Ultimate Enemy



'' Cut to an aerial shot of a skywalk leading to a tall, white building. People walk to and from the place on the bridge. Flying cars pass by underneath the bridge and far over it near the camera. ''



'' Cut to the top of the blue force field dome. It generates to the apogee point. Some exceptionally tall buildings are seen coming close to it. Pan down to reveal Casper High School, identical in all its over-a-century-old glory, save for the many futuristic buildings behind it. A yellow-orange car is parked with its wheels deployed and its door open vertically. Students hang out on the campus. One girl is running with her dog. The car takes flight and hovers offscreen to the right. From the top-right of the screen, a jet surfboard with an older Valerie, complete with a crew cut, surfs calmly toward the camera.   Pan down as she flies offscreen. Two young children, a blonde girl a small pigtail in the back wearing a pink lycra dress and a young boy with fudgey brown hair wearing a blue jumpsuit and white boots both run up on the sidewalk behind her, waving.]''



 Kids: Hi!



'' [Cut to Valerie, surfing past, looking down and smiling. She salutes with two fingers, then looks forward, surfing away from the camera, leaning back on the board as it charges with pink smoke, and blasts off. ''



'' Cut to a row of six force-field towers. Pan up as the small speck that is Valerie approaches a small balcony on the back of one. ''



'' Cut to the balcony. Pan down as Valerie powers down her board; takes it in one hand and lands on her feet. She sets her board on the guardrail and walks toward a panel. ''



'' Cut to the panel, it has a huge X on it in blue. Valerie’s black-gloved hand with a communications watch on it opens it up. Inside, there are three bars, one yellow, one green, and one red. All are fully illuminated. ''



'' Zoom out and rotate to show Valerie observing it with her hand on the panel door. She raises her communications watch and pushes a button on it, looking down at it.] ''

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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-left:0in;margin-bottom:0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:'TimesNewRoman';"> Valerie:  Ghost   Shield   Tower  9--

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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-left:0in;margin-bottom:0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:'TimesNewRoman';">'' [Cut to the watch. Valerie’s finger is on it. It’s filled with static.] ''

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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-left:0in;margin-bottom:0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:'TimesNewRoman';"> Valerie: 100 percent operational.

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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-left:0in;margin-bottom:0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:'TimesNewRoman';">''<span style="font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px;">[On the watch, we see Mr. Gray's image resolve and he sits down. He's wearing a uniform and an eyepatch.] '' Mr. Gray: Great, sweetie. Let's check the last tower and get ba--

[The watch cuts to static again and we see Valerie, looking alarmed.]

Valerie: Daddy? Daddy?

[With a beep, a pair of red eyes appear on the watch screen.]

Drawling voice: Hello, Valerie.

Valerie: You, again?! I don't care how powerful you are, ghost, you can't break through the shield!

Voice: Until today.

''[The red eyes widen, and a howl rings out. Valerie clamps her hands over her ears, wincing. The howl shakes the entire city. We pan across the buildings, seeing people holding their ears and ducking down on a skywalk, windows shattering from the skyscrapers on either side. We see Kwan in his flying car, the windshields of cars around him exploding, then his follows suit. Back on Tower 9, we see Valerie half doubled-over. She gasps as the levels on the tower meter begin to drop rapidly, then the generator on top of the tower explodes. Valerie grabs her jetsled and leaps from the balcony as explosions rattle down the tower, the shockwave knocking the sled out of her grasp. She tumbles down through the smoke, pushing a button on her gauntlet. It activates the sled, triggering purple jets to flare and it zooms toward her, right before she crashes through a cracking window. The window explodes. Wide-eyed, Valerie comes to a stops straddling the jetsled to stare up at the still-smoking shield tower. We pan over to the next tower, which also explodes. Valerie, who ducked behind her arm while offscreen, lowers her arm and gasps in dismay. Zooming out, we see the ring of shield towers explode in a domino chain. The shield dissolves at the generator points and sizzles away, leaving the city exposed. Lightening strikes, and people scream and run in the streets. Emergency bunker entrances with flashing red lights rise out of the streets and people race inside. Above the milling streets, Valerie looks at her watch.]''

RedEyesGuy: You like the new power? I call it my Ghostly Wail.

''[Scowling, Valerie is about to respond when she is distracted by a tsssew sound overhead. She looks up to see a blazing purple blast coming at her. The impact knocks her out and she falls, coming to a crash-landing in front of the Nasty Burger 2. Bruised, she opens her eyes.]''

Valerie: You?

[A purple-haloed form swoops down, hovering above her.]

PurpleGuy: Yes, me. [We zoom in and see it's the Fright Knight, arms crossed.] And I serve a new master now.

''[Valerie scrambles to her feet. The Fright Knight hauls back and throws another purple crystal blast at her. Scowling, she punches a button on her gauntlet and her jetsled sweeps her out of the way, the blast vaporizing the Nasty Burger 2.]''

Valerie: [muttering] Gotta get to Dad...

''[Purple explosions erupt around her as she zips down the street then up a building, the Fright Knight hot on her heels. She arches up through the smoke, then disappears in a burst of speed toward FentonWorks. The Fright Knight forms another purple blast crystal, this one bigger than he is, and flings it. Valerie dodges and it impacts the Ops Center, knocking the array off the top and splitting it open like a dropped watermelon. Valerie zips in through the hole, flying down through the house and down into the lab, where red alarm lights are flashing. Mr Gray is at a console; we see now that he is missing an arm as well. Valerie jumps off the sled and runs to him.]''

Valerie: Dad, the Fright Knight's here. Which means he can't be far behind. What do we do? What do we--

[The Ghostly Wail rings out again, shaking the lab.]

Mr. Gray: Valerie, run.

''[The red lights shut down, leaving the lab in a green dim, and they both turn to look at the Fenton Portal. The ground splits open, starting at the base of the Portal and zigzagging toward them, green light shining from the fissure, and a dark red-eyed figure bursts up from it. We see him from the back, wearing a white and black jumpsuit with a white cape, green flame blazing around him. He lands on the shattered ground and approaches the Grays on foot. It pans up to show that it is recognizably an older Danny, with the DP logo, flaming white hair, green skin, pointed ears, fangs, and a goatee.]''

Evil!Danny: Hello, Valerie.

[Valerie gapes at him.]

Evil!Danny: And goodbye. [Raising a hand, he releases an ectoblast.]

''[Outside, we see FentonWorks explode. We then zoom out to see this scene framed in a glowing ring set with gears. The scene in the ring changes to a wavering shot of Evil!Danny.]''

Offscreen voice: Now do you understand?

[Child!Clockwork flies up in front of the screen in his purple hooded cape, Time Staff in hand.]

Clockwork: Yes. Danny Phantom grows up to be the most evil ghost on the planet. ''[He shifts to adult form. He turns, scowling.]'' What do you want me to do about it?

[We see a pair of shadowed Observants hovering nearby in high-collared capes, gears turning behind them.]

Observant 1: You are the Master of Time, Clockwork. Isn't it obvious?

Observant 2: To save the future, [he moves forward into the light, so that we see his entire face is occupied with one huge green eye] Danny Phantom must perish.

[We pan back to the viewscreen, still showing Evil!Danny.]

--OPENING SEQUENCE---

''[We open on Casper High, then move to the auditorium. Mr. Lancer is on stage at a podium, Jazz and Irving sitting in chairs on either side of him.]''

Lancer: Your future is not carved in stone, people, but it may be carved with a No. 2 pencil [holds one up].

''[Out in the auditorium, Danny and Tucker are sitting next to each other, Sam right behind them with her crossed arms propped on the back of their seats. Danny is sitting up and listening intently, whereas Sam and Tucker look bored out of their minds.]''

Sam and Tucker: Oh, please.

Danny: Quiet, this is important!

[Tucker and Sam stare at him, nonplussed, then exchange a look.]

Lancer: As most of you have probably forgotten, you will be taking the Career Aptitude Test [the letters C.A.T. and the words spell out on the projector screen behind him as he speaks] on Saturday. [Brightly] Do well, like Ms. Fenton here [gesturing to Jazz] who got --

Danny speaking dully along with Lancer: -- the highest score in the history of the C.A.T. --

Lancer: [an image of two obnoxiously rich people flinging money around clicked onto the screen, followed by a fancy car, a mansion strongly resembling Vlad's, and a yacht] and a successful future will be assured! [Voice darkening] Fail, like [we pan to Irving, who is sleeping with his mouth open and drooling] Irving "Third Degree" Burns here, who [he wakes up with a start] got the lowest score in the history of the C.A.T., and you will be doomed to a career at the Nasty Burger [an image of the burger joint displays on the projector].

