see an IV sticking out of his forearm. Did he mention that he hated hospitals? He was sore but was feeling much better from earlier. The teen swore he had never experienced so much pain in his life. Not to mention his pride was wounded; he got his ass kicked by Dash… again. Just when he thought all the bullying crap was behind him.

The halfa scans around the room and sees a sleeping figure in a chair near the door. It was Sam; he didn't even notice her till now. Danny watched her chest move up and down for a moment, admiring her beauty until he realized what he was staring at. Danny blushes and averts his eyes innocently. He assumed she didn't get much sleep last night. Sam truly was a vampire when it came to sleeping. He didn't know how she did it so efficiently, he'd have to ask her for tips later.

Danny manages to sit up in bed, not without a couple groans, and reaches for his phone that laid on the nightstand. He scrolled through the missed calls and texts from Jazz. God she was such a nag. What caught his attention was a message left by an unknown number about 30 minutes ago.

It read: Wanna know who shot ya?

Danny replied; Who is this?

Danny glanced at Sam, who was stirred awake by his small movements. She was a light sleeper to say the least. The goth girl opens her eyes to Danny who was blankly staring at her. Sam blushed underneath the intense gaze of her friend.

"Wanna take a picture? It'll last longer," she teased with a nervous laugh.

"Yeah…"

"What?"

Danny shook his head and stuttered out, "O-oh I mean a picture WOULD last longer."

Things were always awkward between the teens. Both wanted to be more than friends, but each was equally scared of taking the next step; in fear of ruining their already close friendship. Though neither of them knew that's what the other thought.

"I'm surprised that Jazz isn't here right now."

"Oh she is, but she went to grab your parents in the lobby," Sam answers. " She seemed pretty adamant about filing legal action for Dash's assault on you," she added.

Danny put his face in his hands and sighed loudly. She was always being so damn extra. He'd have to clear everything up with her once she showed up. Speaking of the devil, the door burst open to reveal the full Fenton family. This was going to be tough. His mom immediately rushed over to his side and threw her arms around his neck. Jack patted his son's shoulder, assuring him they'd get justice for this attack. Sam was again explaining what happened to Jazz and her parents.

"I am definitely going to have a talk with Dash's mother and Mr. Lancer. This is ridiculous," Madeline declared as she pulled away.

Jack nodded in agreement with his wife and wanted to seek justice for his son.

"No no no!" Daniel shouted angrily.

"Danny…" Maddie said.

"You got it all wrong. I hit him first!"

"Danny, it doesn't matter who hit who first. He literally put you in the hospital!" Jazz fumed.

"I don't blame him! He doesn't have a dad anymore because of me."

The room got extremely quiet with mention of last night's events. Maddie glanced down at her son with sympathetic eyes; he must be blaming himself for this whole mess and it's making him delusional.

"Danny, I know that last night was a horrible night for Dash but it was bad for everyone. He's not the only one who lost someone and definitely shouldn't be taking out his anger on you," she explains slowly.

"You don't understand…"

"Danny…"

"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND! I WAS SUPPOSED TO BE THERE FOR THEM AND I WASN'T!"

Maddie was about to respond when Jack put his arm around her and shook his head. There was no point in stressing Danny out even further, it was clear that he was going through something.

"We'll leave you to your thoughts, son. Just know that we're there for you," Jack comforted.

He led his wife and daughter out of the room. Sam gave Danny a sad glance, wanting to say something but decided against it. She followed suit and closed the door behind her. Danny sighed after watching them leave. He had done it again; pushing the people he loved most away. But he was sick and tired of people telling him how he felt. They weren't there and yet they insisted on pushing the blame off of him. Danny knew he was at fault; he could've done more. But his friends and family don't see it as that. They think he's just blaming himself because of survivor's guilt.

Danny froze up and he'd have to live with it; that was part of the responsibility of being a hero. One must take the fall for things even when it's not their fault. Heroes are blamed more for failing than the villains are for succeeding. It wasn't fair but since when has life ever been fair? He would apologize to Dash for failing to save his father, even if that meant turning the other cheek and receiving another beating. A buzzing sound caught Danny off-guard and he glanced down at his lit-up phone screen.

Meet me at Phantom Park, the message read.

