Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or any of the characters. Danny Phantom is the sole property of Butch Hartman, Nickelodeon and Viacom International.
Theft
Chapter 9: Scattered In Time
Alicia was watching television in the living room, a forlorn look on her face.
"Vladdy..."She thought, missing him.
The red-haired woman knew that they had a spat before he went back to Amity Park, but they managed to talk things through. Or at least that is how she thought it went.
Now, she was still home while her husband was back in Amity Park, doing his job but she missed him and knew that they still had a lot of things to talk about.
"Maybe I can talk to him. See if he can come back home early..."Alicia thought as she grabbed the cell phone that she was one of the many presents Vlad bought her before their wedding.
She dialed his number and waited a while, but she didn't receive an answer. She frowned and tried to call him again. Still no answer.
The former countrywoman turned wealthy housewife became impatient and tried to call him again, and yet no answer still occurred. She also started to jump to conclusions.
"For his sake, he'd BETTER be really busy with work right now and NOT be goofing off! Or be around some other woman, if he knows what's good for him!..."She thought in paranoid anger before she tried to calm herself down.
"Easy there, Alicia. Vlad is in another state right now, running his business and Amity Park. He's got a pretty busy job, so he probably don't even have time for calls right now. I'm sure as soon as he sees my miscalls he'll call me as soon as he has a minute. Plus, he said he loves me and I know he'd never go after another woman when he already has me..."Alicia thought naively, still unaware of what her husband really thought about her.
"Yeah. Even if we had that rough patch...Vladdy is still a sweetheart and he's not like that. He also ain't wishy-washy like my ex-husband or all those morons who got on my nerves before I settled down..."Alicia thought in anger as more memories happened.
"Especially my ex...and that annoying guy who tried to ask me out during high school after he was so rude to Maddie. What a creep..."Alicia thought before she blinked.
"Wait. Why did I think about that? And why did I remember that guy in particular?..."Alicia thought, confused.
She shook her head and tried to think of positive things for a change.
Namely about her marriage.
"I know we had a little tiff, but I think things will get better. Once Vladdy is back, we'll talk and get everything settled. Then I'll get to look forward to spending a long, happy marriage with the love of my life. I just know it..."Alicia thought, as she still deeply loves Vlad, even now.
However, he was not here right now, and she tried to think of other things. Like how she could spend her time now since her husband wasn't here and she didn't have anything to do right now...and she was bored out of her mind.
Alicia looked around Vlad's home - her home - it was big and the fanciest place she'd ever been, and she did love living there. But without Vlad in sight, it felt too big and quite empty.
She doesn't like being alone with nothing to do.
"Maybe I can do some catalog shopping..."She considered but soon recalled one of the things she and Vlad thought about and sighed.
"Better not. Don't want Vladdy to get over the credit card bills again..."She thought as she tried to find something to do.
She couldn't even clean this place or do housework since Vlad hired a bunch of cleaners and caretakers to do the cleaning and yard work, leaving her with nothing to do.
"I think I remember there being a stream nearby here. Hopefully, the fishing is good around these parts..."Alicia thought as she went to find her fishing rod and try to get some fishing done.
She left to go fishing, unaware of what her husband was actually up to right now.
Meanwhile
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!..."Danny yelled as the portal tossed him out to a random location.
The ghost boy got up, hissing in pain and feeling dizzy.
"Ugh! I haven't felt dizzy since that rollercoaster last Summer..."He grumbled as he got up.
Once he did, he recalled what happened, namely the fight with Vlad, the map being torn to pieces, and the portals sending him and the others to who knows where.
"Oh, crud. Star...Sam...Tucker..."Danny called out but didn't see them.
"I don't see them. Not good. I got to find them...and the map before Vlad gets his hands on it and tries to mess up time. Again..." Danny thought as he took to the skies, being invisible as he didn't want to risk getting caught in this unknown place and time.
A little later
Danny soared through the skies, trying to figure out what was happening.
"I can't see Star or the others either. This would be easier if I knew exactly where...or when I am right now..."He thought as he kept flying around.
He knew that he was in Amity Park, but the town looked different, and several buildings were gone or looked different, so he knew he was not in his current time right now. He kept flying until he spotted a nearby newspaper stand. Being invisible, he got closer and managed to see the date on the paper.
"Wait...this date...it's just a few months before I was born..."Danny thought in shock as he looked around. "Are the others here?..."The ghost boy thought, as he really had to find out.
"I just really hope that the fruitloop isn't trying to-..."Danny paused before he shook his head, not wanting to think of it.
He had to find his girlfriend, friends, and his arch-enemy before time would once again be tampered with.
"Star...Sam...Tucker...where are you guys?..."He thought, worried about them.
The ghost boy flew around and soon flew to his neighborhood. Or the place that would soon become his neighborhood.
"Does this mean that my family is somewhere around town?..."Danny thought, trying hard to remember when his parents told him exactly when they first moved to Amity Park.
He saw a moving truck there, along with younger versions of his parents with an infant Jazz in their father's arms...and he saw that his mother was pregnant.
"I knew it..."Danny thought before he overheard his parents talking.
"Alright, Maddie! We finally have the house of our dreams!..."Jack said, looking excited.
"I know. This house and this town is the perfect place for little Jazzy to grow up and play with her new little sister Danielle..."Maddie said as she glanced at her pregnant belly.
"Yeah, plus the basement is also perfect for our new lab and working on the new ghost portal now that we're done with the proto-type. Maybe we can also create a ghost proof playpen so the girls can play with one another. It'll be so sweet..."Jack said, excited to get started building the basement lab.
But he never forgot what went wrong last time.
"I don't know what caused the other one to go off like it did and hurt poor Vladdy but that won't happen again..."Jack said, still feeling bad about that but hoping his friend would forgive him one day.
"Not technically wrong, Dad. Vlad never gets hurt because of a portal you build..." Danny thought as he kept listening to make sure the Plasmius wasn't nearby.