Irving: [Standing angrily] Hey! Working at Nasty Burger takes brains, you know! If those 42 Nasty Secret Herbs and Spices in our Nasty Sauce are overheated, [advancing to the edge of the stage] it could cause and explosion that could take out a whole city block!

[Crickets chirp as the students stare at him, unimpressed.]

Irving: Oh, who am I kidding. [Slumping off the stage] My life is over.

Lancer: [holding up the answer booklet] These aren't just the answers to the test. They're the answers to your future. So study. [He holds up a briefcase and puts the booklet inside, then closes it and handcuffs it to his wrist.] Remember, it's your future. Do you want fries with it?

[Lancer marches offstage, briefcase in hand.]

Tucker, to Danny: Dude, you ok? Danny?

''[Danny is staring ahead, looking like someone just kicked his puppy. We zoom out to see him on Clockwork's viewscreen, adult!Clockwork looking at it. He turns away as the Observants address him.]''

Observant1: What are you waiting for? It's the perfect chance to take him out!

Clockwork: That's the problem with you Observants. [He switches to child form.] All you do is observe.

Observant2: You know our oath. To watch --

Clockwork: [getting up in his grill] --and never act. Which is why [he switches to his old form] you bring me in to do your dirty work. ''[He raises his staff and it flashes, the viewscreen turning to Danny studying at his kitchen table. We see Clockwork again in his adult form.] He turns evil because he's under pressure [he switches to child form]'' for some test? Fine. Then perhaps it's time for a test of my own.

''[We sink through the viewscreen to the Fenton kitchen. Danny is surrounded by books and working through a C.A.T. sample test. He taps the paper with his pencil for a moment, then drops his head into his hands despairingly. Jazz comes up behind him, peering over his shoulder with both hands on the back of his chair. None of the bubbles have been filled in. She frowns quizzically. Smiling a little, Danny lowers his hand to mark his first answer as A.]''

Jazz: [lifting a finger warningly] Ah--

''[Danny looks back and she covers her mouth. Frowning and sweating a little, Danny starts to mark B.]''

Jazz: [Raising a finger again, wincing] Bu--

[Danny lifts his pencil, then drops his hand.]

Jazz: Hnnn--

Danny: [Flinging his hands in the air, making Jazz flinch back] OK! I get it! You're brilliant, I'm stupid, and I'll never be able to get as high a score as you. [Looking down at his empty sample answer sheet] So far I'm not even qualified to scrape the grease off the Nasty Grill. [flicks his pencil away]

Jazz: [downcast] All I want is for you to succeed, Danny. And doing well on this test can help. [He props his head on one hand and glares flatly as she takes on a lecturing tone.] There are three things I've learned in life:

Danny and Jazz together: Study hard, do your best, and --

Jazz: --DUCK!

[Danny stares at her, thrown for a loop, then the Booomerang clocks him in the back of the head and lands on the table with a clang.]

Danny: Ow! [clutching his head, then picking up the boomerang.] A boomerang???

''[Jack and Maddie come running in. Still rubbing his head, Danny flings the boomerang off through the living room doorway.]''

Jack: I call it the Boooooomerang! [gesturing spookily] It locks in on a ghost's unique ectosignature and seeks it out wherever it goes!

''[We see the Booomerang spinning through the living room, and it whacks Danny in the head again. Maddie catches it, frowning down at the device.]''

Maddie:  [she and Jack look critically at the boomerang] Although why it's keyed into Danny is way beyond me.

Jack:  What's that, Dan? One of those stupid C.A.T. tests? I failed that and I didn't turn out to be a cat. [looking pleased with himself]

''[Jack and Maddie trot out of the room. Clenching his fits and growling, Danny glares at the sample sheet.]''

Danny:  Oh, I give--

Clockwork VO:  Time out!

''[Danny freezes in the act of sweeping the test and a book off the table, Jazz freezes as she begins to sneeze, and a blue-white light flares in midair, turning into a clock hand that sweeps a blue disc of light into being. It disappears and adult!Clockwork appears in its place with Box Lunch, a small ghost girl in overalls, a beret, and pigtails. She appears to be asleep or unconscious.]''

Clockwork:  Ah, good. Parents gone. [switches to child form] He's alone with his sister. ''[He flies in a ring around the frozen Danny and Jazz and returns to Box Lunch. Setting his staff down to float in midair beside him, he pulls a medallion on a ribbon, shaped like a gear with the entwines letters CW in the middle, out of his robe, grinning. He drops the medallion around Box Lunch's neck and she wakes.]''

Box Lunch:  Huh? What? Where am I?

Clockwork:  [switching to old form]  Amity Park, before you were born. That boy there [he points at Danny and she looks] is part ghost. My employers believe him to be a threat to the world. [changing to adult form] Could you be a dear and dance a little dance for us?

[Box Lunch stares at him, then glares at Danny.]

Clockwork: [punching the button on top of his staff] Time in! [he vanishes in a swirling ball of light]

''[The book and sample test land on the floor. Jazz sneezes.]''

Danny: -- UP! [His ghost sense goes off] A ghost? Here? [he jumps out of the chair and yells at Jazz]  Now get out of my room!

Jazz:  We're in the kitchen. [Gasping, she sees Box Lunch behind a glaring Danny.]  But if that's your attitude, I don't wanna see you -- or anything you might do in here in the next several minutes! [Walks off]

Danny:  What's with her? [turning to look at Box Lunch and flinching] Gah! [He goes ghost.] More importantly, what's with you?

Box Lunch: [arms akimbo]  I am Box Lunch, daughter of the Box Ghost and the Lunch Lady!

Danny:  Um, ew.

Box Lunch:  And now you will face the test of my box-and-lunch-based doom! ''[She spreads her hands, and the cabinets and fridge spring open. Various boxes and cans of food spring to her, forming a suit of armor.]  And now-- [voice turning sweet]'' and you probably know this is coming --  BEWARE!

''[Danny crouches then springs up and tackles her right out of the armor, going intangible to throw them both out of FentonWorks. We cut to Nasty Burger. Lancer, briefcase still cuffed to his wrist, is sitting down at one of the outdoor tables with a burger, fries, and cup of coffee. He looks up as Sam and Tucker approach his table.]''

Lancer:  Shouldn't you slackers be studying for the C.A.T.s?

Tucker:  I've already studied.

Sam:  I'm sure we'll do fine.

Lancer:  The test answers in this briefcase [picking it up and pointing at it] may indicate otherwise. Enjoy your Nasty Burgers while you're still on this side of the counter. Hahahaha!

''[Tucker and Sam look unimpressed. Lancer's burger begins to glow, then smears him in the face as it goes flying off.]''

Lancer:  Fast Food Nation!

''[All over the restaurant, people gasp as their food levitates off their trays and goes zooming out the door. Above the Nasty Burger, we see it swirl around Box Lunch as she faces off against Danny.]''

Box Lunch:  Prepare to taste defeat!! [sweet voice] And perhaps a nice side salad with that?

Danny:  [dropping his face in one hand boredly]  Pass.

Box Lunch: [offended] Then feast on my empty calories of doooooom!

[She flings the mass of fast food at him, but he goes intangible and it all flies through him.]

Danny:  Oh, come on! If you actually are the child of the Box Ghost and the Lunch Lady -- ew -- then you know how this ends--

''[She brings both fists down on his head, knocking him out of the air. Falling intangibly through the roof of the Nasty Burger, he lands spread-eagled on a table. The people still inside scream and run out. Tucker and Sam look on. Inside, Danny gets up and faces off against Box Lunch, who has followed him in. Behind the counter we see two employees.]''

Employee 1: Let's get out of here!

Irving:  No! You can't leave!  [Putting his hands on his hips] As a duly deputized Nastronaut, you took an oath to protect the Nasty Sauce from overheating at all costs! '' [he points to two tall vats. A small dial on the side with a color warning scale has its needle in the green.]''

Employee 2:  At minimum wage? I don't think so!

[The two employees run out the back door.]

Irving: [shouting out the door after them]  You can kiss Employee of the Month goodbye!

Danny: [flying up over the two vats]  That's right! He said at the assembly if this stuff gets too hot, kaboom! ''[he looks over at the condiment station, where there is a box of multicolored Nasty Sauce packets. He picks up one.]''

Box Lunch:  Prepare for -- [the Nasty Packet sticks in her beret and she cuts off]

Danny:  [sing-song]  Hey, Box Lunch! [Raising one finger, he sends a focused beam at the Nasty Packet.]  BEWARE!

