Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Danny Phantom.

Note (11/6/2020): Quick disclaimer, I looked up some real private schools in Wisconsin and picked the one I thought would fit Danny best but since I don't know much about them I'm going to be making up a school loosely based on the one I chose. Also ooo, I couldn't resist what I did in this chapter as a nod to a fancomic I happen to enjoy very much so I hope you're ready for something very special!


Chapter 35: Past Mistakes; Future Problems


Danny's POV

Do you want to know what the best part was about going into town with Vlad? No, it's not that most of the people we came across already knew exactly who he is and knew better than to try bombarding him with questions about why I was with him because of that 'unapproachable' air he gives people sometimes, which I'm actually thankful for now in some cases, it's because I can't tell you how long its been since I've been able to walk around in general without worrying about a ghost showing up and attacking me every five seconds. Plus, Vlad knows this town like the back of his hand so he made sure to point out anything I might find interesting. Things like where the mall is, which places had the best food to eat, places to go shopping for anything I might need, places where I could just hang out, good places to fly without much risk of being spotted, you know stuff like that.

Of course, it's going to be a lot different going to these places myself. I'm never going to get used to riding everywhere in a limo though so I hope I can convince him to have one of his ghost drivers use one of the sports cars instead so at least it won't stick nearly out AS much. I mean, ok, it's still a sports car so that's ALWAYS going to stand out, but honestly, if it's only me I really don't need all that extra space. Besides, the town isn't all that far away from the castle so if I really wanted to I argued that I could easily fly here in less than an hour at top speed...

Speaking of flying, another thing I'm happy about is the fact that my ghost powers seem to be working normally again which meant the Autumn chill in the air didn't really bother me that much, in fact, I felt much more energized being out and about. Vlad must've predicted that I needed a change of scenery before we got all serious again about meeting Clockwork so I appreciated him taking the time to do this. As for seeing Clockwork, that's just something I feel like I need to do before I can finally let go of the past and enjoy the new lease on life both of them have given me by freeing me from Dan's shadow.

I still want to sort things out with Sam and Tucker, but I promised Vlad I would focus on getting myself straightened out first before attempting to talk to them again which is probably a good idea anyway. Still, when I brought up the issue with my friends Vlad started acting a bit strange like he was hiding something, but I didn't want to accuse him of anything because he's probably just worried that I'm setting myself up to get hurt all over again so I guess I can kinda understand his concern. If nothing else, at least I know I can talk to Valerie without the same awkward weirdness as before since Vlad assured me she's pretty happy with their new living space and Valerie wanted him to tell me that she's relieved I'm alright now.

I just hope Sam and Tucker are too...

Anyway, once Vlad finished showing me most of the notable places in town he decided to take us a little further out to see the private school he's going to be signing me up for. He figured we might as well while we're in the general area and I gotta say once we got there it wasn't what I was expecting at all. The school was tucked away in this beautiful forested area with a large clearing of grass around it and behind the trees at the back of the school, there was a large lake with a few other school buildings along a fully paved walkway. Honestly, I was expecting the place to be something more...glitzy if that makes sense. And when I asked him why he chose this school for me Vlad explained-

"There are several reasons I chose this school but the main one is that I wanted to avoid putting you in the public eye too much. If I had signed you up for a more elite private school there would have been plenty of students from wealthy families who have business connections with one or more of my companies that would no doubt either feel threatened by you or the need to worm their way into your good graces simply for being associated with me.

"And while I have no doubt you could handle such nuisances with ease, the whole point of enrolling you in a private school as opposed to a public high school is to help you thrive and show everyone the great things I already know you're capable of little badger," Vlad began with one of his absurdly confident smiles, glancing over at me from the driver's seat as we drove further behind the school to get a better view of the lake.

Continuing where he left off, Vlad said, "The instructors here will give you the one on one assistance you need to catch up of course, but at the same time much of your education will rely on your independent studies so whether you succeed or fail is entirely up to you and they're willing to work with you to help you reach your goals. As such the only pressure you'll be dealing with is your own. As I said, I know how clever you are, Daniel, you learn very quickly and can adapt to almost any situation which will serve you well in the future..."