Still unaware that their future son was listening in, the younger Jack and Maddie kept talking as the movers kept bringing their furniture inside their new home.
"Still, Maddie...we still don't know if it'll be a little Danielle...or a little Jack Junior..."He said, still unsure if the new baby will be a boy or a girl.
All the while, he's unaware his future son could hear this.
"Dad wanted to name me Jack Junior? Weird. Still, it's kind of bizarre to think that if things turned out differently, I'd be the one called Danielle instead. Hmm...does that mean Danielle would've been named Danny instead?..."He thought as he kept listening, remaining invisible the entire time.
"Don't be impatient, Jack. I've told you before that I want to be surprised when this little one is finally born. We waited to find out with Jazz and we'll find out with this one too..."Maddie said, unaware of their future son listening in on their conversation.
Danny blinked.
"So Mom and Dad wanted to be surprised, huh?..."He thought as he got slightly lost in this train of thought.
As his parents were busy talking to the movers and distracted, Danny briefly became visible, and to his surprise, Jazz's toddler self saw him and giggled.
"Go ba ba ba. Gosh boi..."She said in baby talk, and Danny quickly became invisible and the parents didn't see him.
"That's right, Jazzy. Your little sister could possibly be your little brother and you both will be able to play in this house together soon..."Maddie said, thinking her daughter was just talking gibberish.
"That was close. Can't cause any more changes to time. I got to find that map and find the others and then kick Vlad's butt..."Danny thought.
The half-ghost boy turned his head back before he took one more look at the younger version of his family and smiled. Seeing the younger version of his family move into their new home, doting on Jazz and how his father stared lovingly at his mother who was still pregnant was kind of sweet.
"The Fruitloop really can't understand that he can't break something like this, no matter how hard he tries..."The ghost boy thought, determined to protect his family's life together from Vlad's madness and selfishness.
No matter what.
But first, he needed to find the others, retrieve the Infi-Map, defeat that no-good interloper that was Vlad, and then go home.
"Now, how do I get out of here and find the others? If only I had the map but it was torn to pieces..."Danny said, frustrated until he noticed something that caught his attention.
The ghost boy saw a piece of the Infi-Map in front of Fentonwork. By the window that one day be his bedroom, only for it to suddenly be moved by a gust of wind and was now on the edge of the "W" of the Fentonwork sign that hasn't been bolted to the side of the building yet.
"There it is..."Danny thought, needing to get it and fast.
He didn't see any signs of his friends but the Infi-Map was a good sign, right?
Not wanting to be seen by his parents' past selves, remained invisible and tried to get closer. However, a gust of wind happened and moved it.
"Of course..."He thought sarcastically as he flew after it and the piece of the Infi-Map landed on the stoop of his future home.
"Just got to get it..."He said as he grabbed the piece of the inf-map. "Got it!..."He mentally cheered, relieved.
Unfortunately, Jack noticed what seemed to be a piece of paper lifting on its own and deduced there was an invisible ghost.
"GHOST! Freeze, spook!..." He ordered and tried to hit Danny with his prototype Fenton Blaster.
"Uh oh!..."Danny thought, as he remained invisible and dodged it.
Due to that, the blast instead hit a nearby cop car.
"WHAT THE HECK?!..."The cop said before seeing Jack and then stormed towards him.
"What's the meaning of this?!..." The cop asked, glaring at him.
Seeing the prototype blaster in his hand, Jack sheepishly placed his prototype Fenton Blaster behind his back, only for it to suddenly drop and the device beeped and then made a small explosion that caused goop to splatter across both the cop and Jack's shoes.
"S-Sorry. I was trying to catch a ghost, Officer..." He reads the nametag briefly... "Boyle..." Jack tried to explain.
Unfortunately, the cop kept glaring at him, Danny could tell even with his sunglasses on.
"You got a permit for whatever that thing is?..."The cop demanded, and Jack kept trying to explain himself.
"We do. It's inside..."Jack said as the cop kept glaring and checked the permits before he gave the Fenton couple a ticket and left them off with a warning.
"Don't make this a habit. I'll be watching you..."The future Chief Boyle said, deciding Jack was someone he'd need to keep an eye on in the future.
Jack gulped but nodded.
"Yes, officer. Sorry..."He said, unaware that they had an audience.
Danny saw this and blinked.
"I guess this is how they first met. I guess that's when the future Chief Boyle started keeping a close eye on my parents, especially Dad..."He thought before he glanced at the piece of the Infi-Map
It was still a torn piece of it, but it was glowing and he could still feeling some of its power.
"One piece down...and I have no idea how many are left...great..."He thought sarcastically, wondering why things like this are never easy for him.
The half-ghost teen then remembered that he needed to find Star and the rest of his team to stop Vlad.
"Wait. If I have this piece...does this mean the others have the other pieces of the map? Including that fruitloop?..."Danny thought, worried about how Vlad would mess with time.
"What am I thinking? It can't work if it's torn to pieces...can it?..."Danny wondered, getting a bad feeling about this.
He decided to test it out and hoped that it'd work, planning to deal with any possible unforeseen consequences later. Otherwise, he had no idea how he'd be able to find Star and the others.
"Infi-Map...please...take me to wherever Star is. My Star..."Danny said, and the piece of the map began to glow.
Danny held on tight and it then zoomed across the skies and through a nearby portal, while Danny continued to scream until he went through the portal and promptly closed. His scream was heard and the young version of his parents and the cop blinked in confusion.
"Did you hear something?..."Maddie asked while both men seemed confused.
"Bye bye..."Little Jazz said with a giggle, unaware of who she saw and how that person was her future brother.
Her little daughter kept giggling and still was the only one who noticed the supernatural encounter instead of her parents, despite being too young to understand it.
"HAHAHA! Funny boi...Ha... Dann...eh..Danneh!..."Little Jazzy said, while her mother heard her try to say Danielle but mispronounced it.