''[The Nasty Sauce packet swells then explodes, kicking Danny through the wall and blowing the top off the Nasty Burger. Outside, a crowd of people look on, Lancer in front. He raises his briefcase to shield his face from the flying debris, and a sauce-splattered Danny falls through it, intangible, to land next to Sam and Tucker. Irving stumbles through the front door. Lancer lowers his briefcase.]''

Lancer:  Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance! Run!

[Screaming, everyone but the trio runs.]

Tucker: [getting up] Danny, who was that ghost you were fighting?

Danny: [helping Sam to her feet] That was Box Lunch, the daughter of the Box Ghost and the Lunch Lady.

Sam and Tucker:  Yikes.

Danny:  Actually, it's more of an ew. I don't know what's going on. [looking down, he notices the CW medallion on the ground.] But this medallion might give us a clue -- ''[he suddenly notices there is something stuck to his back, and peels it away. It's the C.A.T. answer packet.] '' Oh my gosh. The answers to the C.A.T.s!

''[We zoom out to see him in Clockwork's viewscreen. adult!Clockwork and the two Observants are watching.]''

Clockwork: [watching the screen intently and gesturing]  Now watch this. He'll make the right choice. And you'll see, you've got absolutely nothing to--

Danny: [holding up the packet triumphantly]  Hello, great future!

Tucker:  You're not actually thinking of peeking at the answers, are you?

Danny:  Of course I am. [he reverts to human form.]  Aren't you?

[Clockwork's wide-eyed stare drops into a scowl.]

Observant 1:  He's stolen the test answers.

Observant 2:  He's clearly going to cheat!

Observant 1:  He has your time medallion.

Observant 2:  He has your time medallion.

Clockwork:  You said that twice. [switches to child form.]

Observant 1:  Destroy him now, Clockwork.

[Switching back to adult form, Clockwork sticks his hand in the opening of another gear.]

Clockwork:  I know what I'm doing.  [the gear opening and his hand glow, and the opening resolves to a view of a robotic ghost.]  We put the answers to the test in his hands, and he made the wrong decision.

''[In the viewer, we see the smoking wreck of the Nasty Burger. The viewer zooms closer, showing an exposed heating element by the Nasty Sauce tanks. The heat meter moves up to yellow. Clockwork punches a button on his staff, making the viewer go to static. It shows a still shot of Danny fighting the robot ghost, then fighting his evil older self. It then shows his family and friends and Mr. Lancer bound and gagged with ectoenergy in the Nasty Burger, which then explodes, and Danny shielding himself against the blast then screaming "nooo!" Clockwork floats up in front of the viewer.]''

Clockwork: [in old form]  His future is sealed.

---COMMERCIAL BREAK---

''[At Casper High. The trio are walking down the hall.]''

Sam:  So, are you going to return the test answers or not?

Danny:  I will! I will. I'm just...waiting for the right moment.

Tucker:  Like, maybe, after the test?

[Danny frowns at him.]

Tucker:  Yeah, you're right. [As they pass by the teacher's lounge]  You're not thinking about cheating on a test that you're convinced will determine your future.

''[The door to the teacher's lounge opens, and Lancer looks after them quizzically. Shutting the door again, he goes to the sofa and sets the briefcase down on the coffee table. He pulls out a key and unlocks the briefcase, and gasps upon finding it empty.]''

[The scene goes to several Casper High girls looking angry as Jazz talks.]

Jazz:  So, it's a choice between Harvard, Yale, and Stanford, and I can't make up my mind!  [The girls all turn and walk away, and Jazz's smile drops.]  So...see you after school? No?

Lancer: [walking up to Jazz] Ms. Fenton, may I speak with you after school?

[Jazz looks alarmed.]

''[Scene shifts to FentonWorks at night. In Danny's room, the trio are sitting in a circle on the floor around Clockwork's medallion. Tucker connects a pair of wires from it to his PDA.]''

Tucker:  I can't seem to hack into it. It's really hi-tech.

Sam:  Yeah, like it's from the future or something.

Danny:  Well, speaking of the future, I think it's time I started preparing for mine. [picks up his backpack and stands]

Sam:  You mean cheat.

Danny:  I didn't say cheat.

Tucker:  You didn't say not cheat.

Danny:  [facepalming] Guys, come on. I'd love to have spent the last month studying, but I was fighting ghosts! Besides, if you two think this test is so meaningless [pulling out the answer packet and holding it up], why do you even care if I cheat? Why shouldn't I open this up and study the answers, huh?

[Sam and Tucker look at each other.]

Danny:  No answer? [putting the packet on his dresser]  Well that's all the answer I need. [He looks down at the packet, hesitating.]

Tucker: [to Sam]  Aren't you going to say something?

Sam:  I'm his friend, not his mom. [giving Danny a dirty look] He wants to cheat, he can cheat.

''[Danny is still hesitating. Finally he goes for the seal and peels it up, but is interrupted by a blue light behind him. Tucker gapes and Sam gasps. The robot ghost seen earlier in Clockwork's viewscreen appears. It's a combination of Skulker and Technus, with Skulker's head in the typical head spot and Technus's face embedded in its chest.]''

Sam and Tucker: [sigh in relief]  I mean... Oh no, a ghost.

''[Danny goes ghost and leaps at the ghost, who easily backhands him into the wall. He slides to the floor and glares up.]''

Danny:  Who are you supposed to be?

Skulktech!Skulker:  I am Skulktech 9.9, the future Ghost World's greatest hunter!

Skulktech!Technus:  WIth its greatest technovillain as his operating system!

Danny:  Skulker and Technus together?

Tucker:  Is that an ew or a yikes?

[Several claw-ended arms spring out of Skulktech.]

Danny:  Definitely a yikes.

''[Danny barely misses getting slammed by a cluster of arms. Going intangible, he snags Tucker and Sam and flies the out of the room, then returns through the door. Skulktech knocks him around for a bit, then grabs him by the neck and holds him up.]''

ST!Skulker:  Say goodbye,

ST!Technus:  Ghost Child!

''[They lift a claw arm, which begins to spin like a scalesaw. Suddenly their gauntlet starts beeping the tune to Reveille.]''

ST!Skulker:  Someone's hacked into the system? Again?! I thought we fixed that!

ST!Technus:  We did! It must have accidentally synced up with somebody else's PDA!

''[Skulktech goes intangible, and their jets fire off. Dropping Danny, they take off through the ceiling. The door opens and Tucker and Sam come in.]''

Tucker:  Wow. I can still hack into his operating system with my handheld computer. I don't know whether that's exciting or depressing.

Danny: [leaping to his feet]  Come on, follow me! [going intangible, he flies up through the ceiling]

Tucker:  ...We'll walk.

''[Danny flies after Skulktech across the evening sky. Below, at Casper High, Jazz and Lancer are talking.]''

Jazz:  So you're saying Danny stole the C.A.T. test answers? But how?

Lancer:  I don't know. [holding up the briefcase]  Unless your brother suddenly gained the ability to turn invisible and reach through solid objects?

Jazz: [cringing]  But Mr. Lancer, you still have no proof Danny took the test answers.

Lancer:  Fair enough. He has up until the test to return the answers. But if he cheats, I won't just fail him. I'll destroy his future.

[Back in the air, Danny is still chasing Skulktech.]

ST!Skulker:  What are you waiting for? Activate the Purpleback Gorilla Override!

ST!Technus:  Don't tell me how to do my job!

''[Danny zaps them with an ectoblast, and they fall from the sky to crash into the ruin of the Nasty Burger. We see that the heating element is still on, the meter inching higher. They blast off again.]''

ST!Technus:  Activating Phantom Palm Pummeler!

''[Their hand opens, sending out a bluewhite ray that catches Danny and knocks him off course, smoking. It hits him again and he reverts to human form, then falls a short way before going back to ghost form.]''

Danny:  You're shorting out my powers?!

ST!Skulker: Indeed. Pummeler might not work on you in the future, but we had a feeling it would work on you here.

Danny:  Future?

ST!Technus:  [laughing] Oh, I love it. You're much less powerful than that other Phantom we have to deal with!

[A third blast hits him, turning him human.]

Danny:  What are you two talking aboooou [falling] aaaagh! ''[he catches himself one-handed on a flagpole. Danny looks up.] '' Wow. That flagpole thing works? I thought for sure it would [the flagpole snaps] breeaaaak!! [He falls and bounces off an awning into a pile of trash bags.]  Guess I don't have a future as an Olympic gymnast. [An arm snakes through the pile and grabs him around the middle, zapping him.]  Aaaaaaaugh! [It slams him to the ground.]

ST!Skulker:  You don't have a future, period!

ST!Technus:  Not anymore!

Tucker:  I wouldn't bet on that.

