EPILOGUE
In a blank space in the universe, outside of the rules of physics and matter and time, there exists a strange place, a very peculiar place made for the observation of all deviations of time itself, monitoring and influencing the timeline down to below the nanosecond of its passing.
Every possibility, every movement of everything, from the marching of elephants to the flap of a butterfly's wings, everything is seen here. For a mortal man to take it all in and understand it in full, one would have to be godlike in intellect or insane in rationale, merely to comprehend it.
But the one who rules this place does more than just understand it, and also contributes to its flow and movement.
The one who rules this place is named Clockwork, who is alone in this strange palace with one young woman who no longer exists. She was a young half-ghost woman named Danielle Phantom; she is only just aware of where she is, she barely understands how she got here, and she does not know where to go from here.
Danielle thought herself not dead, but unborn and nonexistent moments ago. If not for the powers that kept her existing, she would have been, but they did not let her.
She has been kept in existence and brought to this strange lair of Clockwork, for the purpose of helping the ghost of all time carry out his greater plans. Currently, if the concept of 'currently' can still apply here, she is being shown on a globe a vision of the future which Clockwork has in mind, and what he was trying to accompish by his trials with Danny Phantom.
And after seeing the plan, she understands.
"Oh... So that's why you had to do what you did." Danielle said.
"Yes. I have a plan in effect to change the Earth for the better, a betterment that will not only make it content at last, but also the Observants, and my plan is proceeding well. You are a part of this plan, just as you have always been since you first came into existence.." Clockwork answered.
The sound of footsteps landing on the floor were also heard, catching both her attention and that of Clockwork's, leading both to turn and see another visitor to his domain. Landing on the floor following a flight through the Ghost Zone, the two came to face with the only other person still carrying conscious knowledge of the time that now no longer exists:
Vlad Plasmius.
"Danny's on his path. He still doesn't remember a thing." Vlad said.
"I know. Good work, Vlad Masters." Clockwork said.
"Did you give her the briefing?"
"Yes. She is well aware of our goal, and her place in it."
"Great. So, what happens now?" Danielle asked.
"You no longer exist in the timeline as I have set it. You will stay here, and you will help me see the correct events unfold. Danny's choice was but the first step of my plan. Next, I move on to bring forth the next guardian. Observe the viewing globe."
Pressing a button on his staff, Clockwork changed the globe to show a volcanic eruption somewhere in Central America, along with two men and a pregnant woman in labor in the midst of it. Noticing the erupting volcano in shock and fear, the group stood with the damning realization of the terror before them, fearing that they would perish in the flames.
The volcano's eruption continued its harsh blast upon the Earth; its firey and deadly lava devouring everything in its path. Mighty fields of trees and many shades of green melted away under its destructive force, leaving only black reminders of what once stood in their places.
As fireballs rained from the sky, the ground trembled and quaked with the wrath of the very Earth itself, the entire world around the group began to rattle them to their core sense of reality from the sheer shock of it all. The spectacle they were in was little more in their minds than the apocalypse itself.
If the group did not move themselves to safety, it might just as well have been.
"These people were meant to perish in the flames of the volcano, and never would the world be aware of their son. They would have given to this world a prince of peace, a man of verisimilitude that bring calm wherever he goes." Clockwork said.
Watching the events of the past play out, Clockwork raised his staff, preparing to press its button.
"The world had never known him before, and it had taken great lengths to see that his kind never exist, with only a very rare, lucky few coming through... but I am in control of the world. I have deemed it time for another one of his kind to arrive. Time is as it should be." Clockwork said.
Then, he pressed the button to his staff.
The child is here.
As if in response to the new life brought upon the Earth, the volcano stopped its eruption in an instant, with the clouds began to retract. Letting the sun touch this scorched Earth yet again, its warm rays and light began turning the black and vengeful storm that once was to a peaceful and serene blue sky.
The panicking animals stopped in an instant, feeling pacified after the maelstrom of the volcano. Anarchy and chaos that was the only rule of the jungle turned to one short and brief utopia among the animal kingdom, prompting them to head forward to the source of this peace.
The cry continues, and all living things come to wonder at this new child and the touch that his arrival had brought. Across all of nature, all life seemed to collectively understand that this was no ordinary human child; this was one of great meaning and one of great power.
With the disaster over at last and a sense of calm brought back to the jungle, Miles and Stella sit Inside the temple with their newborn child, cradling him together. His painful cries from joining the planet Earth turn to playful and joyful coos and babbles as he observes this new world he has entered, greeted to it by the caring arms of the selfsame people that brought him to existence.
"I... I do not believe it. He has silenced all of nature." Eduardo said.
"A miracle baby if I've ever seen one. A baby named Arnold." Stella said.
"Arnold? That's his name?"
"It was my dad's name. He always wanted a grandson."
Hearing the child's name spoken, Eduardo smiled, feeling connected closer to the Shortmans to their first begotten son.
"Arnold. He is a good-looking boy, no?" Eduardo asked.
"He is. He really is. Thank you, Eduardo." Miles said.
"Thank me?"
"We couldn't have made it without you. Thank you for everything." Stella said.