Danny was curious about this stranger requesting to meet him. The number didn't seem familiar to him and he was pretty sure the area code wasn't from around Amity Park. He wondered who this mysterious person was. He remembered the first text asking if he wanted to know who shot him. What a bizarre question considering the only people around were him, the ghost, and cops. Two of the parties are not even on this Earth anymore. Maybe it was someone who saw the video and had info on who the ghost was. Fenton was confused on why they didn't simply go to the police with the information they had. Why speak to him? Another thought lingered in his brain, it was a trap.

Whatever it was interested him enough to want to go to their desired location. If Danny was gonna go after this guy then he'd need all the info he could get. The only lead so far was this stranger. Danny pulled the IV out of his arm and unstrapped the heart rate monitor wires from his chest. He swung his legs over the bedside and jumped to his feet. Fenton had to stick his arms out to balance himself. He was still a little shaky. Once the teen regained his equilibrium, he turned towards the window. Danny was in one of the newly built hospitals in town, he could tell from how high up he was. It was a state-of-the-art medical facility made to heal and research ectoplasmic beings. Not many ghosts come through here but plenty of humans do.

Danny prayed to whoever was listening that he would stay afloat. He didn't feel terrible but the teen could tell he wasn't 100 percent. Danny tried transforming into Phantom with no luck. Oh come on, gimme a break! He tried again and the transformation was cut abruptly like it was short-circuiting. What the hell is happening with his powers? It's like he's back to day one again. Danny closes his eyes and focuses on changing forms. Everything around him moved in slow motion as he felt the power circulate through his veins.

Danny uttered his famous line, "Going ghost!"

A flash of white signaled the start of the legendary transformation. The snow colored circle slowly traveled over his whole body. First, his clothes changed into the noir jumpsuit marked "DP" on the chest; his hands and feet covered by silver boots and gloves. Then, the teen's black locks were replaced with silver strands. And finally, the icing on the cake, his glowing green eyes. Danny tested the waters by phasing his hand through the bed. Sweet he thought as his whole body went intangible.

Phantom looked to the window and slipped through it with ease. He stood on the metal windowsill and glanced over the edge. He was at least five stories up. There was a time when he had a fear of heights, but that has long been conquered ever since the incident that gave him his powers. Danny felt a soft breeze on his face as he glanced out at the warm sun. He stepped off the edge and instead of succumbing to gravity; the teen stayed afloat in the air.

Now that's what I'm talking about, like riding a bike, baby. Danny wasted no time and rocketed off towards Phantom Park, leaving the hospital and everyone else in the dust. This is where he belonged: soaring above the clouds with the wind at his back towards the far sun. Nobody can tell him anything up here. In the sky the world was your oyster; he truly felt a sense of freedom in the air.

As fast as the trip started, it was over. Danny could see the approaching park in the distance. The large statue of his likeness in the middle made it easy to spot. Phantom landed gently and looked around the empty park. Usually there was a plethora of townsfolk enjoying the beautiful recreational grounds. The halfa made his way down the cobblestone pathway to the bed of flowers where the ten foot bronze statue stood. He remembered bragging about this to his friends last year. And now it didn't seem so remarkable. As of right now, it felt… undeserved.

"Hero of Amity Park," he read the plaque aloud. "Yeah what a big lie that turned out to be."

"About time you arrived," a familiar deep voice called out.

Danny spun around, sure that he didn't see anyone when he landed. A man sat on the bench reading a newspaper. When he put it down Danny immediately recognized the lightning scar over his left eye. He has the same smile as him too! No doubt about it; this had to be Clockwork. The ghost of time was only ever witnessed in his ghost form but unbeknownst to Danny, he had many other forms he could take if he so pleased. Clockwork's devious smile got even wider when he saw that the boy realized who he was.

The man tossed aside the newspaper and stood up. He was a pale faced man with long black hair that fell to his shoulders. Clockwork had on a black turtleneck wool sweater, a pair of dark blue jeans, and dark brown loafers. He looked like any ordinary guy, except for the sweater in 70 degree weather. Clockwork swung a small black cane in his hand that Danny could only assume doubled as his scythe.

"Clockwork," the teen finally admitted.

"You would be correct, but in this form you can call me Charles."

Danny scoffed, "I'm definitely not calling you Charles."

Clockwork smirked and continued, "suit yourself."

"Are you the one who called me out here?" Danny said, switching the subject.

"No I'm here for a Sunday stroll in the park" Clockwork replied sarcastically.

"I can do without the sarcasm…If you haven't figured it out already; I'm a little bit on edge."

"Sure, your little scuffle with the Don would leave anyone anxious."

Danny raised his eyebrow in confusion of the unfamiliar name.