''[Sam and Tucker come running up, Tucker running the override on his PDA. A red laser hits Skulktech and they short out, falling. As they fall they catch themselves on a flagpole.]''

ST!Technus:  Wow, that flagpole thing--

''[It snaps and they fall, crashing to land doubled over a lamppost. We see the CW medallion around their neck.]''

Danny:  [still trapped in the cuffed arm] Way to go, guys!

Sam:  Come on, Tucker, let's see if we can get this off!

''[Sam grabs the cuff and Tucker grabs Sam as they try to wrench it open. Skulktech's medallion falls off and tinks to the ground, and they start to glow bluewhite. The glow races along the arm, enveloping the trio, and they all vanish.''

''[The scene switches to the inside of Clockwork's Tower. The viewer shows swirls of green, and gears tick and turn everywhere. The viewer blazes, and Skulktech and the trio are thrown through it to land on the floor. The cuff springs open.]''

Tucker:  Where are we?

''[The three wander, looking up into the gear-ridden darkness. They approach a window with a clockface embedded in it.]''

Danny:  I don't know. The Ghost Zone, I think.  [We zoom out to see the entire tower, floating in the green haze of the Ghost Zone.]  But...no part of the Ghost Zone I've ever seen.

Sam:  It happened right after his medallion fell off.

Tucker:  Then I think I know how to get us back!

''[We follow his gaze to a box on the wall, where six more of the medallions hang. Tucker seizes one and puts it around his neck.]''

Tucker:  [pumping his arms triumphantly] Haha!

[Nothing happens.]

Tucker:  [Looking around, then dropping his arms.]  Nothing, huh.

Sam:  No, but nice bling. [She goes to take a closer look at the viewer.]

Danny: [Looking more closely at Tucker's medallion]  I don't like this.

Sam:  You're going to like this even less.

''[The boys join Sam at the viewer, where EvilFuture!Danny is laughing and throwing ectoblasts at screaming people and buildings, then laughing. A label on the screen reads FUTURE: 10 YEARS.]''

Sam:  I think I'm seeing your future. And you're kind of a jerk.

''[On the viewer, tanks, helicopters, and police cars approach Evil!Danny. He easily dispatches the lot of them with his Ghostly Wail. Sam looks aghast.]''

Sam:  Ok, you're really a jerk.

Danny:  [pushing Sam out of the way]  Wow, what is that? [Excited] Some kind of ghostly wail? What a cool power!

[Sam and Tucker stare at him.]

Danny:  [backtracking quickly]  ...If it weren't being used for evil!

Tucker:  [turning to Skulktech and clicking on his PDA]  Let's see if this future boy knows any more about--

[Glowing bluewhite, Skulktech suddenly rises and flies into the viewer.]

Tucker:  I didn't do that.

Clockwork:  I did.

[The trio all look up as adult!Clockwork descends from the darkness.]

Clockwork:  I sent him back to his own time. Or, should I say, [switching to old version] forward to his own time. You see, for me, [switching to child mode] time moves backwards [switching to adult mode] and forwards, and-- [switching to old form] Oh, why am I bothering. You're fourteen.

Danny:  Who are you? Where are we?

Clockwork:  Introductions? Fine. I am Clockwork, Master of Time. [switching to child form]  I've been charged with the task of eliminating your future, so that [pointing at the viewer] never happens.

[In the viewer, Evil!Danny picks up a tank and throws it, then tosses a few more ectoblasts around.]

Danny:  You've got to be kidding me. Name one evil thing I've done!

''[Smiling, adult!Clockwork points his staff at the viewer. In it, we see Jazz pulling the C.A.T. answer packet out of Danny's backpack and gasping, "Danny's a cheater!"]''

Tucker:  Bet you can't find two!

[In the viewer, a sobbing Jazz turns into Evil!Danny standing triumphantly over the wreckage of a city street, decorated liberally with fallen helicopters.]

Clockwork:  How about two thousand. [switches to child form]

Danny:  I don't have to sit here and explain myself to you! I'm going ghost!

[He does so, and flies at adult!Clockwork.]

Clockwork:  Time out!

[Clockwork points his now-glowing staff at Danny, who slows and freezes in place just short of it, then rewinds to fly backward, land, and return to his human form.]

Danny:  I'm going ghost! --Whoa.  [puts a hand to his head]  Serious deja vu. [He goes ghost and flies at Clockwork again.]

Clockwork: [punches button on his staff again, grinning] Time out! [Danny slows way down, and Clockwork swoops off to the side; Danny watches him go] Time in!

''[Danny resumes normal speed, his momentum carrying him through the spot Clockwork previously occupied and slamming him into the clock tower bell. Clockwork rewinds and forwards him through colliding with the bell a few times.]''

Clockwork:  I could do this all day [changing to old form], but I have a schedule to keep.

''[He presses the button one last time, and Danny crashes to the ground. Above, Clockwork pulls a scythe from the hands of a reaper statue and swoops down.]''

Sam and Tucker:  Danny! Look out!

''[Danny zips out of the way and the scythe comes down on a gear, shattering it. Clockwork freezes him in midair. Over to the side, Sam is also frozen in the act of gasping, but Tucker is unaffected.]''

Tucker: Hey, wait! Why would he freeze time for Danny and not for us? [noticing Sam is frozen]  Hey, Sam? [waving a hand in front of her face]  Hm. [Looking down at his medallion and holding it] I knew these medallions were good for something. It's like a Get Out of Time Free card! [he runs and grabs a pair of medallions from the wall.]

Clockwork: [looming over Danny with the scythe] Time's up, Ghost Boy.

[He raises the scythe to swing, and Tucker's hand reaches out and takes it from his hands.]

Tucker:  Sorry, no sudden death overtime in this game!

''[He throws the medallions to the right and left. The first one lands around Sam's neck; she blinks then assumes a fighting stance. The second one lands around Danny's and he abruptly resumes his flight trajectory.]''

Danny:  Huh? What happened? [He lands between Tucker and Sam.]

Sam:  [holding up her medallion]  We leveled the playing field. Just get the bad guy!

Clockwork: [scowling] You three have seen too much. You must be eliminated before [switch to old form] you permanently alter the timestream.

''[Five ghost soldiers from different eras appear one by one, fully armed. The trio gasps.]''

Clockwork: [switching to adult form] Nowhere to run, children.

''[We see the viewer, displaying the desolate landscape of Amity Park 10 years in the future. Danny looks to it and back.]''

Danny:  Nowhere but the future!

[Grabbing Sam and Tucker, he flies into the viewer, Tucker dropping the scythe in the process.]

Clockwork:  Then let's see if you have what it takes [switch to child form] to face that future.

''[The scene switches to a shattered street in future Amity Park. The trio appear in a flare of bluewhite light, Tucker and Sam falling to the ground.]''

Tucker:  [looking around uneasily] Man. If this is what we have to look forward to, I'm definitely not taking the C.A.T. test.

Sam:  How do you think this all happened?

Danny: [floating]  I don't know. But based on what we just saw, I have a really bad feeling I'm the one responsible.

[Older Valerie springs out of the wreckage on her jetsled, powering up a huge shoulder-mounted blaster.]

Valerie:  Got that right, ghost!

''[She fires, the kickback knocking her back a little. The blast impacts the street right in front of Danny, blowing the street apart. Danny retreats into the street, then rises back up through it intangibly to face off against Valerie.]''

Danny:  Valerie! Listen to me!

Valerie:  You can't fool me this time, Phantom!

''[She fires again and he takes a flying dodge. She fires a few more blasts then chases after, jumping into the air and letting the board continue on its own. Danny loops back around, just barely misses getting beaned by the jetsled, and gets caught in an electrified purple net which drops him to the ground. Valerie lands nearby and trains her blaster at him, powering it up with a whine.]''

Valerie:  I've been waiting a long time for this. Goodbye and good--

[Tucker and Sam jump in front of Danny, shielding him.]

Tucker:  Valerie, no!

[Valerie rears back in shock.]

Sam:  Don't shoot!

Valerie:  [wide-eyed]  Sam? Tucker? I-It's not possible! This is a trick! You can't be alive!

Tucker:  Wait. Not alive? [dropping his arms] That's our future? I'm definitely not taking the C.A.T.!

Valerie:  The C.A.T. That's the last time I saw you alive. The explosion at the Nasty Burger...you, Tucker, Danny's family-- [training the gun on Danny again]  And it was all your fault!

''[A green flash of flame knocks Valerie offscreen. The trio look up to the source to find Evil!Danny floating there.]''

Evil!Dan:  Actually, that was me. And you, eventually.