Humbled from the compliment, Eduardo lowered his head in gratitude to the newly-made mother.
Eager to see the fruit of his labor outside the womb at last, Miles held his new son in joy and happiness, knowing that he has finally started his own family. Gently rubbing his nose with his hand, he playfully teased the baby boy, gaining some happy giggles from the infant.
"Hey Arnold. I'm your dad, and this is your mom." Miles said.
The scene is a touching one to the voyeuristic Danielle Phantom and Vlad Plasmius, but the former is still not without her questions to ask the ghost.
"Who is he?" Danielle asked.
"A simple boy known as Arnold Shortman. A child with a heart of gold. Much like you."
One early morning at Fenton Works, Danny Fenton remained home alone; both parents both going to their jobs and working long shifts to pay their bills, and Jazz off to extracurriculars. Left on his own, Danny put his time towards working on the next issue of Danny Phantom: The Living Ghost, trying to save enough money for college to fulfill his lifelong dream of becoming an astronaut.
It is a simple life compared to his previous life as the true Danny Phantom, but it is a dream to aspire for nonetheless, and one much easier to see when his past life is now only but a dream to him. Feeling another plot come to him, he took to a small laptop, typing down the script for Sam to illustrate upon completion...
...but, on this day, Danny has a slight interruption in that task. The doorbell rang, prompting his attention away from his work. Being the only one home, the duty to answer the door is on the shoulders of Danny Fenton, forcing him to close the laptop and head downstairs, answering the door in expectation of a normal visitor.
"Hello?" Danny asked.
But who he was greeted by is no normal visitor, or any to expect.
Danny was met by a strange and unusual gentleman, this gentleman having an unusually large head, wearing a trench coat and a t-shirt with an unsmiling face on the front, and a streak of hair sitting above his head like a blade. Never before has Danny Fenton met this man, nor does he know what he wants.
"Hello, Danny Fenton." The man said.
"Can I help you?" Danny asked.
"My name is Dib Membrane. I've been keeping up on your very popular comic series."
"Uh, hey, look, man, I usually only do this kind of stuff at conventions, but if you want an autograph that badly, I'll sign it, but I just want to be-"
"I know where you get your ideas from. Tell me, if you write about your own life experiences in another timeline, does that count as self-plagiarism?"
The comment is one that Danny does not understand, nor what this stranger could possibly want from him, but the confusion is enough to make him take this man with extreme prejudice against his intentions. His response to the stranger is now one less friendly, demanding now an answer for why he is here.
"What are you talking about?" Danny asked.
"I know about your past life, Danny. What kind of things you've been through, what you're going to write in your comic next. I'm assembling a team of super-powered beings like yourself. I'd like to have you aboard."
DANNY PHANTOM WILL RETURN IN:
DEVILBOY216'S NICKTOONS UNITE
COMING ATTRACTION
Across the desert roads of Nevada, a lone car speeds along the empty highways from nowhere to somewhere. The car is on a destination where only the people within know where they go and why they must go there, but they go with the speed outside of any normal speed limit law, disregarding anything that stands in their way.
But their speed violation is not left ignored by those who are paid to enforce the laws. Despite the lack of other cars to pose a threat on the highway, a lone cop on a motorcycle speeds right back after the car, measuring their speed at well over the 100s on his radar gun.
Playing his siren and chasing back after the drivers, the cop soon brings the car to a stop, leaving the two both sitting on the side of the road to discuss the road infraction. Stepping off his bike, the officer stepped to the window of the car, knocking on it to get the attention of the driver.
Rolling down the window, the driver greeted the officer with a smile.
"License and registration." The officer said.
The driver silently complied with the officer's request, handing him the requested documentation. Looking over the papers, the officer then asked...
"You know how fast you boys were going?" The officer asked.
"Uh... 70?" The driver asked.
"You were goin' damn near 200 miles an hour, buddy. What the hell are you doin'?"
"Got something in the back... gotta get it somewhere."
"Oh, yeah? And what do you need to get there so fast?"
"You don't wanna know, officer. Honest."
Unamused by the driver's lack of cooperation, the officer looked to the trunk, now fully intent on investigating it.
"Open the trunk." The officer said.
The driver knew that he was well within his rights not to comply, but did so anyway, allowing the officer his chance to look.
The officer then stepped to the back of the car to investigate the suspicious cargo, expecting something of the likes of drugs or contraband weaponry to be inside. Stepping up to the trunk, he began to lift it up, peering inside to search for what he believed would be something not legal on this Earth.
But what he saw was not of this Earth at all.
What he saw he had only a split-second to see, before a bright flash of light had lit, and following the end of the flash there was no more sign of the officer. Instead, there was only a pair of smoking boots where he once stood, leaving it as the only evidence that the police officer once existed.
Without the interruption of the officer in his mission, the driver then drove away from the scene, continuing on the goal he set out to do. Speeding far past Nevada, his destination was instead for the neighboring state of California, where one specific city was made as his destination, still standing a full 200 miles away from him.
The city he is heading for is Ocean Shores.
TO BE CONTINUED IN:
ROCKET POWER: ZERO GRAVITY
COMING SOON
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Your friendly neighborhood DevilBoy216.
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