Clockwork sighed at the boy's obliviousness and restated himself, "The ghost that you fought last night is called the Don."

"How do you know about that?!"

"I am the ghost of time, I know about everything there is, was-"

"Okay okay I get it. Forget I said anything," Danny cut in, not wanting to hear the ghost's lecture.

"Consider yourself lucky; not many people survive an encounter with the infamous mobster."

"Lucky? 12 people died that night! There's nothing lucky about it!" Danny fumed.

"And yet you're standing here with your life still intact. I would say that's quite the spin of luck."

"... What do you want?" Phantom murmured.

"I want to warn you. The Don won't be the last powerful ghost you encounter; there's a plethora of ectoplasmic beings roaming around your side of the ghost zone now."

"What do you mean by your side?" Danny inquired.

"The ghost zone is split into multiple parts, some of those parts being off this version of Earth. Normally ghosts from different parts wouldn't be able to cross over. But the recent event of Phantom Planet caused an abnormality in your world; which resulted in the boundaries between your world and others being temporarily weakened. And in that short moment, creatures of different worlds were able to slip into yours."

"You lost me…"

"Think of a big expanding apple. That apple represents the infinite cosmos; now cut that apple into eight slices, and further devvie up the slices into more pieces. Then take that tiny triangular piece and cut that in half. One split is your world as you know it and the other is the known ghost zone."

"Soo the multiverse is real?"

Clockwork chuckled, "That's a whole different apple, boy."

"So this Don guy came from another ghost zone that resides in a different dimension."

"You would be correct."

"So why the hell did he come here?"

"Abnormalities attract higher-ranking ghosts that seek power from such anomalies and there hasn't been a large one like this in centuries."

"There's a ranking system for ghosts?" Danny questioned. "Isn't Pariah Dark the head huncho, He is LITERALLY the KING of ghosts!"

Clockwork couldn't hold in his laughter at the child's ignorance. He hasn't heard a good joke like that in decades.

"Yes there's a hierarchy for ghosts and for comparison, Pariah Dark is near the bottom. He was a king in charge of a small realm; there are countless ghost zones with their own kings and queens."

Danny's jaw was on the floor; his mind was completely blown at what Clockwork was telling him. You're telling me there are ghosts more powerful than the king?

"Don't worry too much, Danny. The hole was small and open for only a short time. No one TOO powerful came through," Clockwork assured.

"Why do I feel your definition of powerful is completely different from mine."

"Everything is relative in this crazy world, my dear boy."

"So what do I do exactly? I'm one person, I won't be able to take all these guys on myself."

"First things first. I recommend getting that injury checked out by a doctor in the ghost zone. It's only going to get worse from here on out and you'll eventually perish from it."

"I don't know any ghost doctors. I didn't even know there were doctors in the ghost zone."

"That's because there is only one, Dr. Monty, and he's not someone you want to meet unless absolutely necessary."

"And where is this guy?" Danny asked.

"He resides in the dungeons of Pariah Dark's castle."

"Of course he is," Danny whined.

There was no time like the present, Phantom decided to immediately go after this doctor. He needed to get this injury figured out before the Don or someone else showed their face. Danny thanked the ghost of time for the heads up and turned around to take off towards his house.

"Before you go," Clockwork started as he pulled out a time medallion. "You'll need this to keep your wound from affecting your work."

Danny slowly took the important item, slightly worried of how nice Clockwork was being.

"Why are you doing all of this?"

Clockwork smirked, "Less paperwork for me if you succeed."

Danny didn't have time to ponder what that meant but he placed the time medallion on. The teen instantly felt back to his old-self, he was back at 100 percent. Phantom didn't know how long this effect would last so he blasted off towards his house. Doctors, ghost kings, and dimension hopping; Danny's head was spinning at the sight of it all. Could something so vast really exist? Phantom knew Clockwork wasn't the type to lie about such things. His brain was overloading just thinking about it. Clockwork opened the teen's eyes to a fraction of what existed outside his planet.

The ghost of time watched Phantom rocket through the air. He let out a small chuckle at how eager the boy was to jump into a new adventure. His smile hardened into a frown; things were looking grim for this realm. For the first time ever he wasn't able to see the future of this planet. Someone, or something, was blocking his vision. A feat he thought impossible, but by the looks his bosses gave him when he reported the problem to them; it seemed things were lurking in the darkness that even HE didn't know about.

"Be careful, Danny Phantom. You're our only hope."