"Did she say Danny? Danny, huh. What a nice name for a boy..."The mother thought, as she started to think of a different name for her baby if it turned out to be a boy.
She glanced at her pregnant belly for a moment, smiling as she thought about the future before she went back to taking care of her daughter while her husband and the movers were busy bringing everything inside their new home.
With Danny
"AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!..."Danny yelled as the piece of the map and portal flung him to another random location.
He landed in a nearby alley and landed on a pile of trash.
"Okay. I'm starting to get used to these, and I don't know if I'm fully okay with that..."Danny grumbled, as he got up and used intangibility to get rid of the trash.
Once done, he checked his surroundings and saw some familiar buildings and landmarks. He knew where he was now.
"I'm in New York, but why would the piece of the Infi-Map take me here? Is Star somewhere here? If so, then where?..." Danny thought as he quickly became invisible and then flew into the air to better search for Star from a bird's eye view.
He looked around and noticed how several details about his surroundings right now.
"Okay, skyscrapers. Modern looking cars and no flying cars. So, I guess that I'm not far in the future or far in the past..."He thought as he continued to search.
He knew that Star had to be nearby, so the ghost boy continued searching high and low for his Star. He kept looking around, trying to find his girlfriend.
"Okay. I think Star's old neighborhood should be around here..."Danny thought, as he recalled they stopped by there during the trip to New York.
He soon made it to his location and soon spotted who he was looking for. It was a girl who was in a nearby park and seemed to be hiding.
"Star..."Danny said as he appeared near her.
Star gasped and looked relieved as she immediately hugged him.
"Oh, Boo. Thank goodness..."Star said, happy to see him. "How did you find me?..."She asked.
"I managed to find a piece of the Infi-Map and it somehow managed to find you here. Thankfully..."Danny said as he showed her the piece of the map.
"Thankfully..."Star said. "Wait, these tiny pieces can still do all that? ..."She asked, surprised.
"Apparently. It's how that I managed to get here and find you..."Danny answered.
"Huh. Well, that's convenient..." Star said and her boyfriend nodded.
They soon heard laughter and people nearby. Danny instinctively grabbed Star and they turned invisible.
"Let's go..."Danny said.
"No, wait! Not yet! Just...give me 5 more minutes. Please, Danny-boo..."Star said, surprising her boyfriend.
Danny wondered what she meant but soon realized what she was talking about. Danny saw a family walking through the park, holding hands and looking happy. Danny instantly recognized them as a younger version of Star's parents, with a little girl who seemed no older than six, one who had blonde hair in pigtails and who looked eerily like Star.
"Wait...that's-..."Danny paused.
"Yeah, it's me and my family. Back when I was little. I remember that this is the park they always brought me during the weekends...and we'd always spend hours in this park having fun, getting ice cream, and just being together as a happy family..."Star said with nostalgia and sadness, and they continued to watch the small family together.
The younger version of the Strong family was enjoying spending time together and little Star was running around and having fun.
"Mommy. Daddy. Look at the flowers. Aren't they pretty?..."Little Star giggled, as she picked some flowers and showed them.
"Aw, those flowers are so pretty, Estelle. Good find..."Johnathan said in a doting way.
"Yes. They are very, mon petite angel..."Stella said in a motherly tone, while her daughter kept laughing giving Johnathan the flowers and wanting her parent's attention.
"Do you want Daddy to teach you how to make a crown with those flowers?..."Johnathan asked, as his daughter kept joyfully giggling.
"Or do you want to get some clothes with these flowers on them? Oh, I just know you'll be absolutely adorable in anything you wear, my darling..."Stella said in a doting way, but her daughter knew what she wanted to do right now.
"Crown! I want to make a crown like a princess!..."Little Star said cheerfully as her parents were more than happy to make her happy.
Danny had never seen either Stella or Johnathan smile that brightly before as they both continued to spend time with their daughter, who loved the little handmade flower crown and Star's younger self wore it like a princess's crown.
"There. Don't you look pretty like a princess?..."Johnathan said, while his daughter laughed.
"Yes, I'm a princess!..."Little Star said cheerfully as her parents kept doting on her.
"Yes, you are my darling. You are the prettiest girl in the world. Now what would our little princess like to do?..."Stella said in an adoring way, while her daughter kept smiling brightly at hearing this.
"I wanna play on the swings! And then can we also get ice cream later? Pretty please?..." Little Star politely asked.
While little Star began to play on the swings, her parents were nearby and watching her and sitting on a nearby park bench. As Star continued to play, her parents were talking.
"Isn't our little Estelle the cutest thing in the world?..."Stella said in a gushing way.
"Of course, she is. After all, she looks just like you, Stella..."Johnathan said lovingly.
Stella smiled at this and held Johnathan's hand, something that surprised Danny as they continued to watch the future divorced couple, who, at this point, were madly in love with each other.
"You're such a sweet talker..."She said teasingly as she snuggled up to her husband.
"And you love that about me. Admit it..."Johnathan said in a teasing way.
"Maybe..."Stella said in a coy way, batting her eyelashes at him.
Stella got closer to him and she planted a kiss on her husband's response by planting a back right back at his wife, which got both of them in the mood for something more special.
Stella and Johnathan shared a kiss, one that was genuinely loving and mutual. The two looked into each other's eyes like they truly were in love and simply couldn't get enough of one another either.
"I love you!~..."Stella said truthfully, looking at her husband with adoration.
"I love you too!~..."Johnathan said, looking at her in the same way before they shared another kiss.
They were unaware that Star and Danny would see them while invisible, as they continued their romantic moment together.
"This is awkward. Hard to believe that they ended up apart after being so lovey-dovey like this..."Danny thought as they hid behind a nearby tree.
The unwitting time travelers both remained quiet as they continued to watch Star's younger parents being flirty with each other until little Star called for their attention.