---COMMERCIAL BREAK---

''[We fade back in on Evil!Dan frowning down at the trio, who stare back up in shock. Danny is still caught in Valerie's net. Evil!Dan lands on the street and puts his fists on his hips.]''

Evil!Dan:  Sam and Tucker. It's been a while. Ten years, to be accurate. [Raising a hand, he sweeps it down, and Sam and Tucker are encased, motionless, is green light.]  So, to what do I owe this little blast from the past? [His eyes widen as he notices Sam's CW medallion] Clockwork. Meddling again.

''[He begins to raise his arm, but a purple blast from offscreen knocks him into the street. As he stumbles up and waves the smoke away we see Valerie, blowing the smoke from a wrist-mounted weapon, a grenade in her other hand. Scowling, he gets to his feet and charges. Valerie throws a pair of grenades at him, but he transforms to a green, blobby form and they pass through him. She fires her wrist gun, but he is too fast and grabs her by both wrists. Meanwhile, Danny bursts from the net with a cry. Evil!Dan lifts Valerie with one hand and punches her with the other, sending her bouncing off the pavement. He follows as she props herself on one hand and one elbow.]''

Evil!Dan:  I suppose out of respect for our past, I should let you live. [He grabs her by the holsters.]  But that's not how I work.  [He lifts her and throws her.]

Danny: Valerie!

[Danny flies and catches Valerie around the middle, making them fly intangibly through a few buildings before crash-landing in the street on the other side in a tangle.]

Valerie:  You're from the past, aren't you?

[Danny just looks at her, getting up.]

Valerie:  Almost forgot how cute you were back then. [she slumps back to the ground]

Danny:  You thought I was cute? Wow! An older woman likes me.

Evil!Dan:  You know, if I had an ounce of humanity left in me, [he walks around Sam and Tucker, still trapped in the green light] this would be a touching little reunion. [Sam and Tucker exchange a nervous glance.]  But of course I surrendered my human half a long time ago.

''[Behind him, we see Danny rise invisibly from the street, teeth gritted and fists clenched. Evil!Dan's ghost sense goes off as tendrils of red smoke coming from his nostrils.]''

Evil!Dan:  Oh, please.

''[He turns and punches an ectoblast at Danny, who returns in kind. Both are knocked down by the other's blast, and the green light trapping Tucker and Sam vanishes, dropping them to the street as well.]''

Danny: [sitting up, panicked] Tucker! Sam! Run!

[They do.]

Evil!Dan: [back on his feet] Run? Where are they going to go?

''[Turning, he lets out a Ghostly Wail. Danny covers his ears. Tucker and Sam stop, looking up at the FentonWorks next to them. The brick begins to crumble, the Op Center tilting from the top. Sam and Tucker cover their heads.]''

Tucker: [to Sam] For the record, I blame you.

[Danny gets to his feet and begins to fly to them, but Evil!Dan grabs him by the ankle.]

Evil!Dan:  Ah ah ah.

''[Danny gasps as the FentonWorks falls over on top of Tucker and Sam, throwing up a cloud of dust. Danny stares in shock for a moment, then cries out as Evil!Dan shocks him with energy. He reverts to human form, and Evil!Dan spins and throws him toward the wreckage. Getting up on his elbows, he sees the two time medallions Tucker and Sam had been wearing lying abandoned on the ground.]''

Danny:  They took off their time medallions!  [getting to his feet] That returns them to their time period just like Box Lunch and Skulktech! [holding up a medallion] Tucker and Sam made it out alive! [taking hold of his own medallion] Which means I can--

Evil!Dan: [seizing Danny's arm]  What? [Danny cries out as he lifts him into the air, dropping the other medallion.]  Go back for them? They're doomed anyway. And you aren't going anywhere if you can't remove your time medallion.'' [His hand glows green. Ripping off the time medallion, he makes it intangible and sticks it inside Danny's chest. Danny screams then slumps, unconscious.] '' In fact, you aren't going anywhere at all.

''[Scene change to current time wreck of Nasty Burger. Jazz drives up in a pink sedan and parks in front of it. We see that she has a personalized plate that reads "JAZZ" and a bumper sticker reading "Have you hugged your inner child today?"]''

Jazz: [leaning out her car window and looking around] Danny has to be out here somewhere.

''[In the alley beside the Nasty Burger, Sam and Tucker appear in a flash of light. The still-live heating element and tanks of Nasty Sauce are visible. Tucker is on his knees, still shielding his head, screaming. Sam crosses her arms and frowns at him. He looks up, surprised.]''

Tucker:  You got the medallions off, didn't you.

Sam:  I don't accessorize well. Unfortunately, Danny's still stuck in the future fighting his jerky older self! We've gotta help him!

Jazz: [offscreen] Tucker? Sam?

[They turn and see her standing at the entrance to the alley.]

Jazz:  You got a second? Let me answer that for you. [approaching with one hand pointing] Yes, you do. I know Danny stole the answers to the C.A.T. That he's going to cheat!

Sam:  Actually, Danny wasn't going to--

Jazz:  [holding up a hand]  Sam, enough. I know more than you think I do. A lot more. So I suggest when you see Danny, you tell him I wanna talk to him. Tonight! Because if I don't, I will be talking to our parents and Mr. Lancer tomorrow. [walks off]

Sam:  Lancer knows Danny has the answers?

Tucker:  Oh, man, is he in trouble.

Sam:  That's gotta be it. Danny cheating is the thing that leads to that horrible future!

Tucker:  Let me get this straight. Danny gets caught cheating on a test, and we pay for it with our lives? How is that fair?

''[Scene change:  We see Danny lying on the ground, opening his eyes. A large stone statue comes into focus before him.]''

Danny:  Mom? Dad? [rolls to his knees]

''[The statue is of the Fentons, Sam and Tucker, all smiling. An epigraph on the large pedestal reads "GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN". At this angle we also see that Danny's arms are bound to his torso with glowing green rope.]''

Danny:  "Gone but not forgotten"?

''[He looks to the side and sees a statue of Lancer off by itself. The pedestal has sunk into the ground so that it reads "MR LANCER - GONE".]''

Danny: [standing] And where's the Nasty Burger?

''[He looks up at the wreck of the Nasty Burger. It's been blown open, and the sign is fallen. Evil!Dan walks around the corner of the building.]''

Evil!Dan:  Strange how one massive fireball of highly combustible condiments can ruin your whole future.

Danny: [looking down]  The time medallion?

Evil!Dan:  Fused inside you. Nice, huh? Intangible and unreachable whether you're ghost or human which means...you can't go back in time. [He raises his hand and a disc of green swirling light begins to form around it.]

Danny:  It doesn't matter if I go back in time or not. I'll never turn into you! Never!

[Behind Evil!Dan, the swirling green vortex has grown to his height.]

Evil!Dan:  Of course you will.  [he reverts to human form, but he now appears to be Danny's age; a perfect clone.] It's only a matter of time.  [seizing Danny by the bonds, he throws him screaming into the portal.]  I need you out of my way and out of my hair while I make sure nothing happens to change my past. And luckily, this [he pulls out one of the time medallions] is all I need to make sure of that...

''[A ball of bluewhite light engulfs him and he vanishes. He reappears back in the present, in the alleyway next to the Nasty Burger.]''

Evil!Dan:  ...And to get where and when I need to be.

''[Scene change:  Clockwork's Tower. Clockwork stands before his viewer, which is blank, fiddling with something on his staff. The two Observants appear behind him and he stops what he's doing, looking back at them.]''

Observant 1:  Have you completed the task?

Clockwork: [crossly]  Everything's fine. [smiling] Everything's the way it's supposed to be. ''[He turns to the console of the viewer and presses a button as he reverts to his old form. Disguised!Evil!Dan appears on the screen in front of the Nasty Sauce vats.] '' And there's your boy, back to his time. Safe, sound, and clearly not evil. [onscreen DE!Dan starts walking.]  Now. Care to observe the door?

''[The two Observants look at each other, then vanish. Clockwork switches to child form.]''

''[Scene change: back at the Nasty Burger. DE!Dan is looking up at the sign. Even disguised, he retains his adult voice.]''

DE!:Dan:  The Nasty Burger. Still standing. For now... ''[he looks inside where the heating element is warming the Nasty Sauce tank. The temperature indicator is still slowly creeping higher.]''

Sam and Tucker:  [offscreen] Danny!

''[DE!Dan turns away from the hole in the Nasty Burger, surprised. Sam and Tucker run, up, grinnning. Sam hugs him ]''

Sam:  You made it back!

Tucker: [also hugs DE!Dan] Did you beat that evil jerky puspack alternative version of yourself?

