Chapter Text
Clockwork stared at Nothingness.
The Infinite Realms felt still. Far from its usual muck of chaos and mayhem. Its denizens were subdued, the multiverse reflecting the emotions of its most essential pillar of existence.
In Clockwork’s arms, he held his young King’s ghostly essence. It was muted, reflecting the Realms’ sentiments.
He was mourning, after all.
His King had been happy. He had finally revealed his ghost self to his parents, and contrary to what they all expected, Madeline and Jack Fenton had been horrified.
Not at their son’s nature, but at the fact that they’d been hunting Danny. Their own son.
After their initial shock that they’ve been blasting lethal shots at their teenager, Danny found his ear twisted by his mother, who yelled about keeping it a secret for so long, how he ran circles around them, and how ‘we could have killed you, Danny! One lucky shot was all it took, ohhhh, you are SO grounded, young man!’
But nothing could have erased the relieved grin from Danny’s face even as his parents’ rants followed him for a week. He confessed to them, once his glee abated, that he thought they’d kick him out once they knew. Or worse, do what Jack often declared and tear him molecule by molecule.
His father looked horrified at that. “Danno, we wouldn’t do that! We’re not the best, but we love you both! Even if you’re half ectoplasmic entity! You remember about that worm talk we had? We’d build you and Jazzy-bear a worm house if you got turned into worms!”
Their guilt over the fact that Danny was a half-ghost in the first place because of them made them more receptive to learn more about ghost culture. They weren’t happy about the denizens’ in-built violent tendencies, but since Danny gave as good as he got, the panicked duo was pacified and was more than content to study ghost culture and biology instead of trapping them. It didn’t stop them from arming Danny to the teeth with Fenton weapons that worked for him instead of against him, thrilling both Danny and Tucker.
”Dude, these are some sick gear! We should’ve told your parents years ago!”
Jazz had just been mainly relieved. She had always felt anxious leaving her brother alone with her parents, and had lost several days of sleep when Danny told her he finally wanted to tell them.
“I’m already at the airport, Danny, you can’t stop me. I don’t care that I’m missing class, the uni will still be standing when I get back. Wha- no, you can’t take care of yourself. Your stupid butt needs backup! It’s better I come with you now, what if I come home on spring break and find bits of you in a glass container or something?!”
Danny had decided to take up the mantle of Ghost King and couldn’t explain why he was going to be missing or out of communication for a long amount of time. He probably wasn’t going to college either. Jazz wanted to tell her brother to just run away or lie. She had a spare room in her apartment; they could pre-record chats, pretend Danny was with her, or something. She was that wary of their parents’ reaction.
But her brother looked ready to cry when he asked her for support, and Jazz didn’t have the heart to tell him to stop.
She still loved her parents, ecto-warts and all. Danny did too.
She, Tucker, and Sam had been ready to bust Danny out of the house if the reveal went bad. She would tranq her parents if it came to that, bind them in their own glowing nets if needed. Jazz raised that boy through his every shenanigan; she’d be damned if her parents broke his heart. Or any part of his body.
After a tense hour of waiting outside the living room and hearing no explosions, Jazz took a wary peek and found a sobbing, hugging puddle on their linoleum. Even their mother was crying. Jazz didn’t join them, but she smiled in relief.
Even Vlad was mostly subdued, having his identity as the Wisconsin Ghost revealed by a vindictive, tattling Danny who expected his parents to charge, guns blazing.
But he didn’t quite get the reaction he wanted.
Oh, they were angry that Vlad was basically their son’s nemesis and had been quite the pest, but once Danny grumbled about how Vlad got his powers and why he was so neurotic, the waterworks started again. Jack’s tears had barely dried when he learned about Danny, and then the dam broke again once he learned about Vlad.
Once Vlad understood what the hell Jack was blubbering about after he leapt out of the van and onto Vlad’s doorstep, he grew livid that the ruse was up and transformed. But Vlad had barely begun his rant about Jack ruining his life, only for the larger man to squeeze his (former) best friend in a bear hug, bawling. Vlad looked stunned, forgetting that he could have easily phased out of Jack’s grip.