Danny landed on his rooftop; immediately rushing inside his house, and down into the basement. He came face to face with the ghost zone portal. A blur of hesitation overcame the teenager. He thought about Sam and Tucker, they'd definitely be pissed that he didn't let them in on this. And there was his parents, who'd undoubtedly worry about his sudden disappearance. God knows what Jazz would do. But he remembered he was doing this for them. Last night was a terrifying event for everyone involved. It infected his happy city with dread and fear. Danny could not let that ever happen again, even if that meant that he lost himself in the process.

Phantom was too busy daydreaming about his ambitions to hear light footsteps coming down the basement stairs.

"Hello? Is somebody down there?" Jazz called out.

She cautiously peeks into the room, gripping one of her parent's ghost rayguns. The redhead saw her little brother standing in front of the ghost zone entrance. Jazz lowered the gun and marched down the rest of the steps fuming.

"DANIEL!" she shouts.

Danny spun around like a kid with his hand caught in the cookie jar. His widened eyes showed off the fear from seeing his sister stand there with her arms crossed and pissed as all hell.

"Jazz? What are you doing here?"

"I could be asking you the same thing!" she fumed.

"Uh-"

"Imagine my surprise when I walked back into your hospital room to see an empty bed. I immediately thought you were doing something crazy, and so I returned to the house to fetch one of Dad's ghost-trackers. By the looks of it, my intuition was right as usual."

"I can explain Jazz. I gotta go into the ghost zone for a bit."

"That's not an explanation at all! Mom is going to blow a freaking fuse! You are on thin ice, mister!"

"Please don't tell mom and dad!" Danny pleaded with his sister. "It's only going to be a couple hours at most."

"What is up with you lately? You're being dangerously impulsive! Which is nothing new from usual, but at least the crazy shit you pulled was accompanied by friends. Now you're just jumping ship by yourself? I mean, you didn't even tell SAM where you were going!"

"Okay fine fine! I left to meet up with Clockwork to discuss some stuff."

"I'm supposed to know who that is?" Jazz snapped back.

"Oh my God- I am WASTING time talking to you right now. Can you just do me a favor and not tell Mom? Please?"

Jazz stayed quiet for a moment while she thought over what Danny was saying. Where he wanted to go so bad- she hadn't a clue. There was a time when she kind of understood Danny and his antics, but right now he was a blank slate to her. Jazz had no idea what was going through her brother's head recently. Last night's incident definitely played a part in his hasty behavior. But she did promise to support her brother in his ghost-hunting activities, and tattle-taling on him wouldn't help things at all. No matter how much she wanted to do so.

"Fine…"

"Thank you-"

"BUT, you're taking me with you," Jazz demanded.

"Are you out of your mind? I can't take you to the ghost zone!"

"Yes you can, I've been there before."

"It's dangerous-"

"And that's exactly why you should take me with you, so I can watch your back," Jazz argued.

Danny really didn't have time to sit around and debate with his sister.

"Okay okay but we're not taking the ship; you're gonna have to use the Fenton suit," Danny exclaimed, while pointing to a silver suit standing in the corner.

Jazz nods reluctantly before stepping over to the metal full body armor. She traced the family insignia on the chest piece slowly; the redhead remembered having to fight Danny in this suit ages ago. Jazz hoped she still knew how to work this thing. She presses the symbol, allowing the suit to open up for the user to enter. The suit closed promptly after the woman was comfortably inside. A user interface lit up with green symbols and numbers in front of her face. The system responded to her presence, greeting her by name. All the settings she had initially changed had stayed the same from prior use. Jazz flexes her limbs in the suit and tries walking around. Everything was coming back to her. She was ready to go. The redhead glances back at her brother and nods firmly.

Danny pushes a button on the Ghost zone door frame, which opens the portal swiftly after being activated. A green swirling portal was revealed to the brother and sister. A whole entire world laid in wait on the other side. Jazz would be lying if she said she wasn't scared. Things tend to go wrong when the mysterious realm is involved. Danny pats the metal shoulder of his sister in an attempt to comfort the obviously nervous woman. Jazz closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. She did that whenever she needed a break from reality. The redhead opened her eyes and nodded.

Danny wasn't happy about taking his sister along on this journey but it was his only option in this mess. The sooner he finds Doctor Monty; the sooner they can leave the ghost zone. He found himself yet again praying for this whole plan not to go sideways. The last thing he wants is to get in a fight on his way to the castle. Phantom took a deep breath before stepping inside the Ghost zone.