DE!Dan: ''[his eyes flash red for an instant, then return to blue, and he laughs shortly. He now speaks with Danny's voice.]'' Always with the quips. In my weaker moments I sometimes miss your droll sense of humor.

[Sam and Tucker look nonplussed.]

Tucker:  I'm sorry?

Danny:  [realizing he's messed up]  I'm just kidding! I beat my other self quite easily. Had you guys going there for a second, didn't I?

Tucker:  ...Well...we should probably do what we can to stop the Nasty Burger from blowing up, huh?

Danny:  Already done! Now, who's up for...[to himself] what did we used to do together? [out loud] Playing some games and raging against the machine?

Sam and Tucker: [enthusiastically] We're in!

''[Scene change. In a green-swirling part of the Ghost Zone scattered with purple doors, Danny is drifting, still bound. He struggles against the ropes.]''

Danny:  [grunting]  Gotta get out of this! I'm going ghost!

''[He does so. He struggles some more and finds himself still stuck, then finally gives up.]''

Danny:  Well, it was worth a shot.

Box Ghost: [offscreen]  Well, well, well. [We see Danny floating toward him; he his large and muscular now, with a hook for one hand, an eyepatch, and a heart with an arrow through it tattooed on his left arm.]  All this time we've been planning how we'd take the fight to you, and here you are. Wrapped up like a present.

Danny: Box Ghost?

Box Ghost:  Beware.

[Raising a hand he throws a bluewhite energy beam at Danny, knocking him into an older and much chubbier Ember.]

Danny: Ember?! You look....

Ember:  Like I went to seed right after you destroyed my vocal cords with that Ghostly Wail of yours?

Danny:  I was gonna say statuesque, but uh--

''[Ember throws a punch chord on her guitar, knocking Danny back. He crashes into Johnny 13, now balding and in a wheelchair.]''

Danny:  Johnny 13?! Ok, whatever happened to you, I swear I had nothing to do with--

Johnny 13:  [the black blanket over his legs rises up and resolves into the bad luck shadow] Been waiting a long time for this, punk.

Danny: Wait! [The other ghosts close in on him.] No! Nooo!

[Ember plays another chord and Box Ghost forms a glowing box over his head.]

''[Scene change:  Danny's room. DE!Danny rises up through the floor and looks around distastefully.]''

DE!Dan:  My old room. [Looking in the mirror, touching his face] And my old face.

''[Behind him, the door opens. It's Jazz, looking peeved.]''

Jazz:  Danny? We need to talk.

DE!Dan:  And my old sister, Jazz. What do you want, Jazz? I'm busy.

''[Jazz approaches, holding his backpack. We see that the Booomerang is on the floor between them.]''

Jazz:  Yeah, busy cheating! [She pulls the C.A.T. answer packet out of the bag.]  Lancer was right, you did steal the answers! Don't you understand?

DE!Dan:  That I'll be destroying my future? Haha. You don't know the half of it. [he takes the packet and bookbag from her.] 

Jazz: [downcast]  Danny, I know all of it. [DE!Dan shoves the packet in his bag] About everything. That you're part ghost. [she picks up the Booomerang] That you're always doing the right thing with your powers. Until now.

DE!Dan: [surprised]  You knew?

Jazz:  I know. And I've been covering for you with Mom and Dad because I'm proud of you, and the good that you do. But not anymore.

DE!Dan:  You always were smarter than I gave you credit for. [he abandons his disguise, changing to his adult ghost form]

Jazz:  You're- you're not Danny! [backing up and dropping the boomerang] That's why the Boomerang wasn't homing in on your ectosignature! You're not Danny!

Evil!Dan:  I was. But I grew out of it. The Danny you know is floating helplessly in the Ghost Zone ten years in the future.

Jazz:  He'll escape. He'll beat you!

Evil!Dan:  How? Is the answer A, the Fenton Portal? Destroyed it. B, the only remaining portal? The one my idiot cheesehead archenemy has? As soon as I find it, that's going too.

Jazz:  Cheesehead? Vlad Masters?! He's your archenemy?

Evil!Dan:  Is it C, you? No. You can't stop me from cheating on the C.A.T. and solidifying my future, so it must be D-- [He throws an ectoblast at her, freezing her with green light] None of the above!

''[He releases her and she falls to the ground unconscious. He returns to his human disguise and pulls the answer packet out of his bag, looking at it.]''

DE!Dan:  [adult voice] Well, what do you know! The answer to the first question is D. [evil laugh]

[Scene change: Jazz is lying in her bed, thrashing in her sleep.]

Jazz:  Danny! [sits up as she wakes up screaming]  Nooo! Huh? [looks around] What?

[Jack kicks the door open with a crash, boomerang in hand.]

Jack:  What's up, princess? Are you ok?

Jazz:  I'm in my bed? I'm alive?

Maddie: [laughing and kicking Jack out of the way]  Well of course you're in your bed and you're alive, sweetie! Danny said you fell asleep helping him study and we tucked you in.

Jack:  He even woke up bright and early to make sure nothing happened to make him late for the big test!

Jazz:  Oh no! The test!

''[Jazz leaps out out of bed and runs out the door, snatching the boomerang from Jack's hand as she goes, her parents looking on in confusion. Down in the lab, she runs up to the open Fenton Portal. Holding up a folded piece of paper, she speaks to the Booomerang:]''

Jazz:  I need you to find Danny. [she rips off her headband and uses it to fix the note to the boomerang] Fourteen-year-old Danny, ten years from now.  [she hauls back and throws the Booomerang into the Portal.]

''[We see it fly around in the Ghost Zone, the red homing beacon on it beeping. A clock and then a page calendar show in the background, flipping through the month pages to mark the passage of time, and a red eye blinks. We see a stone arch, then, and the words GHOST ZONE: 10 YEARS LATER. The boomerang, scorched but still beeping sluggishly, floats past a giant crab/warthog monster. The beacon goes green and it nearly gets chomped by the monster, but it quickly switches directions.]''

''We then see Danny, still bound, getting bounced around by cranky ghosts. Ember lands a chord, then Box Ghost beans him with some energy boxes, Johnny's shadow sends him spinning, Skulktech threatens him with lightning, Kitty socks him with her purse and knocks him into Ember again. She seizes him and slams him into a wall.]''

Danny:  Please! I didn't do all this to you, it wasn't me!

ST!Skulker:  Oh, stop! You're responsible for the horrible things that happened to your world and ours.

ST!Technus:  To everyone you've ever come in contact with!

Ember:  Your family, your friends, [backing away] and most importantly, us.

Danny:  But--I didn't do any of that!

[All of the ghosts power up to attack.]

Danny:  Get away. Get away! Get AWAAAAAY!

''[His scream turns into a Ghostly Wail, knocking the other ghosts away and vaporizing his bonds. The effort of the attack makes him partially revert to human form, his eyes and hair changing but his suit and glow remaining.]''

Danny: Whoa.

[All of the ghosts are floating unconscious, the Shadow half-melted and Skulktech's suit smoking.]

Danny:  My voice is changing? Great. [he goes back to full ghost mode]  I'm going through evil puberty. Everywhere I turn my stupid future is smacking me in the face! [The Booomerang clocks him in the back of the head] OW! ...A note?  [he takes the note and throws the boomerang to the side] [reading] Wisconsin? Plasmius. Figures he's involved in this!

''[Scene change:  Casper High. Lancer walks down the aisles as students scribble out their test answers. DE!Dan looks up as he goes by, then smirks down at his test sheet. He looks at the answer key under his desk, then randomly starts filling in correct answers. Tucker looks shocked, and Sam despondent.]''

Tucker: [whispering across the aisle] Danny, don't!  If you cheat on the test we--

Sam: Shhh!

Lancer:  Mr. Foley, Mr. Fenton. [The trio all look up] Is there a problem?

DE!Dan: Uh... [he looks over at Sam and Tucker, who look back expectantly, and he snickers.] No problem at all. [his eyes go red]

---COMMERCIAL BREAK---

''[Scene opens on Casper High, then to the testing room. Lancer is now sitting at the desk at the front of the room, and DE!Dan is still copying answers from the answer sheet to his test. He looks up at the door and sees Jazz frowning at him through the glass. He looks around quickly, then a transparent copy of his adult self peels off and dives into the floor as he scowls back at her. Out in the hall, the copy slips up behind her and zaps her as she pulls the Fenton Peeler. She screams then collapses, unconscious, to the floor. He drags her offscreen by the ankles.]''

[Scene change: back in the Ghost Zone...]

Danny:  Well, that's Vlad for ya. [We see that he is looking at a gigantic purple football.]  Subtle as a flying mallet. ''[He pushes the football aside to reveal a swirling portal. He jumps through into a dim cave packed with equipment.]''