"Mommy! Daddy! The ladybugs are flying away, help me catch them!..."Little Star called out to them, having spotted some and wanted to see them again.
"Okay, Princess. We'll be right there..."Johnathan said as he and his wife went to her, holding hands the entire time.
The two parents went to play with their only child, looking like they truly were a happy family. The scene would have been heartwarming, but Star only saw it as bittersweet. Danny saw the expression on his girlfriend's face, looking almost ready to shed tears right now.
"Star..."Danny began but she spoke up and asked a question that echoed in her mind.
"Why couldn't things stay that way? Why did things have to change?..." Star sadly asked with bittersweet nostalgia upon seeing how she and her parents used to be happy together and how close the three of them used to be together as a family.
Danny didn't know how to answer that, wishing that he could do or say something to make her feel better, but he knew that this was all a very complicated subject for her.
Danny held her in his arms, trying to comfort her as he knew this must be hard to see, given what was fated for her family.
"Star. I know that things didn't turn out that well for your parents, but things will get better. I promise that they will. Just please trust me that no matter how much things change around us, I'll always be by your side..." Danny said sympathetically.
Star sighed.
"Thank You Danny-boo..."She quietly said as a couple of tears fell from her face.
Star quickly wiped her tears away, calmed herself down, and sighed bitterly.
"Let's just find that piece of the map and get out of here. That fruitloop needs a serious slap in the face..."She muttered.
Danny nodded and they began to search for the piece of the map that they needed to get out of here. The ghost boy, not wanting to get any more attention, changed back into his human form and they began to look.
"Let's hurry before anyone spots us and we risk messing with time..."Danny said before Star nodded.
They began to look and soon spotted what they were looking for. It was a piece of the Infi-Map that was stuck in a nearby tree branch, one that was close to a local ice cream vendor, who remained oblivious.
"There it is..."Danny said as he and Star ran towards it.
Thankfully, the branch wasn't too high and they easily managed to retrieve the map piece.
"We got it. Now what?..."Star asked.
"Now, we find Sam and Tucker, and then we find the rest of the Infi-Map and finally take down that fruitloop..."Danny said.
They were about to find a place to use the map's piece, but someone spotted them...by accidentally running into them.
"Mommy. Daddy. I'm going to get more sprinkles on my ice cream..." A little girl said, having stopped looking for lady bugs and asked her parents for ice cream since she saw the vendor nearby.
Danny and Star froze when they saw that it was Star's younger self, holding a big cone of ice cream in her hands and running around.
"Are you okay?..."Danny asked, since she already spotted them and the damage was done.
The little girl seemed shy and held her mostly eaten strawberry ice cream cone in her hands.
"My mommy and daddy say I'm not supposed to talk to strangers..." Little Star said, and she proceeded to stare at the teenage Star and Danny.
Older Star blinked and nodded.
"You should listen to them. Why don't you go back to them right now?..." Star said, trying to convince her younger self to go back to her parents and mentally hoping this encounter wouldn't break time.
"Estelle..."Stella said as she and her husband went to their daughter.
Seeing them, Star panicked and quickly grabbed her emergency scarf, which she turned into a makeshift bandana, and put on some sunglasses that she was one of the many gifts her mother gave her for her birthday.
"What are you doing? And where did you get those?..."Danny asked.
"I look like I could pass of as my mom's younger looking clone. There's no way I'm going to break the timeline by having the younger version of my mom seeing the teenage me and kid me at the same time and figure out who I am..."Star whispered quickly to him, while her younger self was distracted by a butterfly nearby.
"I know that...but where did you get those glasses and why were you carrying around a scarf?..."Danny asked.
"You never know when you might get a bad hair day, and a good pair of sunglasses is always fashionable..." Star said as she used them, hoping it would hide her identity a bit.
"So, you're disguising yourself with what you have on hand, before meeting the younger version of your parents?..." Danny quietly summarized.
"That's a really good idea. Let me try something I've been working in secret..."He whispered, as he used his ghost powers to change his eyes from blue to light green.
"Wow, that's new. I didn't know you could change your eyes like that. That's pretty cool..." Star whispered, surprised and impressed that Danny is capable of doing this.
Just in time as Star's younger parents soon showed up and tried to make sure that their little girl is safe.
"There you are, young lady. You shouldn't run off like that..."Young Stella scolded her daughter.
"Your mommy's right, you really scared her and I..."Johanthan said in a gentle way.
"Sorry Mommy. Sorry Daddy..."The little girl said, looking apologetic.
"It's alright, dear. Just don't do it again. It makes us worry..."Stella said, sounding like a responsible mother.
"Just promise us that you won't ever put yourself in any danger or do anything that would get you hurt. Okay, sweetheart?..."Johnathan asked, making teen Star felt slightly guilty.
"Okay..."The little girl said as she went back to eating her ice cream.
Her parents soon spotted the teenagers and smiled kindly as they greeted the both of them.
"Oh, hello there..."Stella said in a friendly manner.
"Oh, hi. Ma'am. It's so nice to meet you both. I'm...Joy and this is my boyfriend...James..."Star said, using their middle names since that was the first time they could think of.
"Nice to meet you, I hope our daughter didn't interrupt your date..."Johnathan said.
"No, it's alright. We were just talking...and nothing else. Plus, kids love playing and running around. No big deal.."Danny said quickly, while little Star seemed to be looking at him for some reason.
"Why is she looking at me?..."The ghost boy wondered as the younger version of Star kept looking at him.
"Is he your boyfriend, lady?..."Little Star asked the older girl, unaware she was talking with her older self.
"Uh...yeah..."Star said.
"Estelle, don't be rude. It's not nice to poke your nose into other people's business..."Johnathan said gently.
"We're sorry, she didn't mean to be nosy. She's usually less blunt than this and very polite..."Stella said, but her daughter continued.
"He seems nice. Are you gonna marry him? And why are his eyes a different color?..."Little Star asked, surprising Danny and even Star.
