DISCLAIMER: I own absolutely none of the properties you will see here. All rights go to their respective owners.
What If?
Chapter 3: Heroes Reborn Part 2
After witnessing the attack by the half-ghost who now called himself 'Stan Plasmius,' Clockwork, though feeling sorrow for this timeline's Danny, was curious how this one moment, like Serenity's change, would alter the fate of the heroes of this world. He knew that despite how vastly different this universe was from his own, there were still some semblances of the world he hailed from. Jake Long, the American Dragon, still became the hero who safeguarded the realms of both magical creatures and mankind. Though that was quite harder to do since metahumans were greatly disliked by the populace. For in this universe, Wilfred Masterson, who became president, had spread his xenophobic belief that anyone who had powers were dangerous and should be shunned and arrested.
It was not just the president's sentiment but that of the mayor of New York as well. In the main universe, David Xanatos had no political aspirations. But here, in this timeline, he had desired a seat at the table, wanting it to be a stepping stone for a journey to the White House. Like Masterson, he too had spread the fear of metahumans in the masses. However, while Xanatos championed the idea of humans before metahumans, perhaps that sentiment wasn't entirely true. There had been rumors that the mayor had been experimenting with metahumans, but that was a tale for another time. What Clockwork was really concerned with was the ripple effect Stan's attack on the expo had on this universe and its heroes. So, not wasting another moment, Clockwork peeled away the layers of time and space to see the ramifications of that day and the outcomes it had created.
The first thing Danny felt was nothing.
No pain. No shock. No semblance of agony was felt in his body.
And that scared the hell out of him.
He remembered bits and pieces of what had happened at the expo. It may have felt like something of a bad dream, but he could still recall the pain he was in at the time. Now, something had changed. He felt nothing. Not even the slightest of chills could be felt on his skin. At first thought, the young man thought that he was dead. It seemed to make the most sense at the time. All he saw was darkness, and he felt nothing. Perhaps this was it. This was the afterlife that his parents had long tried to reach all these years. He tried to move but couldn't. He could only continue to be trapped within the shadows. It wasn't just that he couldn't feel anything psychically, but emotionally as well. The only sense he felt as though he had was fear. A fear that he could not escape from.
If he still had a heart, it would be pounding in his chest right now. Nothing made sense to him anymore. Was he awake? Was he dreaming? Was he even alive? The fear he felt ran out of control in his mind like a wildfire consuming a forest. As terror and panic devoured every thought he had, something unexpected happened.
He heard a voice.
"Danny? Are you there?"
The moment he heard the voice, he instantly recognized it. It was the voice of his girlfriend, Sam Manson, and although she enjoyed all things dark and grim, hearing her voice filled him with a light of hope that he had never heard before. He tried to call back to her. To try and tell her where he was, but he still couldn't speak.
"Danny, if you can hear me, try to move," Sam instructed.
Try to move? How in the world was he supposed to do that? He was trapped in inescapable darkness. How was he supposed to move so much as a finger? Yet despite the odds that were against him, for Sam, he would move mountains for her. So, with what energy he could muster, he forced himself to move. He didn't know if he was moving his hand or foot, but every nerve in his body was screaming at his body to just move something. As he fought through the darkness, he started to see a faint light in the distance. Pushing against the darkness, Danny trudged forward to the light, which grew brighter the closer he was. With all his strength, Danny reached out and touched the light. The moment he did so, the light engulfed him in its glow, but what was strange was that it wasn't warm, making Danny wonder what was on the other side.
As the light faded away, Danny found himself in a laying position with a surgical light above him. However, it wasn't just the light that looked down upon him but also the faces of his friends and loved ones. A sense of peace rushed over Danny as he let out a sigh of relief, but that peace instantly faded when he heard the strange metallic sound that escaped his mouth. Was he on some sort of respirator? How bad was he hurt?
"M-mom?" he timidly asked. "W-what happened to me?"
"Ah, I see our patient is finally up," came the voice of an unknown woman.
Curious about the newcomer, Danny slowly sat up from the medical bed, where he was greeted by a disturbing sight. At first, when the young man had awoken, he assumed he was in a hospital. But rather than see the familiar sights of an emergency room, he found himself in what looked like a science lab. All around him were scientists busy flipping switches and monitoring screens that images of Danny on them. At the center of the room was a short, elderly woman wearing a lab coat and goggles atop her head.