Vlad:  Come to kick a defenseless old man while he's down? [We see a beard and one arm, the fingers tapping the arm of a chair.]

Danny:  Defenseless? Old?

''[Danny approaches Vlad's large, V-emblazoned chair from behind; he is sitting at a bank of consoles, chemistry glassware to the side. Vlad spins about abruptly. He is still wearing a suit, but it is torn and stained and he is barefoot. His hair and beard have grown long and there are dark rings under his eyes.]''

Danny:  Man. What happened to you?

Vlad:  I could ask you the very same question, my boy. Although perhaps [he stands with the aid of a cane] I should ask what hasn't happened to you. Yet.

Vlad VO: If it's any consolation, they went so quickly. They felt no pain.

''[As Vlad speaks we see a newspaper spinning out of the darkness, the Amity Park Angle. The headline story is reads NASTY ACCIDENTS FOR FENTONS AND FRIENDS, with a picture of the crater where the Nasty Burger once stood. The other frontpage stories read THE SOLE SURVIVOR, over a picture of Danny, and "Fentons and Friends", with a photo of all the Fentons with Sam and Tucker.]''

Vlad VO:  Unfortunately the same could not be said of you, Daniel.

''[The image fades to one of Vlad's mansion. A car pulls up in front of it.]''

Vlad VO:  With nowhere else to go, you came to me--

[We see Danny standing sadly in the driveway with his luggage]

Vlad VO:  --the only person on the planet who could possibly hope to understand your situation.

[Vlad puts a hand on Danny's shoulder and smiles, but after glancing at him Danny just looks dully down at the photo of the Fentons and his friends in front of the FentonWorks.]

Vlad VO:  All you wanted was to make the hurt go away.

''[Vlad's face saddens. The scene switches and we see Vlad wearing a medical apron and facemask, then zoom out to see Danny unconcious in a large machine, hooked up to a breathing apparatus and a beeping heart monitor.]''

Vlad VO:  I honored your wishes.

[Vlad, wearing the Ghost Gauntlets, raises both hands and the Gauntlets glow purple.]

Vlad VO:  No more painful human emotions to drag you down.

''[Razor claws spring out of the Gauntlets. He sticks both Gauntlets into Danny's torso, closing his eyes and turning his face away, sweating with effort. Finally he pulls out a smoking, transparent form of Danny Phantom, and stares up at it, wide-eyed. Phantom's eyes go wide and he rips the Gauntlets out, leaving green gashes in his chest and throwing Vlad into the wall, the Gauntlets falling off. He looks up to see a furious Phantom with both fists glowing.]''

Vlad VO:  Sadly, that freed you up to rip the ghost out of me.

''[Grinning maniacally, Phantom dons the Gauntlets, picks up Vlad by the shirt, and rips his ghost and human halves apart, flinging the respective sides into opposite walls. Dropping the Gauntlets and going intangible, Phantom flies into Plasmius, who opens blazing green eyes and crackles with energy, then takes Phantom's form.]''

Vlad VO:  And when my evil ghost half mixed with yours, and my evil side overwhelmed you...

''[Phantom's eyes open, glowing solid green. He screams as his face begins to crack, skin turning light green and white hair blazing into fire. Rings of energy ripple out around him. Below, Vlad cowers in terror.]''

[back in the present]

Danny:  What happened to my human self?

''[Vlad closes his eyes and turns away, putting up a staying hand. In flashback, we see Evil!Dan's shadow looming over a trembling Danny. Phantom stares down at him for a moment, then lunges toward the camera with red eyes and a lolling snake tongue.]''

Vlad VO:  Some things, my boy, are better left unsaid.

''[In flashback, there is a ringing scream and we see Vlad's mansion explode in a blast of green. From it Evil!Dan flies, laughing.]''

[Back in the present]

Vlad:  If any good came out of this, it's that ten years without ghost powers [he picks up a photo of himself with Jack and Maddie in college] have given me a chance to see what a fool I'd been.

Danny:  Maybe that's all anybody needs...a second chance. You still have those Ghost Gauntlets?

[Vlad's eyes go wide.]

[Scene change:  DE!Dan slaps his C.A.T. answer sheet down on Lancer's desk, smirking challengingly.]

Lancer: [flatly] Finished already, Mr. Fenton?

DE!Dan:  [leaning on the desk]  Is that a problem?

Lancer: How should I know? I don't have all the answers. [They face off over the desk.] Do you?

''[Smirking, DE!Dan steps away, tossing one last challenging glance over his shoulder at the door. Sighing, Lancer reaches for his cell phone and dials 555-1221 for FentonWorks. It rings once.]''

Lancer: [on the phone] Mrs. Fenton? It's Mr. Lancer. Could you meet me at the Nasty Burger at say, 5 o'clock? [he looks out the window and sees Danny walking across the school lawn] And bring Danny.

[Scene change: We see the mouth of Vlad's cave, with the Welcome to Wisconsin sign over it.]

Vlad:  So you're saying there's a medallion lodged within you, keeping you rooted in this time period? [pulling on the Gauntlets]

Danny: Yes. And I can't reach it. But I'm guessing if you could reach into me and rip out my humanity -- which, by the way, sounds totally gross -- you can get the medallion out too! Then I'll pop back to my present like Tucker and Sam did.

Vlad: [raising the gauntlets] Or I could just destroy you now and prevent this future. Didn't think of that, did you?

''[He hauls back and brings the claws down. We hear Danny scream and see green light blazing out of the mouth of the cave.]''

''[Back at the wreck of the Nasty Burger, we see Mr. Lancer standing at the door. An engine revs and headlights shine on him. The Fenton RV parks in front of the Nasty Burger, Jack and Maddie up front and DE!Dan smirking in the back seat.]''

Maddie:  Mr. Lancer sounded urgent on the phone. Danny, is something wrong?

DE!Dan: Not yet.

[In the wreck of the Nasty Burger, we see the tanks and the heating element again, and the indicator needle shuddering higher.]

Mr. Lancer: Mr. and Mrs. Fenton, Daniel, this s the Nasty Burger. When people fail, this is where they end up-- whether they fail because they don't study, or because they cheat. [holds up Danny's test]

[Jack and Maddie gasp.]

Jack:  Danny! Is this true?

Maddie:  Did you cheat?

Sam:  [offscreen] You have to get out of here!

[They turn to see Tucker and Sam running to them.]

Tucker:  The Nasty Burger's gonna blow, and we're three feet from it!

Lancer:  South Beach Diet, people, what's going on here!

[Jazz's foot slams down, encased in the Fenton Peeler.]

Jazz: I'll tell you what's going on. [Everyone looks over, surprised, and in DE!Dan's case, angry] Or better yet, I'll show you. ''[she fires the Peeler at Evil!Dan, peeling away his disguise and revealing his true form. Everyone looks on in shock.] ''That's not Danny!

[Jack and Maddie go from stunned to angry, and immediately train weapons on the fallen Evil!Danny.]

Jack:  Where is he? Where's our son?

Maddie:  What have you done to our boy?

Evil!Dan: [laughs and looks up at her]  I am your boy!

Maddie: What?!

''[Lancer, Sam and Tucker look on, shocked. Evil!Dan springs into the air, where the clouds are starting to swirl green.]''

Evil!Dan:  What kind of parents are you anyway? The world's leading ghost experts, and you couldn't figure out your own son was half ghost!

[Weaposn still trained on him, Jack and Maddie stare up at Evil!Dan, stunned]

Jack: [looking at Maddie] For the record, I blame you.

Evil!Dan:  Hello? Danny Fenton? Danny Phantom? Ever notice the similarity? [looking sidelong at Jazz] Jazz did.

Sam and Tucker:  She did??

Jack: Liar! Don't move!

Evil!Dan:  Actually, nobody's going anywhere. Not until it's time for you to be blown everywhere.

''[He flings out a strand of ectoplasm, binding Jack, Maddie, Lancer, Sam, and Tucker to a tank, then releases five more blobs of it from his fingertips, gagging them. Jazz attempts to punch him from behind, but his flesh moves around her fist, leaving a hole in his chest. She gasps and pulls back her arm.]''

Evil!Dan:  Nice try, Jazz. [his chest springs back to normal] But me, [turns his neck 180 degrees to look at her] my future [he turns the rest of his body around], I'm inevitable.

''[Two copies manifest, surrounding her. One seizes her helmet and yanks it off. She screams and another copy covers her mouth with an ectoplasm gag. The three copies reunite and he lassos her with an ecoplasm rope, swinging her suit and all to join the others. He laughs evilly.]''

