Edit: I can't update for the next two weeks because I have to study for my Final Exams.

So I just wanna thank those who have reviewed, followed, and favorited this story, you all make me extremely happy. :)

Not This Time

Friday the thirteenth had an infamous superstition in some cultures. The day was suspected to be bad luck, or simply lacking in luck, depending upon perspective. It was a day when many preferred to remain indoors. Even Johnny 13 and his shadow, both known for their fearlessly unlucky nature, refused to wander around on that particular Friday.

Strange things happened on superstitious days.

"Would you knock it off!"

Danny Fenton, currently in his Phantom persona, hurled through the air. Valiantly, he attempted to evade a clingy ghost.

"Won't you be my friend?"

The blue skinned, pajama-clad ghost chased relentlessly after the poor halfa. Through the Ghost Zone they went, around hovering doors, over other ghost's domains, and through the space-like dimension. Soon the boy's patience was swiftly thinning.

"Quit it!"

He hadn't intended on staying so long in the Ghost Zone.

"Be my friend!"

He also hadn't intended on becoming separated from his close companions.

"No!"

Luck just didn't seem to be with him that day.

Danny wasn't much of a superstitious guy, but sometimes he wondered about his luck. Like, for example, when the friend-obsessed ghost swerved and managed enough of a boost in speed to narrowly catch the frazzled boy in a hug. Hastily the ghost-boy lurched to the side and successfully avoided one of the ghost's crushing hugs. He was fond of breathing and thus refused to be caught, thanks. Still, he was becoming frustrated.

"Would you just-"

The ghost took another swipe, snagging his ankle, but he hurriedly twisted out of the ghost's grip. Suddenly he gasped as a door floated in his path. Frantically, he spun around the door to avoid a painful collision and grappled with the momentum to steady his flight. Apparently they had entered another section of ghost lairs. Glancing back at his pursuer, he made a hasty decision.

He slammed into a passing door.

And promptly wished he hadn't.

The ancient, navy blue door swung open under his weight, nearly cracking under his momentum's force and speed. Danny's propulsion carried him further into the room until he whammed against a wall. Dust billowed and the teen convulsed in a sneezing fit as he slid down against the wall. While he upchucked snot and caused more dust to shift due to his breath, the ghost boy was unaware that a certain precious artifact shook precariously on its pedestal.

As he continued to sneeze a relatively safe distance away from the device, the object settled on its stand. Without any energy or force disrupting the balance within the room, the artifact would remain secure.

Then Danny went and tripped over an item.

Like dominoes, the hourglass he knocked over toppled against another hourglass and that one fell and knocked over yet another hourglass and so forth as they tumbled in a haphazard pattern towards the pedestal. Similar to watching a slow motion horror film, the ghost boy stared as the last glass tapped against the column.

The elaborately designed and grand hourglass resting atop the pedestal tipped, started to fall, touched the ground-

"Oh, crud."

-and shattered.

In an explosion of heat, light, sound, glass, and the release of compressed air, jagged shards pierced the air in all directions. Suddenly Danny was flipping, burning, spinning, so hot, too dizzy, and oh he was gonna be sick. A part of him, (his chest? His face? The world was whirling too violently to think) slammed into a shaking, heated surface. Small sharp things slashed his burning limbs and he flinched. Heat and light scorched his eyes.

Rumbling reverberated and suddenly the lair was still and silent. Slowly he pried his crispy and sliced form from the ceiling and twisted painfully to confront any potential threats that may have been released from the container. Though his eyes were still shut since light still overwhelmed the area, he slipped into a fighting stance.

Soon, however, the light faded and as his eyes adjusted he noticed there was no one else in the room. Relaxing slightly, his attention focused on the mess on the floor. Hourglasses lay chaotically throughout the room, the majority of them on their side. If the dust was any indication, the ghost's lair was unlived in and unused. Excluding all the hourglasses scattered on the floor, and the shattered remains of the grand hourglass, there were no other possessions or enemies to personify the room.

"Someone's obsessed with hourglasses..." he muttered and cringed as he slowly lowered himself to the floor.

