And that's what happened. Due to Earl's experience with computers and basements/boiler rooms he found a job in a boiler room of a business (I'm not sure what kind it was...some sort of corporate thing). He mostly kept up maintenance of the boiler and pipes, but was sometimes called in to do electrical work. Ratticus worked there too, but as a janitor (mostly because he was less squeamish than humans about certain things...). It turned out that Earl still had his account, the one he had from when he was a kid, but since he had made a lot of purchases when he was younger it didn't have much left despite the gradually-increased interest he gained over the years. Still, it did make a good foundation, and when it was combined with Earl's paychecks and Ratticus's paychecks it eventually grew into a good enough amount to get a small, three room building (bedroom, bathroom, and sitting room/kitchen). After they got the house Earl picked up all his old toys and electronics, but true to his word he destroyed the photos and related items. Since he was starting a new life he didn't want any bad reminder of his past life.
Both his job and the community service taught Earl how to treat others better, and he ended up realizing that he had never really treated Ratticus like a friend at all. To his horror, he realized that he had been treating Ratticus almost the same way his parents treated him. Once he realized all this, he apologized to Ratticus.
"It's okay Earl, I had a feeling that deep down you cared about me." Ratticus smiled. "You just didn't know how to show it."
Earl nodded sheepishly.
They then hugged, and for the first time in his life Earl felt complete.
Billy and Earl hit it off as friends right away, though it took Lydia and the others a while. Lydia was first, mostly due to loving Billy that much. Marcus was next, since he and Earl shared a love for technology. Ruby took much longer, but eventually even she had to admit that she was wrong for thinking that Earl was a 'loon-burger'.
As the years passed it was like Billy and the others had forgotten about Earl's life as The Phantom. Even Earl himself seemed to forget, he even got rid of his cape and hat!
Eventually, Billy and Lydia married. Marcus and Ruby also found their own true loves. Earl and Ratticus never did, nor did Earl ever regain full physical health, but they didn't mind. Well, at least not about the 'not finding a girl' part. It turns out that Earl was so desperate for friends as a kid that he ended up not caring about getting a girlfriend, not even during junior high. He was never jealous of couples for the romance they shared, though he was jealous of them and everyone else for the friendship and closeness they shared. Because of this Earl didn't mind not having a girlfriend even into adulthood, and never attempted to date. In Ratticus's case he knew he was too unique to ever find 'the one', which he learned before that one time Earl turned the school into a sewer.
Earl and Ratticus stayed in close contact with Billy and the others, and eventually they became like uncles to the next generation. That's right, Billy and Lydia's son and daughter, Marcus's daughter, and Ruby's son.
Earl and Ratticus stuck with the jobs they had previously gotten. They didn't need more money, since they were used to living on meager or no amounts. Earl did keep up his tastes for history-related items and fancy furniture, but he tried not to indulge on buying them. He did get plenty of those items as gifts though, for both Christmas and his birthday.
Billy went on to become a famous baseball player. Lydia decided to create a video game series based on their past life in junior high, except there was no enemy. It was just an adventure series with puzzles. Marcus of course finally got hired by a computer company - well, he would've gotten hired a lot earlier but his parents were against it...he was only around ten or eleven at the time. Ruby became a famous actress.
Despite their busy and sometimes travel-inducing jobs not a single member in this group of friends ever lost contact with each other. And they continued remaining friends until the end of their days...or the end of time. It depends on your perspective of the afterlife.