Danny: [offscreen]  Hey, old man! ''[Evil!Dan stops laughing and turns. Danny Phantom zips out of the swirling sky wearing a backpack and some kind of rocket belt.]'' Ready for a blast from your past?

[Danny collides with Evil!Dan, knocking him a couple blocks away.]

Danny: Don't worry. I won't turn into that. Ever. I promise. [He looks over at Lancer, who is staring back at him.]  I guess this sort of explains my periodic absences, huh?

''[A rope of ectoenergy suddenly catches him around the waist. Evil!Dan reels him in to seize him by the collar.]''

Danny:  What are you gonna do? Waste me? What happens to you then?

Evil!Dan:  You don't get it, do you? ''I'm still here. ''I still exist. That means you still turn into me.

''[He punches Danny into a lightpost. The backpack falls off and tips over, revealing the Ghost Gauntlets.''

Evil!Dan: I don't have to waste you.

[We see the Nasty Sauce indicator needle go into the red, then the Fentons, Lancer, and Danny's friends bound to the tank, which is beginning to crack and shudder.]

Evil!Dan VO:  I just have to run out the clock until your entire life falls apart.

''[Evil!Dan dives at Danny, who grabs the backpack and sinks into the ground. Evil!Dan knocks over the lightpost and spins around, looking for him. Behind him, Danny rises out of the street, wearing the Ghost Gauntlets.]''

Danny:  Maybe if you'd remembered more about your family, you'd have remembered the Specter Deflector!

''[He pulls it out, flying at Evil!Dan and snapping the belt around his waist. Immediately the older Danny screams as he is electrocuted by the anti-ghost device.]''

Danny: Or the Ghost Gauntlets!

''[He hauls back and sends Evil!Dan crashing through an oil truck with a punch. Evil!Dan looks around for a second nervously and then the whole thing goes up in a blue blast. In the air, Danny shields his face. As the explosion subsides to blue flame, he lands and begins to walk away. Behind him, a furious Evil!Dan emergest= from the flame. He rips off the Specter Deflector, grabs Danny by the arm with a still-burning hand, and throws him to the ground.]''

Evil!Dan:  Your time is up, Danny. [copying himself into four, the copies speaking together]  It's been up for years.

''[They all punch him at once, and we get a quick beat-him-up montage. Danny falls smoking to the ground and Evil!Dan's copies reunite.]''

Evil!Dan:  What makes you think you can change my past?

Danny:  [getting to all fours and glaring up] Because I promised my family!

Evil!Dan:  [laughing] Oh, you are such a child! You promised?

Danny:  Yes! I PROMISED!

[He stands and the word turns to a Ghostly Wail, sending Evil!Dan flying and digging up a divot in the street.]

Evil!Dan:  That power, ugh, it's not possible! I don't get that power until ten years from now!

Danny: [landing]  I guess the future isn't as set in stone as you think it is.

''[He does another Ghostly Wail practically in Evil!Dan's face, sending him flying again; it breaks out windows and blows him through a doorway, then demolishes the building on top of him. Completely exhausted, Danny drops to his knees in human form. A fist rises from the rubble pile, and Danny looks up and gasps. Evil!Dan bursts from the wreckage, bruised up, flames dying, and uniform ripped.]''

Evil!Dan:  Well, that's it, isn't it?

Danny: [eyes narrowing] Time's up! [Opening a Fenton Thermos, he aims it at Evil!Dan and begins to suck him in.]

Evil!Dan:  To weak to escape -- and you're too late to save them!

Danny: [caps the thermos then looks over his shoulder] Oh no.

''[the heat indicator is now all the way over in the red. the glass over it cracks then shatters. The cracking, leaking tanks hiss with steam. Danny runs toward the Nasty Burger, trying to go ghost, but the ring of light fizzles out.]''

Danny:  I can't go ghost! [he trips on a rock and falls flat on his front] Noo!

''[He and his loved ones stare at each other for an instant, and then the Nasty Burger blows up. We see the reflection of the explosion in Danny's eyes right before the shockwave sends him flying with the dust and rubble; then everything freezes. A clock hand traces out a bluewhite circle, which resolves into child!Clockwork. Smiling, the ghost flies up to Danny and drops a time medallion around his neck. Danny gasps and tries to gain his balance where he floats in midair without falling, then notices Clockwork.]''

Danny:  Clockwork?

''[Clockwork points past Danny, and he looks, then gasps happily. All of his loved ones are floating, unharmed and asleep or unconscious, in a nimbus of green light.]''

Danny:  You saved them? I-I don't understand!

Clockwork: [switching to adult form] The Observants look at time like they're watching a parade, one thing after another passing by.in sequence right in front of them. [he gestures down at the wrecked Nasty Burger]  I see the parade from above, all the twists and turns it might [switches to old form] or might not take. [he winks]

Danny:  You knew all this was going to happen. All of it! [they swoop down to the rescued people] Even this part.

Clockwork:  Everything's the way it's supposed to be. And here we are with you, a fourteen-year-old child, ,risking everything to save the people you care about.

[Danny smiles at him.]

Clockwork: [pressing the button on his Time Staff] Time in!

''[They are surrounded for a moment by ticking clocks, then reappear in the classroom, where Danny's classmates are taking the C.A.T., frozen in time. Clockwork picks up the answer packet from Danny's desk.]''

Clockwork:  You've given everyone else a second chance. [He switches to child form] Why not you? [He hands him the packet]

''[Danny takes it and Clockwork vanishes. We see the clock start to tick and everyone start to move. Danny stares at Lancer, standing by his own desk with the packet in his hands, then smiles slightly.]''

Lancer:  Mr. Fenton, is there a problem?

Danny:  Um, actually Mr. Lancer, there is.

''[Out in the hall, Jazz sneaks up to the door with the Fenton Peeler. Looking in the window, she gasps. Danny approaches Lancer's desk.]''

Danny:  I, uh, found this the other day. Outside the Nasty Burger. [he slides the answer packet across the desk.]

Lancer: [picking it up] Hm. The seal is broken.

Danny:  Yeah. I know. A-and, I'm sorry. I couldn't stop myself from looking at the answers. But I'm not a cheater! And I never will be!

[Out in the hall, Jazz smiles.]

Lancer:  Well, you'll have a chance to prove that when you take the make-up test next week, now won't you?

Danny:  Really?

Lancer:  You'll have plenty of time to study for your make-up test in detention. But for now...

''[He gestures to the door. Outside, Jazz yelps and ducks away.]''

''[Scene change:  Danny is sitting on the front steps of Casper High. The door opens and Jazz steps out.]''

Danny:  So, [looking up at her] how long have you known?

Jazz:  About the test? For days. But I'm really proud of you for not cheating.

Danny: No, not that. Your headband, your note, [he pulls the note and headband out of his pocket and holds it out to her] your handwriting...

Jazz:  What? [pointing] That? [blushing and shrugging] Oh, I didn't write that. And there must be dozens of headbands.

Danny: [raising an eyebrow] Jazz.

Jazz: [sitting next to him and taking the note and headband] Since the Spectra thing. I didn't want to tell you until you wanted to tell me. It's your secret.

Danny:  Well, it's our secret now.

[They hug.]

Jazz:  Don't think this means I'll stop being meddling and overprotective.

Danny: [chuckling] Wouldn't have it any other way.

''[His ghost sense goes off and sirens sound. A giant tentacle monster chases a cop car past the school as the siblings watch.]''

Jazz:  Go. [She puts her hand on his and they smile.]

Danny: [Running and transforming]  Going ghost! [confronting the tentacle monster]  Hey! Giant, green, and gruesome! Guess who's back and better than ever!

''[The slime monster makes a worried sound. Danny hauls back and punches it, drenching Jazz in ectoslime.]''

Jazz: [dripping with ectoplasm]  This is gonna take some getting used to.

''[We zoom out to see her in Clockwork's viewer. child!Clockwork watches, smiling, the thermos in one hand. The Observants stand with their hands clasped behind him.]''

Observant1:  You manipulated the boy! You influenced his choice!

Observant2:  That's a direct violation of the Protocol of Temporal Displacement! In other words,

Both Observants:  You cheated!

Clockwork:  True, I cheated. [switching to adult form] But I assure you his choice was his own.

Observant1:  You realize the boy is your responsibility now.

Observant2:  As is his evil self, now that he exists outside of time.

Clockwork:  I know. But then, I know everything.

''[Flying past the Observants through a door, he sets down the thermos. It blulges out on the sides as though something is bouncing around and punching, then Evil!Dan's face prints on the front of the thermos, his laughter echoing.]''