EDIT: I changed the part about the part where Clockwork and the Observants. Tell me what you think!
Chapter 3: Seeing Double
"In the long run, we shape our lives, and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility."~Eleanor Roosevelt
"Where are we?"
Amity Park, Danny thought, gazing at the overhead gray skies. He thought he would never meet his horrible future again. The rotten stench and dead surroundings were all too familiar. This was Amity Park, ten years into the future. But that's impossible! This can't happen! He didn't cheat in the C.A.T! None of it was suppose to happen. How was it possible that this future still exists?
Valerie stared at the raven-haired boy. "What did you say again?" Danny wanted to bang his head onto the wall for his sheer stupidity. Did he just say his thoughts out loud? "Well?" The ghost hunter demanded, waiting for a response.
He looked up at the African American girl, and understood there was no way Valerie was letting this one go. Even if he did come up with an excuse, they would figure it out sooner or later. He might as well tell them the truth.
"Amity Park," he said. The moment he said those words, everyone gawked at him.
Sam and Tucker were surprised by Danny's confession to the entire group, while Dash, Paulina, and Star is completely appalled by the loser's declaration. Mr. Lancer's jaw dropped. Valerie staggered back a few steps, shocked that this wasteland was actually the hometown she grew up with.
Danny's eyes widened when the young ghost hunter bumped into a statue from behind. He remembered that statue! It was the large monument of his friends and family, their familiar smiles plastered on the crumbled, cold stone. Everyone gasped. Why is there a statue of these people in Amity Park?
"Anne Frank's Diary!" Lancer proclaimed, pointing at a statue of himself. Clearly printed in the grey stone was a single word, 'GONE.'
Panic began to fill Danny's lungs, a thousand thoughts and possibilities swarming his mind. How was he going to explain all this? The statues, the destruction...Heck, he had just told a bunch of his classmates and teacher that this wasteland was Amity Park! Everyone was now glaring at him, demanding for an explanation.
Paulina was the one who was the most curious of the bunch. She knew there was something special about the geek. After all, the ghost boy wouldn't be at the same place as him unless it was a coincidence. The loser must be a friend of the infamous Inviso-Bill; otherwise her soon-to-be-boyfriend wouldn't be spending time with such a geek.
"How do you know all this, Fenton?" Dash demanded, for once not calling him rude names. The raven-haired boy sighed. He had a lot of explaining to do, but before he could, a familiar voice spoke out far into the distance.
"Hello? Who's there?"
Turning around, was an older futuristic version of Valerie in red, standing on her hovering board with a surprised look on her face. A single gasp escaped her lips, looking at a deceased teacher who had somehow rose from the dead and younger versions of her classmates, including herself.
Sam put her hands over her face. "This is so wrong," she groaned.
A dark shadow casted over the clock-filled tower. The usual chiming clocks were now silent, leaving only the sound of a time staff being rewinded. Clockwork gazed at the monitor; the screen is fizzled and disoriented. He had watched Time for as long as it has even existed.
To him, time is irrelevent.
To him, the past, present, and future is merely words.
To him, he knew everything.
Many people and ghosts always conceived him as a manipulative old spirit, but he is only doing his job. He is the Master of Time. Not the universe's babysitter. Nor is he a miracle worker. The Observants are no different, brandishing their so-called powerful status as if they controlled the entire universe. The Observants are behind him at this moment, looking very displeased.
"Now do you understand?" The one-eyed ghost piped up, pointing their green finger at the screen, which only revealed static like a television screen. "His future cannot be seen!" Clockwork simply continued rewinding the knobs of his staff. Of course his future cannot be seen! Interfering with the time stream is a very dangerous and tricky business. He could see what would happen if he himself interfered with time, but add the Observants into the picture and he can't see anything. Which is why Clockwork is his employers.
Too bad they weren't really the brightest bulbs in the box.
"We cannot be certain where his motives will lie," the second observant said.
"I have faith Daniel will pick the right choice," he replied, finally finished tuning in the staff.
"He cannot be trusted! Did you not see the monster that is locked up in your lair?" One of the Observants replied angrily.
"And I suppose I should trust your judgment?" The Master of Time replied, morphing his appearance to an adult. His face was neutral, unmoving, yet if you look closely, there was a a little twitch on the corner of his ghostly lips. True, there was no reason why he shouldn't have allowed Daniel to live. It was only a matter of time before Daniel, no, Phantom escapes from his metal container. But there was a reason why he exists in the time-stream, in this place. "You do realize that none of this would of happened if it weren't for your meddling…"
"We had reasons to suspect you, Clockwork." The ghost answered. Clockwork sometimes wished their was some other spectral being with time manipulative powers so he wouldn't have to explain these things again. He was simply too old for this.
"You distrust me." He said that as if it were a simple statement. The Observants nodded. "How quaint." When hasn't the Observants trust him? They rarely trusted anyone. Not even themselves. They only see others as pawns. At least he was aware of the consequences he was making to "influencing" another person's choices.
"Danny Phantom must perish, by order of the council. Although his future is unreadable, the risk of letting him live is rather high," the Observant argued. Ah yes, the council. Always observing and never lifting a finger.
"Daniel is my responsibility," Clockwork replied.
"But is it enough?" The ghost questioned. "The universe is at stake simply by his existence."
The old argument never fails to amuse him. It's a wonder why they always make the same mistakes time and time and again, but then again history repeats itself, and in this case, the Observants make the same mistakes every time. They didn't understand. Time is like a river, going at different paths, including the twists and turns of life. All the Observants saw was a straight path, which is why he was here in the first place.
The Master of Time looked at the monitor, the static suddenly gone and replaced with an image of a group of familiar high school students from the present time, gaping at the dead city and future Valerie. Clockwork smirked.
"And I suppose you know all the answers?" He said. The Observants, for once, were speechless.