Still, the blonde girl giggled and couldn't help but comment.
"Well...marry? Who knows?..."Star said, while her boyfriend blushed at that while Star's younger parents tried to talk to their daughter.
"Now Estelle. You shouldn't ask people such questions..."Johnathan scolded, but his daughter kept talking.
"I hope that I marry someone great when I grow up. I also want to be an artist and I want to be a superhero and a ballet dancer too. And a cheerleader like Mommy was in high school. It'll be awesome!..."Little Star said, getting their attention.
"Was I always so talkative as a kid?..."Star thought, while her parents kept reprimanding her.
"Young lady, you're too little to talk about marrying. Plus, you know that you're not allowed to date until you're 30. Or I'm in the old folk's home. Whichever comes first and even then, we also have to approve of the guy before you can date him..."Johnathan said with a mocking serious tone as he held his daughter in his arms.
"Your daddy's just joking. And I'm sure you'll find a nice boy when you're all grown up..."Stella said as she turned to her husband. "And hush, our little girl will know just who her knight in shining armor is and I'm sure he'll be a gentleman..."She said, unaware of who these time travelers are.
"Well, more like a knight in spandex, but she's not wrong about the rest..." Star whispered while making her boyfriend sigh.
She then turned to her younger self, who was still looking at them curiously.
"I'm sure that you'll find someone great when you're older, just like my Boo here. He'll be your prince and I'm sure you'll be able to live out your dreams too. I'm sure of it..."Star said encouragingly while her younger self smiled at that.
"Okay. Thanks, lady..."Little Star said, smiling and seemingly happy.
"Should I feel weird about getting called "lady" by a younger me?..." Star thought, not sure how to feel.
The younger versions of Star's parents excused themselves and spoke to their daughter again.
"Excuse us, we have to get going. You two have a nice day..."Stella said, before turning to her daughter. "Now come along, Estelle. We should get some lunch..."She said, sounding like a caring mother.
"Okay, Mommy..."Little Star said before turning to the time travelers again. "Bye, Lady. Bye, Mister..."She waved goodbye as she left with her parents.
They watched the small family soon leave to continue their day at the park together, looking like they were having a good time. It made Star feel bittersweet again.
"We actually look like we were happy together back then. I wish that I appreciated it more back then..."She thought, looking glum for a moment.
"Star..."Danny said, sounding concerned for her.
"We should check the map..."Star said, wanting to change the subject.
With no one around, the two grabbed the two pieces of the Infi-Map, which quickly merged.
"Thank goodness. Looks like the map can be fixed..."Star said.
"I hope so. I doubt Frostbite would be happy if we return it like it went through a paper shredder..."Danny said, grateful that he didn't have to tape the map back together.
Danny grabbed Star's hand and soon they both hung on to each other as the piece of the Infi-Map glowed.
"Okay, Infi-Map. Take us to wherever Tucker and Sam are now. And fast..."Danny said, worried.
He might be a C student in history but there were a lot of bad places his friends could end up.
The piece of the Infi-Map started shining bright, surprising the couple. Danny and Star both held on tight and it then zoomed towards a skyscraper window into a nearby portal, they went through the portal and promptly closed.
"Whoa...that was pretty..." Little Star muttered as she saw something twinkling in the sky, while her parents seemed confused.
"What's she talking about?..."Johnathan asked.
"Isn't it obvious, our adorable Estelle must have seen a cute bird or some pretty butterflies or something? But I think we had enough fun for now. Like I said, we really should get something to eat..."Stella said in an oblivious tone.
"There is a nice Chinese restaurant a block from here. We can go there..."Johnathan suggested and his wife nodded.
"Yay. I want some of that yummy chicken from last time..."Little Star said, referring to the last time they had take-out.
"Sure, Princess..."Johnathan said before they went on to enjoy the rest of their day together as a family, blissfully unaware of what the future had in store for them.
Later
Danny and Star soon fell out of the portal and fell to the ground.
"Ow!..."They both went, feeling dizzy.
"I'm really starting to hate time travel..."Star grumbled as she got up.
Danny also got up, looking around, and saw where they were now.
"Either we are some movie set or we've been sent to the Old West..."Danny said as he saw he was in some town that looked like it was from an old western.
Star blinked, but looked amazed, looking at the environment.
"Wow. The Old West. Everything looks so retro. It's kind of cool here..."Star said.
"Tucker and Sam must be near here. We should find them before something happens to either of them..."Danny said, and Star nodded.
Danny turned them both invisible and began to look around. He also noticed the temperature and found it too hot, especially since they were probably here during the Summer.
"Man, it's hot here..."Danny said, wiping the sweat off his forehead.
"I'll say, whatever genius who thought working and traveling in the desert was a great idea is eviler than the guy who invented chores..."Star said, hating this.
Danny said nothing as they soon arrived at the town square, which was busy during this time of the day. They saw a lot of people of this era, all doing their own work, and were unaware of the time travelers.
"I don't see Tucker anywhere. Where could they be?..."Danny asked.
"Maybe we should wear disguises and look for him. I just wish that we had something that could help us blend here..."Star said.
"Well, not sure how-..."Danny said, but the Infi-Map glowed and suddenly surrounded the two, changing their outfits to clothes that were fitting for this period.
"Huh. I never knew that the Infi-Map could do this..."Danny said, while his girlfriend looked at the new era-appropriate attire and smiled.
"Wow, cool. Not what I had in mind but I'm not complaining. Oh, these boots are fabulous..."Star said as she saw her reflection in a nearby glass window that was being used to replace a broken one.
"Huh...I wonder why the map didn't do this the first time we used it like this?..." Danny asked aloud as they began to look for Tucker.
"Extrie extrie, newspaper. Read all about it..."A paperboy said nearby.
Danny became invisible and glanced at the newspaper.