"And on a more personal note, I would also like for you to use this opportunity to make some new friends," he admitted with a bit of reluctance, "You deserve to be around other people that share mutual interests with you for once. So while I know those two mean a great deal to you, there comes a time to accept that you've drifted apart and no longer share as much in common anymore. It may surprise you that I had a brief conversation with your mother about this actually. Maddie...said she missed our friendship which is touching, but I'm afraid it's too late for me. But it's not for you, Daniel. That's why I want you to give yourself that chance to meet others who will appreciate you almost as much as I do."

Vlad smiled at me sadly after that before gazing out at the lake through the trees as we drove past the school again and we both fell silent. To be fair I could see his point about making new friends who won't judge me based on my parents being ghost hunters right off the bat, but in my opinion, it also felt like Vlad was giving up too easily on my parents again without even trying to fix his friendship with them a try which seems really sad to me. Besides, just because I want to make new friends doesn't mean I have to give up the ones I have now so I reached out to rest my hand on his forearm, about to tell him not to give up, when I hesitated-

But what if he's right? I thought, settling back into my seat and looking out the opposite window up at the sky suddenly feeling unsure of myself.

If we keep fighting like this is anything ever going to change between us? And who am I to tell Vlad to give my parents another chance when I'm not even sure if I can take much more of the drama that keeps happening with my own best friends? I know we can't change what happened, but we can at least choose whether or not to let history keep repeating itself, right...?


Vlad's POV

"Are you quite sure that THIS is where Clockwork's lair is Daniel?" I began skeptically when he led me to the edge of one of the oldest regions of the Ghost Zone. "It's such a desolate place and I can't sense anything unusual here."

We had spent the majority of the week tying up loose ends after Whisper's departure so all there was left to do was visit this mysterious friend of his who as I understand it is the one who first gave Daniel the chance to avoid the same fate as the version of himself that lost everyone he loved and became a monster. Everything is ready for him to begin school but this was something Daniel told me he wanted to do for closure more than anything else. Daniel also mentioned that he was hoping Clockwork would be in a talkative enough mood to shed some light on a few aspects of that alternate timeline that he couldn't quite put into words himself but still wanted me to know about.

This clearly meant a lot to Daniel which is the only reason I agreed to go on this little excursion with him in the first place. Along the way we did run into a bit of trouble, however, between the two of us, we were more than a match for any foe we came across so fighting them was more of an annoyance than an actual hindrance thankfully. It felt good to see Daniel applying some of the things I've taught him though such as using defensive maneuvers and his shield more effectively to give him ample time to launch a counter-attack while his enemy is recovering. Besides which, it felt as if I was finally seeing the old Daniel shining through again, the spirited young hero who knew how to hold his own in a fight who at long last wasn't taking nearly as many risks as before either thanks to my guidance.

That alone was making this trip more than worthwhile to me.

"Yeah, I'm sure. The Infimap brought us straight here and it's never led me astray before. Besides, I already explained this to you, you're not SUPPOSED to be able to sense it Vlad because Clockwork usually keeps his tower hidden inside some kind of time pocket or something so random ghosts can't come inside all willy-nilly," Daniel explained with a knowing snicker, "So let's give it a few more minutes and if his tower hasn't appeared by then I'll take that as a sign we should try again some other time..."

With a shrug, Daniel tucked the map back into his belt then continued thoughtfully, "Clockwork usually has a good reason he doesn't want to let me inside like if the Observants are bugging him or he knows I'm struggling with something and doesn't want me to rely on him too much so I had a feeling this might happen. That's why we stopped by Frostbite's first to borrow the Infimap so we'd have a quick shortcut home if this first attempt to visit Clockwork was a bust."

Crossing my arms I nodded, "I do recall you saying something to that effect. Still, I find it rather rude that he can't spare a moment of his 'valuable time' to see you after we've gone through the trouble of fighting our way here. If he's really as omniscient as you say one should think we would be expected."

