A/N: You'll be happy to know that one, this is longer than my last chapter, and two, this is an explanation chapter. I'm sorry that there isn't much dialogue though. But it does make some things much clearer so, it's all good. And that's really all I have to say. Please read and review! Let's get this story going!

A Road Diverged Thrice

Tucker's Story

"Am I doing this right, Clockwork?" Tucker asked his master as he stood in the center of his room with his new time staff, trying desperately to set the clock that was embedded into the piece.

His master looked over and scanned the dials and knobs that controlled the clock. After a moment of examination he nodded before going back to his work.

Tucker sighed. He knew what he was doing was right, becoming Clockwork's apprentice and all, but he wished that his master would speak a bit more. Being a master of time could get lonely… but his friends needed him to do this. One wasn't himself lately and the other was trapped in more ways than one. Then there was the matter of the world… but that was another story entirely. At least it was another story for now. It wouldn't be later. Later all the stories and timelines and stuff would end up together and at that moment he would be needed. Someone had to play Danny these days.

"You're spinning it too far," Clockwork said suddenly.

Tucker looked up and glanced at the Time Master. The ghost hadn't even looked up from his time staff. Tucker looked back at his and noticed that he had spun the minute knob too far. He quickly adjusted it. "Is this good?" he asked once he completed the task.

"Yes," Clockwork answered. "You're getting better at this, but you have to pay attention more. You let your thoughts wander too often."

"Okay, sorry," the pupil said as he floated over to the viewing screen. It was time for the second part of the lesson.

"I know you are, but you learn from your mistakes and that is what makes the difference.

"Now," Clockwork said as he turned to face his student who stared up at the viewing screen with a look of apprehension. "You know what this is."

His teacher had said as a statement, but Tucker felt the need to nod. So he did… and wished that he could skip this lesson. He already knew what he would see.

"You don't need to fear the future and you shouldn't. What's going to happen will happen. There's nothing you can do to stop it even though you exist outside of time now," the teacher lectured.

"But you stopped the future once," Tucker argued. It was true. He had stopped Danny's parents, sister, Sam, and him from dying in the Nasty Burger explosion.

"Some things are meant to happen," Clockwork replied simply.

Tucker gave the ghost a sideways look. What he said didn't make any sense. If you can't stop something then how is what you did, what you couldn't change and yet did, meant to be?

"You will find that out for yourself," Clockwork said as he more or less read the boy's thoughts. "Now turn on the viewing screen."

Tucker did as he was told, raising his staff high above his head and pointing it at the circular screen. It flashed white then gray then assorted scenes from Earth and the Ghost Zone began playing. Tucker blinked as he watched thousands of lives and places pass before his eyes. It was more than he wanted to know.

"Stop," Clockwork said. Tucker raised his staff again and froze an image on the screen. It was of his former friend ordering the torture of yet another helpless ghost. "You came to me to save your friend."

"Yeah," the student said softly. He gripped his time staff tighter as he looked into those malevolent green eyes. They were never meant to hold that expression.

"You know what will happen."

"I do."

"Then everything is as is should be."

Sam's Story

Floors are hard to scrub when you're crying twenty four seven (whether anyone sees you or not), you haven't slept since the day both of your best friends died, and all you have is a toothbrush to do the job with. Other than that the task was easy since it required mindless work. Sam didn't have to think about it. It was merely a matter of doing. She didn't care that she was now a slave to her worst enemy. She didn't care that she hadn't seen Mrs. Fenton since the day Vlad brought them both to his mansion. She didn't care that she was in constant physical, mental, and emotional pain. She was past all of that. Her life was worthless now and all she cared about was how long would it take her metaphorical clock to stop ticking. All she ever wanted was to die. However, Vlad didn't make it that simple.

No, he could control what she did and didn't do. He could monitor her actions and prevent her from ending her own life. All he had to do was press and button. She hated him.

At first she had tried to outsmart him. She tried to trick him. She tried to sneak around him. All of her efforts were in vain. In the end he won. He got what he wanted. He got to torture her until she didn't even make a noise to show that she was indeed alive physically. The good news was that her mind wasn't that far from the land of the dead. She wasn't that far from Danny.

King Phantom

He didn't remember. He didn't remember how he died. He didn't remember anything before the moment he woke up in the Ghost Zone at the center of the ballroom, lying on his back, staring at the ceiling. As far as he was concerned, he hadn't existed before that moment. And, like all other ghosts, he didn't care about 'before'. All he cared about was 'now'.

What did he want now? He wanted to be in control. He liked the idea of being king. The occupation was boring, but it had its perks. He could have anything he wanted. If he wanted food he was given it. If he wanted attention, that was his too. If he wanted someone to disappear forever, they disappeared forever. Everyone and everything was his to command. He earned that right all by himself.

When he first woke up in the Ghost Zone he had been all alone. There was nobody. He knew nothing about himself or the world he was in. All he knew was what he wanted, company. He wandered through the endless abyss of the realm until he found Skulker. Skulker seemed to already know him and was surprised when Phantom didn't automatically recognize him. Eventually, after some explaining, Skulker understood the situation. Thus, he tried to skin Phantom. The good news was that Skulker failed. The bad news was that both of them, and everyone else who heard about it later, discovered just how powerful Phantom was now that he was a full ghost. They discovered that he was capable of destroying whole chunks of the Ghost Zone. They found out that he could do that and more and not even become tired. They learned that he was too powerful.

To appease the new ghost, they made him their king. They served him and his every whim. Whatever he said went. Whatever he wanted they gave. They feared him. He liked that. Why change a good thing?

With this new ruler, came a new era: the reign of King Phantom. Order was brought to the hapless, chaotic world known as the Ghost Zone. Everyone had a job and a purpose now. There were rules and those rules were enforced. There were cities, towns, and other such things now. There were events and gathering places. There were names and there were numbers and there were things that ghosts simply had to know now. This was the new afterlife. The past was gone forever. This was the reign of King Phantom.