"1878. We're basically almost in the middle of the Old West. We may need to be careful not to take part in some showdown, just in case..." Danny whispered to his girlfriend, who still used the glass window as a mirror until it was taken away for construction.
The couple tried to continue their search by walking around this quiet little Danny and Star one familiar face from the window of a saloon. They soon spotted a guy dressed up as a cowboy, who looked familiar to someone they both knew, and drinking a root beer.
"Is that Tucker?..." Star asked, blinking.
"Either that or an ancestor of him that looks just like him. Right down to the glasses..." Danny said as they went to go check.
"Please be Tucker..."He whispered under his breath.
The half-ghost boy was about to step inside the saloon but stopped when he and Star heard something nearby. That's when the real Tucker showed up after stepping out of the bathroom doors of an outhouse.
"Ahh! I MISS INDOOR PLUMBING!..."The real Tucker cried out.
"Tuck?..." Danny said, as he blinked at he saw the cowboy who looked like Tuck and turned his head back to see his friend, whom he knew had to be Tuck, since he was wearing his regular clothes and looked upset about something.
He just shrugged and decided not to think of the Tucker lookalike. It could've been just a look-a-like or who knows that could have been Tuck's great-great grandpa or something. Still, he floated closer and went to make sure this was him.
"Tucker, is that you?..."Danny asked as he appeared before him with Star.
Tuck gasped in relief once he saw them.
"Thank goodness. You found me, Danny..."He said, desperation was evident in his voice. "Do you have any idea how hard it is for a guy like me to live in a time like this?..."He asked.
"How did those people live with no Internet?..."He said, looking upset.
"Nice to see you too, Tuck. Anything interesting happened?..." Danny asked, still a bit surprised to see another person with Tucker's face.
"You okay?..." Star asked.
"Didn't I just say that I have no internet here?! Of course, I'm not having a great time! I've been stuck here for six hours and I'm starved for some modern technology!..."Tucker said, looking around and looking for a screen.
"This is concerning for a number of reasons..." Star thought as she was immediately put off by Tucker's desperate pleading for tech.
"Note to self, talk to the others about a second intervention for Tucker about his over-reliance on technology..."She thought, making a mental note to plan for that in the future.
"Wait...who was that guy? We thought he was you until a moment ago?..."Danny asked.
"I don't know but even I know that he looks a lot like me. I wound up in this town a few hours ago, and I tried to stay out of sight. I saw that guy but I tried to avoid him since for all I know, he's probably my ancestor and I don't want to risk accidentally undoing my entire family's existence by mistake..."Tucker admitted.
"Smart move..."Star said, knowing how careless she and Danny were when she ran into her past self and her parents.
"On a separate topic, where did you guys get those outfits? I didn't exactly have any cash on me and I couldn't buy a disguise here..."Tucker said.
"Apparently, the Infi-Map is capable of giving us clothes that are appropriate for this era..."Star explained.
"Seriously? Since when? And why didn't that happen the last time we used it?..."Tucker asked.
"Don't know. Your guess is as good as mine..." Danny said with a shrug, while her boyfriend noticed that they were getting off topic here.
"Do you know where Sam is?..." Star asked, while Tucker shook his head.
"No. I thought she was with you guys..."Tucker said, sounding worried and momentarily snapping out of his state of desperation.
"We need to find her and the rest of the map before the fruitloop gets his grubby hands on it..." Star said, wanting to get out of there and kick that crazy ghostly villain in his fanged face.
The three of them began searching for a piece of the Infi-Map, since they needed it to restore the map and head back home. They managed to find the piece of the Infi-Map, which was located in the window of the saloon.
"I got it..." Danny said, and soon it merged with the rest of the map.
"Thank goodness. Now let's find Sam and that fruitloop..." Star said.
"And fast. My PDA is down to 10 percent battery and there's no outlet anywhere in this era..."Tucker said in distress but was ignored.
Danny then realized they were being watched.
"Well, howdy there strangers. Y'all don't ain't from around these parts, are ya? Y'all ain't bandits or trespassers are ya? Cause around here, trespassing is against the rules..."An old man, presumably the sheriff, said in a suspicious tone.
"You get them rule breakers, Pa!..."A small boy, his son, shouted.
"Who is this guy? Walker's great-grandpa? Or is it even Walker himself?..."Danny thought, not liking this and thinking fast.
"Sorry, fellas. Love to hang around but we've got places to be people to see. So bye!..." Danny said as he grabbed Star and Tucker turning them all invisible.
The old sheriff and his son all blinked and were confused.
"Uh...what?..."He said in disbelief, and he wasn't the only one who saw that.
A few of the townspeople saw that and were just as confused as he was.
"Uh...what was that?..."Tucker's ancestor said in confusion, as he wondered what had just happened.
His friend, however, looked at his drink and jumped to conclusions.
"That's it. No more sarsaparilla for me. This one must be expired..."Another said, assuming this was just a hallucination.
"Y-Yeah...that must be it..."The sheriff said in a shaky tone, as he had some earlier as well.
He and the others just decided to act like nothing had happened. Tucker's ancestor decided to accept this explanation, though he was still weirded out by what they just saw.
With Team Phantom
Danny brought everyone far away from the town, making sure no one was close by to see.
"You see anyone?..."Danny asked.
"Nope. All clear..."Tucker answered and Star nodded.
"Okay. Time to find Sam, track down Vlad, fix the Infi-Map and head back home..."Danny said as he held the fragments of the Infi-Map.
"And not soon enough..."Tucker said, glad to finally be leaving.
Danny wasted no time in using what was left of the Infi-Map to take them to wherever or whenever Sam was through an opened natural portal. The sound of the heroes' screams of being sent through natural portals at high speeds got the attention of something within close enough earshot.
Tucker's ancestor turned his head and saw the natural portal close from the corner of his eye. He then huffed, then finished his root beer, and jumped to conclusions.
"Deja vu..."He muttered as he shook his head.