"What's going on?" Danny questioned as panic started to set in. "Where am I? Who are these people?!"
"Danny, sweetie, you have to calm down, okay?" Sam soothed. "These people are here to help you."
"Can you remember what happened to you?" Jack asked his son.
"I...I remember being attacked by that ghost that came out of the portal," Danny recollected. "What happened to him?"
"He ran off after the attack. The Pines family chased after him," Maddie explained. "We rushed you here as fast as we could."
"Where are we?' Danny asked, fearing the answer.
Danny's family went silent as a collective look of dread formed on their faces. It was then that Maddie was the first to speak.
"Danny...you have to understand that you were hurt badly," his mother began. "We got you to a hospital. They put you on life support, but the doctors told us that we were only prolonging the inventible. Vlad made several calls to anyone who could help us, but it was all too expensive."
She then gestured to the woman.
"This is Dr. Nora Wakeman. She's the head of OCP's cybernetics division," she continued. "She and her team saved you."
"But why would you go to a cybernetic's team to..." Danny attempted to surmise.
His voice trailed off when he looked down at his hands. No longer were they made of flesh and bone but cold steel. Danny's head then turned to face the window and saw that the face that was looking back at him was one covered in a robotic shell, a visor covering most of his face. Danny let out a horrified scream at the visage that looked back at him as he began to frantically get out of his bed, only for his family to hold him down.
"What have you done to me?!" he demanded.
"Danny, please understand!" his father pleaded. "You were dying!"
"And you turned me into a monster?!" the boy snapped back. "What were you even thinking?!"
"He was thinking about saving your life," Dr. Wakeman interjected. "OCP did this as an act of kindness, and you're just going to spit in our face?"
"Well, he did just find out that he's a cyborg, so you'll forgive him if he's not ready to say 'thank you' just yet," Sam chided.
"Danny, this was the only way we could save you," Maddie said. "Dr. Wakeman's XJ Program has helped various people survive near-death injuries."
"We saved much of your organs," Wakeman added. "And added a few extra surprises as well."
"The hell is she talking about?" Danny questioned.
"Danny, in order to have Dr. Wakeman save you, we had to...agree to a few terms from OCP," Jack answered.
"What your father is trying to say is that they had to sign over your body to the company for us to use your body for our XJ-9 initiative," Dr. Wakeman furthered.
"XJ-9?" Danny repeated in confusion.
"OCP has noticed a rise in what you might call 'super-crime' as of late, and these metahumans are stoking fear into the masses," Dr. Wakeman began. "We need a new form of law enforcement that can combat these superhuman threats. You, Mr. Fenton, are the first in a new line of that law enforcement."
This was so much to take in at such a short amount of time. In just a few minutes, Danny's life had been turned completely upside down. He didn't blame his family for this, but the monster who had done this to him. As he looked at his now robotic hands, all he could think about was keeping someone from sharing his fate. These super-criminals needed to be brought to justice. And if the likes of Dipper and Mabel wouldn't be able to do so, then he would step up to the challenge.
"What do I have to do?" he asked.
Having seen enough of this altered version of his friend, Clockwork moved forward in time to see where this road would lead.
The Master of Time moved forward in time by 12 months, and in just that short time frame, much had changed in Amity Park. Because of the evil they had unleashed, the Fentons had given up their ghost hunting aspirations and instead switched over to working with Dr. Wakeman's team. OCP cleared up any and all legal and financial troubles that the family may have had after freeing Stan from the Ghost Zone, in exchange for their services, of course. Vlad, who had suffered a financial blow, decided to follow in Xanatos' steps by running for governor of Colorado, a race he easily won with OCP's backing. Currently, Clockwork was observing the victory lap Vlad was taking on election night.
"Thank You! Thank you all for this!" he began as he spoke to the crowd. "I swear to serve this great state to the best of my ability, and together, we will make Colorado great again!"
The crowd let out a great cheer in response to the new governor's claims.
"But we will not do this alone," Vlad continued. "We will bring in this state's bold era with the hand of the law. And not just any kind of law, the law of the future!"
