The Ultimate Enemy/Transcript

	Fade in to a shot of a rock surrounded by debris. A cockroach comes in from the left and begins to climb said rock. It twitches its antennae a little. Then it scurries on the back, unseen side of the rock and over some debris of a fallen wall a little farther away.
	Zoom out and pan up to show more destroyed and fallen buildings, some still standing but in states of disrepair. The whole place looks deserted and desolate save for a small, blue domed force-field in the distance. As it generates itself, lightning strikes many times. Zoom in on the dome.
	Fade to a top view of the dome. Inside is a bright, futuristic looking city. There are high-rises and huge man-made canyons within the dome. Surrounding it are many small towers appearing to generate the force field. Zoom in and rotate.
	Fade to black. A yellow, flying car is seen passing from in front of the camera and swooping around a futuristic building, on it an electronic sign that reads "Amity Park" in big, white letters.
	Pan right and down to more of the city. Three streams of aerial car traffic are going in various directions, with flying cars of varied colors like yellow, orange, Violet, and dark blue. Text is typed onto the screen. In big, white tech letters, it reads "AMITY PARK: THE FUTURE".
	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.
Valerie	Ghost shield tower...
	Cut to the watch. Valerie’s finger is on it. It’s filled with static.
Valerie	...100 percent operational.
	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.
Dark Danny's voice	Hello, Valerie.
Valerie	You, again?! I don't care how powerful you are, ghost, you can't break through the sh--
Dark Danny 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.
Dark Danny voice	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
Fright Knight	Yes, me. [We zoom in to 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.
Dark Danny	Hello, Valerie.
	Valerie gapes at him.
Dark 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 Dark 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 Dark 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] 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
Observant 1	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.
Observant 2	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 elderly 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	A ghost? Here? 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 -- Huh? [the Nasty Packet sticks in her beret and she cuts off]
Danny	[sing-song] 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 eew. 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.] He 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] If 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! We 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	The 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.] Aaaaaaaigh! [It slams him to the ground.]
ST (Skulker)	You don't have a future, period!
ST (Technus)	Not anymore!
Tucker VO'	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 (Skulker and Technus)	Aw, poo.
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 blue-white. 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 Dark 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 Dark 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 blue-white, 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 elderly 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 elderly 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] ever happens.
	In the viewer, Dark 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 Dark 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 elderly 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 elderly 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 blue-white 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 Dark Danny floating there.
Dark Danny	Actually, that was me. And you, eventually.
	---COMMERCIAL BREAK---
	We fade back in on Dark Danny frowning down at the trio, who stare back up in shock. Danny is still caught in Valerie's net. Dark Danny lands on the street and puts his fists on his hips.
Dark Danny	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. Dark Danny 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
Dark Danny	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.
Dark Danny	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. Dark Danny's ghost sense goes off as tendrils of red smoke coming from his nostrils.
Dark Danny	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
Dark Danny	[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.
Dark Danny	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 Dark Danny shocks him with energy. He reverts to human form, and Dark Danny 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--
Dark Danny	[seizing Danny's arm] What? [Danny cries out as he lifts him into the air, dropping the other medallion.] Go back with 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. Dark Danny walks around the corner of the building.
Dark Danny	Strange how one massive fireball of highly combustible condiments can ruin your whole future.
Danny	[looking down] The time medallion?
Dark Danny'	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 Dark Danny, the swirling green vortex has grown to his height.
Dark Danny	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 blue-white light engulfs him and he vanishes. He reappears back in the present, in the alleyway next to the Nasty Burger.
Dark Danny	...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 elderly form. Disguised Dark Danny 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 Disguised Dark Danny 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. Disguised Dark Danny is looking up at the sign. Even disguised, he retains his adult voice.
Disguised Dark Danny	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!
	Disguised Dark Danny 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 Disguised Dark Danny] Did you beat that evil jerky puspack alternative version of yourself?
Disguised Dark Danny	[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 video 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 blue-white 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. Disguised Dark Danny rises up through the floor and looks around distastefully
Disguised Dark Danny	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.