"I need to stop drinking that stuff. I'm already starting to see things that clearly ain't there..."He muttered before he threw it away before he headed for home.
Later
Team Phantom soon found themselves in what seemed to be some kind of jungle, thanks to the portal.
"Man, I'm really starting to hate time travel..."Tucker grumbled.
"Ugh! Where are we now?! And why is it so humid?! My hair is frizzing like crazy!..." Star complained before seeing that they were back to their normal attire. "Aw, I going to miss those stylish western boots..." Star said since they had looked good.
"I so don't miss the lack of internet...or the lack of indoor plumbing..."Tucker said.
"Shush! I think we're in some kind of jungle! Stay by me!..." Danny said as he quickly turned them invisible.
They began to look around and they soon saw where they were now, due to seeing some creatures that no longer walk the earth.
"DINOSAURS?! The map sent us to the age of the Dinosaurs?!..."Star exclaimed in shock, as they saw pterodactyl soar in the air and many other long-extinct species running around.
"No way! This can't be!..."Tucker said in dismay before he grabbed his PDA. "How the heck am I supposed to charge my PDA now when electricity won't be invented for another 65 million years?!..."He whined.
"Seriously?! We're in prehistoric times and that's what you are complaining about now?! Plus, we're seeing some long-lost species in person!..."Danny said, while on the lookout for any dangerous creatures.
"Yeah, yeah, giant reptiles and whatever..."Tucker shrugged, while the couple rolled their eyes.
"Let's just find Sam and get out of here. And be careful not to step or touch anything here. I don't want to accidentally change time and have the world ruled by dinosaurs instead or be here when that meteor shows up ..."Danny said.
Star and Tucker nodded, while they both kept a sharp eye out for Sam and stayed wary of any danger. They soon heard the sounds of screaming and the tone of a familiar person.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!..."Was heard.
"That was Sam! She must be in trouble!..." Danny said in a panic, as they went to go to the source of the scream, determined to find their friend before something happened.
With Sam
The goth girl quickly figured out she was in prehistoric times when she saw all the extinct flora and fauna around.
While she couldn't help but admire the natural beauty and unspoiled majesty of the environment around her with the exotic features they had, it didn't take long for her to figure out WHEN she was.
As she couldn't help but admire a beautiful but long-extinct flower, she heard the loud roar of large creatures and ran as fast as she could. Sam instantly wished that she looked for a safe place to hide first.
Especially with a T-REX chasing after her now.
"GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHRRRRRGGGGHHHH!..."The T-Rex roared as it chased after her.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! And to think I actually felt sorry your and lots of others species from this era had gone extinct? Well, not anymore!..."Sam yelled as she kept running for her life.
"Where's that meteor when you need it?!..."Sam complained as she kept running.
The T-Rex tried to chase her down to eat her, but Sam soon found herself saved when Danny managed to get her out of the way and was soon in the air, holding her.
"You don't want to eat her, Big guy. She's a vegetarian..." Danny said, before looking at his friend.
"Are you okay, Sam?..."The ghost boy asked his gothic friend, who seemed frazzled right now.
"Other than possibly needing years of therapy...I'm just peachy..."Sam said, still visibly shaken but trying to shake it off.
"You don't think he can jump, right?..."Danny asked, remaining invisible just to be safe.
"She..." Sam corrected, pointing to see the T-Rex had walked away, giving up on the food and walking away towards a nearby nest with eggs.
"And I'm not sure, but let's stay invisible to avoid razor-sharp teeth..."Sam said, and her friend nodded.
Danny soon brought her back to where Star and Tucker were and explained what was going on.
Once Sam was all caught up on what was going on, the whole team went looking for the next small piece of the Infi-Map in a group. Since no one wanted to search alone in this jungle, especially Sam.
"There has to be a piece of the map near here. We need to get it in order to fix the map..." Star said.
"Well, where is it?..."Sam said, really wanting to leave before some other creatures spotted them and tried to eat them.
"I think I found it..."Tucker said as he pointed up ahead.
They spotted the piece of the map, that seemed to be in some kind of nest.
"I got it..." Danny said as he flew up and managed to retrieve it.
Unfortunately, a nearby pterodactyl saw him and got defensive.
"RRAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRGGGGGGGGGG!..."The pterodactyl shouted as it tried to attack Danny, who merely became invisible and intangible.
"I so don't have time for this..."He said as he went back to the others and avoided the now confused pterodactyl.
The map soon merged with the missing piece and began to glow, and Team Phantom knew they had no time to waste. No pun intended.
"Okay. Infi-Map. Take us to wherever Vlad is and step on it..." Danny said while the map glowed.
"Oh no..." Star said as she clung to her boyfriend.
"What I'd give for a barf bag right now!..."Tucker said in dread as the map glowed and soon took them to their next destination.
To wherever Plasmius is right now.
Later
"AAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!..."The heroes all yelped as they landed after the portal brought them to their destination.
"Oh man, where are we now?..." Star asked, dizzy.
"I really hope we aren't at the Salem witch trials again or the Ice Age since I'm in no mood to be chased by a sabretooth tiger next..."Sam said, already hating this adventure.
"I just hope that it's a time where electricity is still available..."Tucker said, still worried about his PDA's battery life.
Danny saw a nearby newspaper and soon figured out where and when they were. He looks around and sees a lot of familiar scenery.
"Good news. We're in Amity Park. So. no dinosaurs, paranoid villagers or sabretooth tigers..." Danny said, but soon spotted the date.
He even made himself, his girlfriend and his friends invisible, just to be safe.
"What makes you so sure about that?..."Tucker asked.
"I saw that..." Danny said as he pointed to a nearby billboard that had the name Amity Park and a picture different mayor that wasn't Vlad or Mr. Montez on it.
"But this all looks like this is when we were all in kindergarten..." Danny said before he spotted a familiar building.
He noticed what looked like a kindergarten and instantly recognized it.