Their mother was frowning, an ecto-blaster in her arms, ready to cut Vlad in half at the slightest provocation, but it seemed Vlad was genuinely bewildered at the remorse Jack was showing.
Ghosts can sense emotions and Jack drowning Vlad in them clearly broke the billionaire. Enough that Vlad didn’t show his face in the following months and stopped obsessing over his Maddie and making Danny his heir.
It was bliss for the young Ghost King. He had his friends and family, and a hopeful future ahead.
Only for the GIW to kill everyone he loved.
Once they realized they weren’t getting anything from the Fentons, the GIW decided to cut loose ends. It was quick. Methodical. Just a few impulsive orders from above. Something that was so out of the realm of possibility that Clockwork didn’t even imagine it could happen. He had been deep in his rest, startled awake at the sudden waves of grief and agony the Infinite Realms were manifesting, in tune with its fledgling King.
He found Amity Park utterly destroyed, not a living thing in sight. His King was transformed into a grotesque version of his ghost self, wailing in rage, his sorrow reverberating throughout the world as he clutched his sister’s horribly mangled corpse.
He found his family and friends’ cooling bodies. And in turn, his turbulent emotions had taken every life in his town.
And try as he might, Clockwork could not undo it.
Pause.
He was Time itself, yes. The strands of every second that happened and will ever happen were at his fingertips. Time would be one of the very few beings to exist until the True End. He had access to every maybes and every infinite stroke of a butterfly’s wings that could lead to a different timeline.
But Danny… this Danny was now also a vital part of the multiverse and the continuum. He was rooted to the Realms after he accepted his role. The ‘verses have changed shape to suit him, embracing his core of kindness and empathy.
And the Ancients could not truly interfere with each other’s domains.
Danny had laughed when he first touched Pariah’s throne, not realizing that the Forces… the Presence, had decided to acknowledge his claim. The hush throughout the Realm, Clockwork felt it the moment those half-mortal hands touched the blackened iron.
Danny did not need the blessing of the other Ancients to be King. The realm itself decided.
“I expected pain or something, but it tickled a little! And then felt like a warm hug. That’s all.” Danny had shrugged, wearing faded jeans and a ratty NASA shirt, grumbling when Sam nudged him to be more polite in front of the flabbergasted Ancients and Observants.
Nobody told Danny what happened.
Pariah Dark may have been the Ghost King, but the multiverse did not bow to him. The Infinite Realms, home to every power the multiverse cannot comprehend with its limitedness, had been chaos incarnate under his rule because he sought to subdue them all.
But Danny did not seek to rule. And so the Presence gave the clueless teen everything Pariah ever dreamed of having… and then some.
He was now the heart of the Realms.
All that power and influence was now tethered to Danny.
If Clockwork changed Danny’s fate, made it so that his family still lived, everything would be affected.
If Danny had not taken the first steps to reclaim the throne, then perhaps Clockwork could have restarted Time. It would have been as easy as a blink.
But now, it was like digging into the depths of a mountain to get to the cracked gem beneath. To do so would destroy the foundations of the mountain… the Realm, and End it. Restart it. Begin again. He could build another mountain… but it would not be the same. Not really. Clockwork would have to drag down every being whose power is lesser than his, and possibly rewrite them. They would be identical… but would they be really Danny’s?
His King would not want that. He wouldn’t want another version of his family, his friends. He was already feeling the loss of what he had. He would continue to do so even if Clockwork had somehow restored everything.
In the millions of possible versions of this timeline, none were this bad. It had been a human’s evil split-second decision that placed the multiverse at risk.
Not even Dan was this bad. Dan Phantom’s timeline was the result of an accident, and that version of his King still laid waste to his own universe in his grief.
This was deliberate. Cold murder.
How laughable. That the Ancient of Time could not undo this one specific thing that threatened to rip everything in pieces.
His King was now a brilliant wisp of light that fit within Clockwork’s palm. He had soothed Danny, preventing the deterioration of the Realms. He told him his parents and sister were going to be ghosts, and so were his friends. Even Vlad, who was assassinated while he was in his office, was going to regenerate as Plasmius.
“Not now, my King. Someday.” Clockwork comforted. “It will take some Time for them to appear, but you feel them, don’t you? They’ll be here.”