Upon saying that, a figure descended from the skies above. The figure was a tall being encased in a dark blue cybernetic body that had a green highlighted trim to it. The being's visor glowed a dark red, making him all the more imposing to those who would dare to break the law.
"May I present, my godson, and the future of law enforcement in this great nation, Danny Fenton," Vlad introduced. "Or, as he's come to be known as...RoboCop!"
RoboCop. That was the name Danny had taken after accepting his role as OCP's chief law enforcer. In exchange for saving his family, Danny served as OCP's chief law enforcer. In Detroit, he brought crime to its knees, especially any form of metahuman crime, such as the time he fought off the infamous pack of mutants, the Mutanimals from kidnapping the mayor of Detroit. He made headlines again when he laid low the hulking cyborg drug dealer known as Cain in a battle atop a skyscraper, shutting down the illegal distribution of a drug simply called 'Nuke' for good. Since then, OCP had been parading Danny as the next generation of officers who would combat the growing metahuman menace.
Unlike the prime universe's RoboCop, Alex Murphy, Danny's incarnation of the cyborg officer was far more advanced thanks to Dr. Wakeman. He was capable of Mach-3 flight, could lift 80 tons with ease, and was armed with an array of weaponry all over his cybernetic body. With this arsenal, Danny could hold his own against any metahuman he faced.
Speaking of metahumans, there was another who had been affected on that tragic day and had been changed as well. It was time for Clockwork to see what had become of Kim Possible.
The rain came down at a steady pace when Ann entered her house. Her husband was still working on a new weapons system with G.I. Joe to combat such threats as Cobra or the Soviet Empire. Jim and Tim were no doubt up in their room, not working on some new high-tech prank, but to hide from their sister. All the lights were off in the house, save for the faint light of the television which emanated from the living room. As Dr. Possible entered the room, she found her daughter, wearing a hoodie and a pair of sweat pants, watching Masters' introduction of RoboCop and his proclamation about the metahuman menace. Kim had her hood up to conceal her face, but Ann knew that even in her silence, her daughter was angry.
"You see this?" Kim asked her mother. "They say that Fenton kid is going to be a regular meta-hunter."
"I heard about it," Ann replied, trying not to upset her daughter. "But that's all the way in another state."
"And how long until they come looking for me?" Kim inquired in a tense voice.
The young girl glanced over to her mom, and though her face was darkened, Kim's bright green eyes could still be seen.
"Kim, no one is going to come after you," her mother assured.
"Because the whole world thinks I'm dead, right?" Kim pointed out.
Kim then stood up from her chair. As she did, she pulled down her hoodie, revealing her snow-white hair and blazing green eyes.
"Well, I guess they're half right," she added sharply.
Shortly after being exposed to the energy of the Ghost Zone, Kim's family quickly got her out of the building before the police, or worse, federal agents could arrive on the scene. With help from several of their friends within the government, the Possibles managed to not only fake their daughter's death but also keep her from being taken by the likes of GJN or G.I. Joe to be either experimented or be turned into a weapon. However, while Kim was safe, that wasn't how she saw it. To Kim, this was a prison sentence. Not to mention that she had now become something inhuman.
"Do you know what this is like?" she continued. "I can't sleep because every time I phase through my bed and fall into the living room. Sometimes I just become invisible at random for hours and pray to God that I can become visible again. I float off of the sofa until I hit the wall. And there are days where I can't eat anything because it just phases out of my stomach!"
Kim fell into tears as she spoke. Seeing her child in pain, Ann embraced her child in a hug. Sadly, she ended up phasing through her child, which in turn only proved the girl's point. Despite being a brain surgeon and rocket scientist, Ann and her husband were vastly out of their element when it came to their child's condition. They had considered going to the Fentons to see if they could help Kim, but after they began to work with OCP, they feared that their daughter would be taken by the company to be used how they saw fit.
"Kim, this isn't an exact science," Ann said. "We need more ti-"
"Don't you dare say 'we need more time,'" her daughter cut in. "You and Dad have had nearly a year, and if you two can't help me, what hope do I have?"
Ann opened her mouth, only to it immediately afterward. What could she even say to her daughter? Instead, all she could do was stand in her own silent shame as her daughter continued to cry. Clockwork, having seen enough, decided to move on. There were still other heroes that were soon to be born.