"Wait, a minute? Is that our kindergarten?..." Danny said while he and everyone else was still invisible.
They saw a bunch of kids playing around during what was presumably recess. Danny spotted his younger self playing with the little kid versions of Tucker and Sam.
"Wow. That's us..." Danny said.
"Back during the good old days..."Tucker said as they saw this important moment was how their friendship started.
"Yeah..."Sam said, smiling slightly as they watched this.
"Aw, you guys all looked so cute..." Star said, finding the mini version of Team Phantom adorable.
"That used to be my favorite toy rocket as a kid..." Danny said as he spotted a five-year-old version of himself showing a rocket to little Sam and Tucker.
"I remember this..." Danny said smiling as he felt some nostalgia now.
"Me too. This is the first day of kindergarten...when we all became friends..." Tucker said.
"Best day of my life..." Sam said the three kids continued to play as if they had been lifelong friends, even though they had only met today.
She recalled how they had all met time and Danny had invited her to play with him and Tucker, despite how all the other boys didn't want to play with her due to thinking that girls had cooties.
And right now, it was recess and they were still all playing with each other like they had always been best friends. She saw her younger self looking shy as her future friends kept talking and smiling at her.
"Your toy monsters are neat. I like them..."Little Danny said, being blunt but honest as he pointed to a toy that looked like a monster that Ida had knitted to Sam when she was little.
"Thanks. I like them too..."Little Sam said, sounding shy while the boys smiled at her.
"Do you guys wanna play hide and seek?..."Little Danny suggested.
"Sure..."Little Tucker said.
"Do you wanna play with us again?..."Danny asked, surprising Sam.
"You guys really wanna play hide and seek with me?..."Little Sam asked, still sounding a little shy.
"Of course, we're all friends now, so we are all gonna always have each other's backs and be the bestest of friends forever and ever..." Little Danny said, surprising her.
"Friends?..."The girl repeated.
"Uh-huh. We'll be there whenever any of us are in trouble..."Little Tucker said, and little Danny offered to share his rocket ship toy to his two new friends.
"Let's all make a promise here. We're all gonna be the bestest friends forever and ever..." Little Danny said as he smiled at his new best friends.
"I'm in..."Little Tucker said cheerfully, glad to have new friends.
Little Sam was quiet before she smiled and felt happy. Earlier, none of the other kids wanted to play with her, the boys didn't want to play with her because they thought she had cooties and the girls didn't want to play with her because they thought she was weird because she didn't want to play with dolls or princess.
However, these two boys weren't like that and treated her like a friend. She wanted to join them.
"Okay, friends..."Little Sam said as she and her new friends continued to play and laugh.
Team Phantom all watched them share a quick one-armed hug, feeling nostalgic at the moment.
"And wouldn't you know? We still are..."Sam said as she glanced at her friends.
"Yes, we are. Ten years and still going..." Danny said, smiling.
"Yeah, still going..."Tucker said, also smiling.
Star stood back, letting the old friends have their moment watching the history of the origin of the original Team Phantom, the main three. A small part of Star felt envious of their long friendship. It made her wish that she could've been a part of it from the beginning.
"I actually feel a little jealous..."She thought as they kept talking.
"Still, I almost forgot that there was a time Sam actually wore pink..."Tucker commented while Sam frowned.
"Don't remind me..."Sam grumbled as she tried to think of a way to drive everyone's attention away from how her parents forced her to dress like that when she was a kid.
"Still, I almost forgot you used to a baseball cap as a kid, Tuck. And Danny you've really kept the same haircut all these years?..."Sam replied.
"It's a good haircut. I like it..." Danny said with a shrug. "And I'm just glad that us being friends never changed..."He said, making his friends smile again.
"As sweet as this is, I think that I should remind you guys about why we're in this time period..."Star said while the original Team Phantom recalled why they were here in the first place.
"Right. We got to find that next missing piece of the map..."Sam said, wanting to get back home and take a shower from all her running in the prehistoric jungle.
"Yeah, before Vlad does..." Danny said, wishing he knew how to find both Vlad and the remaining pieces of the Infi-Map.
Suddenly, the map started to glow and some of the pieces that didn't merge together flew away from them, to wherever the rest of the map was...and hopefully where that sociopath also was.
-To be continued-
Next time on Theft
Searching For Vlad
A/N(1): I dedicate this chapter to my family, my friends and my love for God :)
A/N(2): Special thanks for Luiz4200, 61394, Jay The Average Fanboy and NeoMark for their help. You guys rock :)
A/N(3): Happy Belated Valentine's Day everyone :)
REPLIES to my loyal and totally awesome reviewer:
RonaldM40196867:
1) Stella wants to help Jack and Maddie with their ghost hunting, mostly since she has no one else to hang out with right now.
2) Sorry, no spoilers. I guess that we will have to wait and see what happens.
3) Yeah, Colette is worse than Chloe and Lila.
4) I guess Marinette had thought that Chloe could become a better person at the time.
5) Yeah, Vlad never had a chance with Maddie.
6) I haven't decided.
7) Not really.
8) Yeah, Vlad still doesn't understand how dangerous time travel is.
Jebest4781: Thank you :)
Invader Johnny: Yeah.
Nicolas Belasco and NightShadow2955: How is this?
Luiz4200: That man was Reginald's uncle.
JDF Legacier Morphicon: Thank you :)
Here are my responses to your questions:
1) I think Tucker likes bowling.
2) Both.
3) Danny would have rejected Paulina/Kitty due to already dating Star and Kitty likely would have tried blackmailing him early. Star would have been furious and helped Danny get away from her.
4) I think Star would have liked hanging out with Kim Possible or Liz Allen.
Scooter2: Reginald only disinherited Donovan, but he will still care for him until he is old enough to move out. Reginald still hopes that his son will become a better person one day.
Jboy44: Sorry, no spoilers. I guess that we will have to wait and see what happens.
:) I hope you enjoyed this! Remember to read and review :)