Disguised Dark Danny	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?
Disguised Dark 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. Disguised Dark Danny 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.
Disguised Dark Danny	[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.
Disguised Dark Danny	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!
Dark Danny	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!
Dark Danny	How? Is the answer A, the Fenton Portal? Destroyed it. B, the only remaining portal? The one my idiot cheesehead archenemy has? Soon as I find it, that's going too.
Jazz	Cheesehead? Vlad Masters?! "He's" your archenemy?
Dark Danny	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.
Disguised Dark Danny	[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. Disguised Dark Danny 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	(Whisper) 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?
Disguised Dark Danny	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 Disguised Dark Danny 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 in agony 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 blue 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 Dark Danny'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 Dark Danny flies, laughing evilly.
	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] gave me the 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: Disguised Dark Danny slaps his C.A.T. answer sheet down on Lancer's desk, smirking challengingly.
Lancer	[flatly] Finished so soon, Mr. Fenton?
Disguised Dark Danny	[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, Disguised Dark Danny 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 Disguised Dark Danny smirking in the back seat.
Maddie	Mr. Lancer sounded urgent on the phone. Danny, is something wrong?
Disguised Dark Danny	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 is 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 Disguised Dark Danny's case, angry] Or better yet, I'll show you. [she fires the Peeler at Dark Danny, 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 Dark Danny.
Jack	Where is he? Where's our son?!
Maddie	What have you done to our boy?
Dark Danny	[laughs and looks up at her] I am your boy!
Maddie	What??
	Lancer, Sam and Tucker look on, shocked. Dark Danny springs into the air, where the clouds are starting to swirl green.
Dark Danny	What kind of parents are you anyway? The world's leading ghost experts, and you can't figure out your own son was half ghost!
	Weapons still trained on him, Jack and Maddie stare up at Dark Danny, stunned.
Jack	[looking at Maddie] For the record, I blame you.
Dark Danny	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!
Dark Danny	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.
Dark Danny	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 in hysterically 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 at them evilly.
Danny	[offscreen] Hey, old man! [Dark Danny 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 Dark Danny, 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. Dark Danny reels him in to seize him by the collar.
Danny	What are you gonna do? Waste me? What happens to you then?
Dark Danny	You don't get it, do ya? 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.
Dark Danny	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.
Dark Danny VO	I just have to run out the clock until your entire life falls apart.
	Dark Danny dives at Danny, who grabs the backpack and sinks into the ground. Dark Danny 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 Dark Danny 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 Dark Danny crashing through an oil truck with a punch. Dark Danny 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 Dark Danny emerges 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.
Dark Danny	Your time is up, Danny. [copying himself into four, the copies speaking together] It's been up for 10 years.
	They all punch him at once, and we get a quick beat-him-up montage. Danny falls smoking to the ground and Dark Danny's copies reunite.
Dark Danny	What makes you think you can change my past?
Danny	[getting to all fours and glaring up] Because I promised my family!
Dark Danny	[laughing] Oh, you are such a child! You "promised"?
Danny	Yes! I PROMISED!!!
	He stands and the word turns to a Ghostly Wail, sending Dark Danny flying and digging up a divot in the street
Dark Danny	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 Dark Danny'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. Dark Danny bursts from the wreckage, bruised up, flames dying, and uniform ripped.
Dark Danny	Well, that's it, isn't it?
Danny	[eyes narrowing] Time's up! [Opening a Fenton Thermos, he aims it at Dark Danny and begins to suck him in.]
Dark Danny	Too 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 blue-white 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 elderly 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. As child Clockwork watches, smiling, with the thermos in one hand. The Observants stand with their hands clasped behind him.
Observant 1	You manipulated the boy! You influenced his choice!
Observant 2	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.
Observant 1	You realize the boy is your responsibility now.
Observant 2	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 bulges out on the sides as though something is bouncing around and punching, then Dark Danny's face slams into the front of the thermos, leaving an imprint of his face. His laughter echoes ominously.
	---END CREDITS---