Chapter 11: All the World's a Stage

Pretending to have all those emotions, be it anger, malice or anything else that fell under the umbrella of 'evil', was exhausting, but at least Phantom had enough experience with monologuing villains to fake it. But spending this whole day in the past, surrounded by the people he saw die ten years ago was too much even for him.

He was making mistakes and things were getting out of hand. He didn't expect Jazz of all people to know Danny's secret, much less to attack him and destroy his disguise, and his past self hadn't even returned yet (what was taking him so long? getting the Time Medallion out wasn't that hard or was Phantom overestimating his skills?).

But this was the final act and the scene was already set, so he could do nothing but play his role.

He rose into the air and made a mocking speech to his parents, calling them out on their ignorance (then again, was he any better to underestimate his sister this much?). He wrapped his parents, friends and teacher in solidified ecto-energy, chaining them to the vat of explosives. Next he created five invisible duplicates and sent them to overshadow the humans – it didn't matter what games Clockwork played, Phantom wasn't going to put them in danger.

But where was Danny?

Then Jazz attacked him (brave girl, if inexperienced) and Phantom had to continue the show (are you watching, Observants?). With his sister tied and gagged too, Phantom created another invisible duplicate, sending it to overshadow her.

He hovered before the trapped humans and faked a laugh to keep up appearances.

Where was Danny?

"Hey there, old man! Ready for a blast from your past?"

Ah, there he was.

As he was thrown away, Phantom shifted his original consciousness into one of his duplicates, and watched through his sister's eyes as his past self promised to never become him.

And that was the whole point of this charade, wasn't it? But his past self really needed to hurry.

The visible duplicate had to remind Danny that time was an issue as they fought (not that it was trying particularly hard – it was supposed to lose after all). The overheated vat was shaking and cracking and Phantom strengthened the invisible shield around Jazz, commanding the duplicates overshadowing his family, friends, and teacher to do the same. He was running out of time… This ruse couldn't continue for long.

Danny had to win, no matter what.

His duplicate said something mocking and it seemed to be enough to give his past self a second wind. He screamed, his voice melting into a Ghostly Wail and if Phantom had his humanity still, he would have laughed at his choice of words.

They really were one and the same, weren't they?

But he miscalculated again. The Wail required too much power, forcing Danny to revert to his human form, and Phantom cursed himself for not going easier on him. Even though the duplicate allowed itself to be sucked into the Fenton Thermos, it was already too late.

They ran out of time.

Danny stumbled and screamed in despair and the overheated vat exploded, the shockwave throwing him away.

The moment stretched for far too long though Phantom knew why – the medallion around his neck was more than enough confirmation. He dissolved the ecto-ropes and stretched the arms of his borrowed body in a far too human gesture.

Phantom floated closer to his past self, still frozen in time. Up close he looked… defeated. Beaten and bloody, his face twisted into an expression of pure horror. "I've really overestimated you, haven't I?" the ghost muttered softly. "A single duplicate using only a fraction of my power and you still couldn't defeat it in time... Though I admit, I was much older than you when I got my Ghostly Wail."

"But the circumstances were quite similar, weren't they?" Clockwork asked, finally deciding to show himself.

"Ironic, I know," Phantom replied. "Well then, Clockwork, have I played my role well?"

The Master of Time smirked at him, "You make a very convincing villain, Phantom, and now I am well within my rights to unmake this mess, though my employers will find something to harp on, no doubt."

Phantom crossed his arms, the metal of his sister's battlesuit clanking far too loudly, "And what does it mean for Danny and I?"

"If you mean this Danny…" Clockwork nodded at the still frozen halfa, "I will reverse this timeline to a previous point in time, and he will continue on as the hero of his story, convincing the Observants that he will never turn to evil. And if you mean your Danny… Well, didn't the two of you want to fuse back?"

Clockwork grabbed the thermos where one of Phantom's duplicates was trapped and used it to capture the other five. Then he pointed the device at the original, not yet activating it, "And you will exist outside of time, once I erase your timeline. Of course, you have to be contained first, unless you want to disappear along with your entire world."

Phantom eyed him warily, "For how long?"

Clockwork shrugged, "Until the Observants get off my tail. And you will need this time – reintegration will not be easy."

Phantom held his gaze for a few seconds, trying to read those red eyes, but finally nodded and left his sister's body, "Very well. But don't try to double-cross me, Clockwork, because I will escape, and Master of Time or not, I will make you pay."

Clockwork was right, they needed that time. Reintegration was slow, since neither had any idea what they were doing, but somehow they managed. They were two halves of the same person and they used it to their advantage, pulling on their shared memories as a starting point.

It wasn't easy – he remembered all the death and destruction he caused with perfect clarity and his newfound conscience tore at him without end. But still he remembered that no matter what he did in his no longer existing timeline, the alternate was much worse. Still, it was a good thing that he was trapped in the thermos at the time – he shuddered to think what destruction he would have brought otherwise with his emotions running rampant.

But time went by and ever so slowly the two halves became whole again. Phantom- Danny- whoever he was now felt like a different person yet still undeniably himself.

He pressed against the metal walls of his prison, listening to Clockwork arguing his fate with the Observants, and wondered if he would ever be allowed freedom.

Time would tell, he supposed.

He had nothing but time.

A/N: Originally, this was supposed to be the last chapter. However, it seemed like kind of a downer ending, so I added another one (if the next chapter seems somewhat tacked on – that is why).