The little light pulsed, still deeply asleep. Clockwork mused that Daniel probably realized the effect he had on the Realms and decided to hide within himself for now.
“It’s absurd that everything hinges on a child getting a hold of his emotions.”
“Nocturne.” Clockwork greeted. The Ancient of Unwaking floated into being beside him. “The meeting is over. Dorothea just left.”
Nocturne ignored his words and stared at the ball of light. “To think that if they attempted to kill the King instead, he’d have been fine and none of this would have happened. Instead, those mortals aimed at the one fragile point of his existence that could have broken him completely.” Nocturne frowned. “We are one tantrum away from being Ended.”
“You know that’s not true,” Clockwork said. “Daniel was not informed of his powers. There are ways to make it so he does not always reflect upon the Realms. It is our own failings that we did not teach him this.”
“You said it so. The others agreed.”
“I did not foresee. I wanted him to retain his mortal half. And this timeline was supposed to be flawless.” Clockwork sneered. “Again, Chaos is outside of my domain. We are not fully omniscient. As the Presence is fond of reminding us.”
“You truly did not See this, hm? Master of Time.” Nocturne mocked. Still, he reached out a hand towards the ball of light, giving it a soft touch. “Our King needs to be whole again, but how can he heal when those who can do so are unreachable? Do not tell me you are leaving him in this… fledgling state.”
“No,” Clockwork said, cupping the light back within his arms. “He needs his humanity. The Fentons… he will have them back in time. That knowledge comforts him now. His family will be part of his Fraid in the future, I can See it. But he does need to heal his wounds. And his guilt over the lives he took.”
Danny wiped out Amity Park, along with the GIW agents who took his family’s lives then tried to escape. Those men were now enjoying the Ghost Warden’s special brand of hospitality. As for the mass civilian casualty…
Nocturne scoffed. “All those people got the Afterlives they desire, as they were part of the King’s beginnings. What more could he want, then?”
Clockwork sighed. “The failings of immortals. We do not value what our King does.”
Yes, everything had been tied up neatly. The people from Danny’s town are now probably better than they were before, as they were granted either whatever Heaven they believed in or a new life in another dimension that promised happiness. And of course, Danny still got to keep his loved ones, only they needed time to recuperate.
But that was not the point. Danny should not lose his humanity. Clockwork knew it was what made him special, what made the Presence choose him. Half-mortal, half-Being… Danny knew both, and the Realms needed the Balance.
Danny was one of the few rare beings who wanted to do things because it was right, not because it was easy to resolve with a wave of a hand. That sounded ridiculous, but it was true. Even with all the powers he would have in the future, Danny, with all the humanity and morals embedded into his Core as he grew, would never truly gain the mind of an immortal and would know how important living and free will truly are.
Even Clockwork does not understand, not really. Wouldn’t everything be easier if they’d just… be?
And so the Presence truly is safer in Danny’s core. Danny would not manipulate Fate or Destiny just because he felt he could do better. He would not feel the urge to take control or believe everything was his fault because he had a way to change it.
No greed for power, no heavy guilt for things he should not control. Just is.
Clockwork’s vision was clear. This multiverse had a long, long Time ahead of it with Danny as the crowning glory of its stars.
Now, to make sure his young King’s light would continue to glow for eons…
“You will live again.” Clockwork declared. “A new mortal family, isn’t that wonderful? The life that was taken from you… you can have it. And you’ve always felt alone in your heroism, didn’t you? Well, we can’t have that…”
His King will be nurtured into the person the Realm needs. He’d be stronger and happier for it, too. And when he returns, whether at the end of his second natural life or through the use of his powers, his family will be waiting for him.
“May you live in interesting times, Daniel.” Clockwork smiled, letting go of the faintly glowing orb as it disappeared into the new world he had chosen. Fascinating people, Danny’s new parents. Almost unchanging in all dimensions. The addition of a child Ghost King will surely rattle their world. His father’s, especially. “Good luck.”
As the last flickers of Danny’s light vanished, the Realms answered in turn. Almost into a form of slumber. It was peaceful. Still.
Clockwork sighed and turned back to the palace. “Now to make sure the Princess isn’t smiting the Observants for annoying her…”