Daniel didn't reply after that so I sighed heavily and formed an energy ball in my hand to amuse myself while we waited. I needed the distraction since I, unfortunately, did have a pressing matter to deal with once we returned home and I didn't want to keep my hands idle while thinking about this rather irritating issue. It would seem that the Guys in White have been making a nuisance of themselves in Amity Park more than usual lately and poking their noses around Axion Labs and we couldn't have that for a number of reasons...

I suspect they're up to something or another, however, unless it involves Daniel's family, my companies as a whole, or the two of us directly the day to day affairs of Amity Park are no longer my primary concern since I'm not the mayor of that pitiful place anymore. Besides, for Daniel's sake, it's high time they learned how to fight their own battles which Valerie is a fine example of. And now that I think about it, perhaps those government buffoons have finally taken notice of her valiant efforts to keep the ghost population down and they're trying to find out if Axion Labs has anything to do with the Red Huntress, which could potentially become a problem given the secret ghostly nature of her battle suit.

Thankfully, Damon is well aware of this and has taken the appropriate steps to not only protect the interests of Axion Labs, but also his daughter's secret. That means unless the situation escalates I'm sure he can handle whatever the Guys in White have in store, if not, then those issues will be directed to me and will be dealt with decisively. The fact that they've become bold enough to interfere with my affairs again is rather irksome though. Especially when I'm so close to finally helping Daniel regain some level of normalcy in his life by continuing his education and doing all the things I've dreamt of with him at my side...

But I digress.

As the minutes dragged on, I began to feel slightly uneasy as Daniel's silence persisted since he hasn't been shy about speaking his mind and throwing insults at the ghosts we fought on the way here. And some of them were enemies that don't care anymore about what horrible things I might do to them if they attack Daniel since many of them were simply itching for a fight with their favorite half-ghost teenager for old time's sake, but if they're prepared for the consequences of that choice who am I to stop Daniel from showing them how much of a mistake they're making challenging someone who has nothing left to truly fear. With that in mind, I purposefully left the majority of the fighting to Daniel to help boost his confidence since my medical tests can only tell me so much about his current psychological state...

I'm happy to report that I'm not nearly as concerned about Daniel's health anymore apart from the fact that he's been having difficulty sleeping again, but Daniel went out of his way to vehemently assure me he was only feeling anxious about what Clockwork might have to say to us, or more specifically me. His concern is touching of course, however, it still bothered me how much Daniel valued this single ghost's opinion so much almost to the point of worshiping him. True, Clockwork is the one who orchestrated putting Daniel and myself on a collision course so that we could finally put our differences aside to face a foe he could not defeat alone, but to what extent does this ghost actually care about either of us...?

What if Clockwork only assisted him in destroying Dan forever as part of his job to keep balance in both worlds and he honestly couldn't care less about Daniel? I could only imagine how devastated my little badger would feel to learn the only reason Clockwork lent us aid is because he had to to save the world, not Daniel himself, and the moment either of us steps out of line Clockwork will send agents from some other ruined future back to eliminate us. Yes yes I know I'm probably overthinking this, but at least one of us has to be prepared for that remote possibility, I can't be blindly naive about his good intentions since I haven't met him yet. I suppose I'll find out one way or another if Clockwork was as truly trustworthy as Daniel says he is in due time.

Unable to stand the silence anymore, I heaved a heavy sigh after dismissing the energy ball I was amusing myself with like an impatient child and pointed out, "Daniel, I think Clockwork may be preoccupied at the moment after all so we should return home before it gets too late since we have a meeting with your new principle tomorrow and I-"

Stopping mid-sentence when I noticed Daniel hadn't moved an inch from the spot where he was floating for some time now, I flew around to face him directly and saw the look of deep concentration plastered on his face. Concerned, I called out to him but he didn't respond. I even waved a hand in front of his face but there was no reaction, he didn't even blink!

Suppressing the unwelcome thought that something was wrong with him, I leaned back and that's when I finally became aware of the extra weight of something around my neck. Then, looking down I noticed a certain time medallion hanging there which I instantly recognized, it was the same one that fell to the ground when I destroyed Dan's core with the ecto-inhibitor gun Daniel's parents nearly killed him with when this all started. So that could only mean this was Clockwork's doing...