Again, Clockwork moved ahead in time, but only by three months. There was another individual who attended the expo on that fateful whose life was changing. That person was Dib Membrane, and things had been changing for the young conspiracy theorist for both the worse and, more importantly, the strange. But to properly see how this all unfolded, the master of time had to go to the beginning. He arrived at the point where the boy's life started to change, which was, oddly enough, where Dib discussed the strange and unusual things of the world on his podcast, unaware that he would be one of them.
"All I'm saying is that it's impossible for this to be the only universe," Dib said to his lovely cohost as they discussed the Multiverse on their podcast. "Every choice we make has an equal and opposite reaction, and it no doubt means that those choices have effects that reverberate to such a level that could, in theory, create a whole new universe in of itself."
"I agree, but to how much would a world change from one choice is the real question?" Tak answered. "I mean, for all we know, someone made a choice in one universe, and it ended up creating ours, or vice-versa."
"Now there's something to...to..." Dib attempted to say.
In an instance, the podcaster suddenly fell out of his chair. In a flash, Tak shot of her chair and caught her lover before he hit the ground.
"Dib, are you alright?" she asked as he passed out in arms. "Dib?!"
Clockwork fast-forwarded to three days to the future, where he found Dib, along with his family and girlfriend, in a hospital room. The Membrane family had just been given the most horrendous news. Cancer was a disease that never crossed any of the family's minds. Yet as they looked at the x-ray's, they were faced with a monster that had destroyed so many lives before. Though she did not show much emotion, Gaz was clearly distressed by the news of her brother's suffering. Professor Membrane had bent many laws of science to his will, but this disease was one of the things that he could never master. As for Tak, she had felt conflicted about what had befallen her lover. On one hand, she was still on a mission for the Irken Empire that came first and foremost, but at the same time, she had come to care for the human she had used as part of her deep cover.
It was always known to Tak that, one way or another, she would outlive her human lover. Whether it be that he would perish by some random accident or that she would outlive him entirely. But this was different. This was rot and decay in the worst way possible. However, it was at that moment that the Invader had an idea enter her mind: Perhaps there was a way to save Dib's life.
"Dr. Membrane, a word please," she said to the scientist.
Curious by what she had to say, the mad genius followed his son's lover out of the room so they could talk privately in the hallway.
"Tak, I understand you're upset, but right now, we need to-"
"I understand that you've been conducting research alongside the Umbrella Corporation," the secret alien began. "They specialize in cellular regeneration, correct?"
It didn't take more than a second for Professor Membrane to figure out what Tak was trying to propose.
"That's out of the question," the genius refuted. "The chemotherapy should be able to-"
"You and I both know that Dib won't be able to hold up well to it," Tak cut off. "Our best option, maybe our only option, is to use a sample of the T-Cells Umbrella is creating."
Membrane looked through the window to look upon his son. The cancer had already spread throughout his liver and stomach, and even he knew that the chemo would do little to stop the disease that was ravaging Dib. The Umbrella Corporation's research into cellular reconstruction, though still untested, was the best chance to at least give Dib a fighting chance. He knew that if he did this that he would put his career in danger. Perhaps even be thrown in prison on top of that. But if he meant saving his son, he would do it. So, with a nod, Professor Membrane agreed to the idea.
Clockwork, knowing that this would not end well, moved forward in time to see what the consequences of the professor's actions might be.
Clockwork moved two weeks in time to find Dib, laying on a make-shift operating table with his father standing over him with a syringe in his hand. He had only managed to steal one sample of the T-Cells from Umbrella's lab, but he had surmised that only one dose would be enough to reverse the cancer's effect on Dib. Overseeing this treatment was, of course, Gaz and Tak, both of whom were hoping this would be enough to save Dib's life.
"Are you ready, son?" Membrane asked.
"Y-Yeah," Dib confirmed, though hesitantly.
With that, Professor Membrane interjected the T-Cells into the boy's arm. Clockwork turned away, for he knew from experience in his own universe of what those cells could do, as well as the pain they could bring. However, as much as the master of time feared the creature Dib may become, he had a sense that it would take not only Dib but also Danny and Kim to stop the coming crisis that was headed straight for Earth. And these three individuals, whose lives had been forever altered, would play a major part in what was to come next for the universe.