He rubbed a gradually healing cheek with a scratched up hand and eyed the lair. There was something familiar about the devices, and a nagging sensation in the back of his mind hinted that he should know why they seemed so familiar, as if he should know who the hourglasses connected to, but the name and face eluded him. Then there was another bothersome feeling that he had done something drastically wrong by accidentally knocking over that hourglass, but he was all too eager to ignore that sensation for now. Pushing the thoughts away, he floated closer to examine the damage.

When he was near enough to touch the oddly undamaged surface of the sapphire base of the former grand hourglass, he leaned forwards and noticed his reflection.

"Ooo." Danny winced, noting his unnaturally rosy face on his normally pale skin. "That doesn't look pretty."

Something glinted in the corner of his vision and he shifted his gaze to examine the source. Writing was inscribed on the edge of the base. Curiosity piqued, he leaned closer.

"What in the world...?"

The inscription glowed. A sensation of dread settled in his stomach.

Possibilities abound, future askew

time that once was separate is joined, anew.

Previously linear is now twisted for few.

Danny frowned. "Weird."

He shifted uncomfortably. The prickling of unease increased into a churning in his gut. Warily, he stood. His gaze subconsciously darted about the navy colored lair, habitually searching for threats he didn't sense.

"Freaky." He muttered, absently noting that no ghost had appeared to attack him.

Shaking himself out of his daze, he was suddenly struck by an unsettling realization.

"Klemper...?" Danny murmured cautiously. "Where'd you go...?"

Nothing but eerie silence answered.

Something's wrong... He thought to himself, and it was not just because he had seemingly lost the bothersome ghost. The dread increased.

"Somehow I really wouldn't mind Klemper's company right about now." He mumbled.

At least then he'd have some normalcy during that day

Deciding not to linger any longer in the tense atmosphere, he rose into the air and hastily flew to the exit. No furious ghost appeared. Unnerved by the sheer lack of any form of beings, he hastened his speed and shot away. He flew fast until the crawling feeling faded.

Though had Danny turned to glance behind him, he would have realized something unusually strange.

The door had vanished.

~(~_~)~

Elsewhere, in the lair of a blue-skinned scientist, a Pan-Dimensional Vortex Inducer flickered to life.

~(~_~)~

"Sam? Tucker?" He called for the umpteenth time.

Sighing irritably, he glared at his surroundings. His day had just been off. He had actually woken up on time and arrived at school early. Dash had shoved him into his locker more than usual. Skulker and Ember interrupted his English class together with declarations of his defeat, utterly confusing his classmates. Then he had detention followed by an unusual lack of ghosts to hunt so of course he and his friends decided to try to map out more of the Ghost Zone only for them to become lost on the way and they just had to run into Klemper, the irritating overly-friendly pest, and so naturally the trio were separated when Klemper decided chasing Danny was more fun than guiding them to a familiar area. And now there was probably going to be an angry ghost chasing him for breaking their hourglass and he. Was. Still. Lost.

Thunk.

"Ow!"

Tumbling forwards, he whirled to face whatever had smacked against the back of his head. A metal boomerang whirred in place in front of him before stopping and dropping. Hastily, he caught the device and raised the other hand to rub the sore spot. Rumbling echoed and he looked at the source with a smile.

He floated over to the vehicle. "It's about time you showed up."

The gothic driver smiled dryly in return. "If you didn't fly so fast we would've been here sooner."

Danny smiled sheepishly. "C'mon, let's get outta here. This place is weirding me out."

"The ghost boy's spooked of the Ghost Zone?" The front passenger teased.

"C'mon guys…" the halfa whined, phasing through the Specter Speeder's windshield and into the empty middle seat. "I was almost mauled by Klemper and a freaky hourglass!. Can't a guy get some sympathy or understanding?"

His two friends shared a glance. "Nope!" They chorused.

"Besides," the goth girl added, "let's hope you didn't destroy something important."

"Yeah!" His techno-geek companion chirped. "For all we know, you just wrecked the space-time continuum!"

"Don't jinx me, Tuck." Danny groaned. "Don't jinx me."

~(~_~)~

This story will be a crossover, but since no characters from other cartoons have appeared yet, I'll leave it labeled under Danny Phantom for now.