But why would he-

In the time it took me to blink, out of the corner of my eye a large tower flickered into view surrounded by floating gears with lonely statues of the Grim Reaper at the top of it with scythes in their hands just as Daniel described. Turning back to Daniel, I tested if he could be moved but it was as if he were also a statue frozen in place by Clockwork's power. I know Daniel trusts him but to me this was deeply unsettling, however, since he went through the trouble of bringing me here to meet him and trusted me with the knowledge of where such a powerful ghost lives I had no choice but to believe Daniel would be alright here on his own because it would seem that Clockwork only wished to speak with one of us in particular at present...

I was reluctant to leave Daniel behind, especially since I wasn't sure how extensively time was frozen such as if only Daniel's time frozen, if only the immediate area around this tower was apart from myself and Clockwork, or if all of time was at a standstill. Taking a deep breath, I made up my mind and told Daniel I would be back soon even though I knew he wouldn't be able to hear me and flew off to the tower alone. But if Daniel's description of this ghost was to be believed, Clockwork must have had a good reason for isolating me like this instead of inviting him in as well.

I tried not to think about how disconcerting it was that I didn't notice anything amiss at first, but that's the thing about time manipulation, much like the Ghost Zone itself, the laws of the natural world did not apply. And how a ghost such as Clockwork could control time in a realm where it doesn't exist in places and twists itself in others, even with my brilliant mind even I cannot begin to fathom it. So I'll just have to trust Daniel's word that Clockwork only wishes to help in his own...uniquely unorthodox way.


I saw no sign of Clockwork until I reached what I assumed was the main chamber near the top of the tower with viewing portals all around us and the rather irritating drone of clocks slowly ticking and gears turning. In one viewing portal that was left on, specifically so I would notice it no doubt, I was graced with an indirect explanation of the exact moment Daniel was frozen in time and the medallion was placed around my neck before Clockwork retreated and waited for me to notice something was amiss. And honestly, I wasn't sure if that was clever on his part or just childish to go through all this trouble when we only came here BECAUSE Daniel wanted me to meet Clockwork in-person to begin with...

I sensed Clockwork appear long before I heard him announce his presence by winding up what I could only assume was the time staff Daniel described to me that allowed him to focus his power more accurately or what have you when he began with an amused chuckle, "I was wondering how long it would take you to notice I had frozen time, Vladimir. I would have brought you both directly here but thought you might find it too distracting for Danny to remain like that during our discussion because I've been expecting you for some time..."

"Have you now? And you couldn't have simply asked Daniel to remain outside if you didn't want him to overhear something you have to say to me?" I frowned, turning to face him and crossing my arms.

Calmly raising a hand, Clockwork replied, "There's no need for such hostilities. As you have already surmised, if I had any intention of harming you I easily could have. But that's not how I do things."

Waving his staff to change the image on the main viewing portal, Clockwork floated out of the shadows and continued thoughtfully, "But allow me formally introduce myself. I am Clockwork, Master of Time. I oversee the flow of time in order to keep balance and I only interfere directly in the affairs of others when it is absolutely necessary. The young halfa is a rare exception to this rule so I have been helping him both directly and indirectly to lead down the path that would bring about the true end of his greatest enemy-"

His pupil-less red eyes peering up into my own from beneath his hood, Clockwork continued solemnly, "-but you, Vlad Masters, you have yet to face your greatest challenge which unlike his, lies in the past. Not the future."

Softening his gaze, Clockwork surprised me by floating to the viewing portal from a moment ago and ushering me closer, explaining, "Although you think you've always faced your struggles in life alone there have been times I've guided you as well. I have seen your past and what easily could have befallen you had you remained on the destructive path you were on. That is why I waited for the chance to give you and Danny the chance to save one another. It was his final wish..."

"Whose?" I asked in bewilderment when Clockwork smiled and someone else replied-

"Mine," a tired but strangely familiar voice called as the soft clack of a cane hitting the stone floor beneath us seemed to signal for all the other ticking to cease and I turned to see none other than another Vlad standing before me.