Hello.

Yup, here it is, the end, the finale, the great explanation. As several reviewers have said, Clockwork has been a busy boy. But everything is the way it's supposed to be, so he's also very happy. Hopefully this explains what happened at the end of chapter fifteen, and why it happened. Actually, this should explain why everything happened, and why this is a trilogy. The three stories have had a background conflict involving Cuckoo, going all the way back to the end of the original Pariah war. (Which I will NOT write a fic about! (shoots bunnies))

Thanks and love to all reviewers! Thanks to: Sasia93, "Lisel", Pieling, JDPhoenix, "Quacked Lurker" (seriously. awesome, long and in-depth reviews. much love), hermie-the-frog, Epona Harper, BratCat, Nikky Phantom of theOpera, Unrealistic, Diamond Raider, Writer's-Block DP, SevenStar, AirGirl Phantom, "Linda", Nonasuki-chan, DP fan, Warrior of winds, "Arpeggio", egyptianqueen777, nathow111, Nobody Famous, mattchew, acosta parez jose ramiro, "NNF", Esme Kali Phantom, "Kirika Moonshadow", Meagainsttheworld, Queen S of Randomness 016, MarinJayde, bluename, The Fluff Ghost, Chaos Dragon, viciousberries, Tornada Silverwind, and Amber Jack. You guys rock hard core!

Finally, special thanks to Epona Harper for suggesting Vlad's ultimate ending in this story. I had something else in mind, but this works way better. It's not exactly what you suggested, but your thoughts were definitely the inspiration. Cheers to ya. Special Thanks to SevenStar for doing me the incredible honor of basing a visual work (in this case, a fancomic) off of my stories. I can't wait to see it. And once again thank you to you all. Without readers, these stories, while fun to write, are just words. You're the ones that bring them to life, and inspire me to improve and continue. You really do rock out loud.

Peace!

HiddenAuthor

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Chapter 16 – Hopes

Clockwork's lair was filled with ticking clocks, bells, gears, pendulums, and other forms of time-keeping gadgetry. But right now, Clockwork's lair was also silent.

Because right now, time was frozen.

Gesturing calmly, Clockwork motioned for Danny to take a seat in his favorite lounge chair. The poker deck with the exposed Royal Flush was still sitting on the small table between the two ghosts. Danny cocked an eyebrow.

"I had to pass some time in here recently." His host explained negligently. Danny nodded, sinking back, an uncomfortable expression still on his face.

"Is something wrong, Danny? We have much to talk about, but it would be best if you cleared your head first." Clockwork favored his young friend with a warm smile, which Danny seemed for the moment unable to return. Eventually, the ghost boy sighed.

"That was me, wasn't it? Up there, with you?" Clockwork nodded.

"I pulled him from the current future. There was a slight risk involved since I couldn't look to see if your current future self was good, evil, or powerless, but things turned out fine. You weren't sure?" Danny let his head fall back, slowly rubbing his forehead.

"No, I think I knew." He replied. "But, I didn't want it to be me." Now it was Clockwork's turn to raise an eyebrow. Danny sat up, looking over at the ghost with a pained expression.

"He…I…was so powerful. That one attack destroyed the entire ghost shield. It wiped out an entire army's worth of weapons when it wasn't even aimed at them." His eyes grew haunted. "How do you control something like that? How do I control myself?"

"Control." Clockwork repeated, and sighed. "Precisely the question that landed both of us in this mess." Danny looked up, confused. The Time Ghost smiled. "I think that's one of the main reasons that you are the first real friend I've made in eons. You can understand the problem that comes with that kind of power; the constant need for self control, other people always trying to control you, manipulate you, destroy you…Perhaps I should explain what I've been up to lately, and why. It may help you understand what's been going on, and why I needed your future self. It might even help you find an answer to your question."

Danny sat still for a while in the eerie silence. Finally, he managed a silent nod. Clockwork cleared his throat.

"I have been arguing with the Ghost Council. The argument dates back a long time, and while it was initially about my own freedom from their plots and desires, it eventually grew to encompass you and Vlad. For you see, you two frighten them very much, and I am the only 'tool' they have capable of correcting that problem."

Danny winced at the fear comment, but seemed at least mildly interested, so his old friend pressed on.

"To begin, it's important to understand the nature of my own power, a secret I seldom share anymore." He explained. "In ancient times I was respected, but lately it has helped to be feared, even slightly, and my true nature makes me hard to fear, and therefore hard to respect. It is true that I am empowered to manipulate time, and that I am able to see the past, present, and each potential future. The only thing I cannot see is which future will be out of all that may be. But despite my powers and knowledge, my nature is more that of a custodian than a lord." He grinned ruefully.

"I serve Time; I'm not its king, or its ruler, despite my ambitios title. I am charged with the task of protecting it, and ensuring that all happens as it is meant to. I am in the course of my duty forbidden to use my powers actively to shape the future, or passively to inform others of it." Clockwork's expression darkened. "Unfortunately, there have always been those who wanted their ideal universe to come to pass, and have sought to manipulate and control me, and through me, Time. And at these times, I find myself trapped by my task, and occasionally forced to act."

A swirling cloud of energy appeared before the two ghosts, and inside Danny could clearly see the image of Pariah Dark, the ghost king. Clockwork sighed.

"Before Pariah Dark, I was largely respected and ignored." He confided. "The nature of my power was known, and no ghost would presume to force me to do anything. But then war came."

Within the cloud, armies gathered, one before the ghost king and the other before a small group of ghosts in red robes.

"The war between the two forces lasted for centuries. Neither had the power to overthrow the other. And in time, Pariah Dark presumed in his arrogance to control me. I was given an ultimatum. If I did not use my power, he swore to wage war upon me once he claimed victory. The threat was again made shortly afterward by his enemies."

The Time Ghost paused, and favored the staring Danny with a tight, sad smile.

"You see my predicament. If I did nothing, whichever army won would be at my doorstep the next day. I would then either be forced to act in my defense, or allow them to destroy me. And even I do not know what effect my destruction would have on Time. I could not risk that. So, I realized, I would have to act. For one side or the other."

"I chose to fight Pariah."

Within the swirling green energies, Clockwork strode forth and stood before a great floating island. Danny watched, horrified, as the Ghost of Time stood alone against an army hundreds of times larger than any he had fought when battling the Ghost King. The island itself was larger, at that time unshattered by the ancient spirits' might, and was filled to bursting with an army of ghostly skeleton warriors. Around the parapets, a legion of skeleton dragons hovered, slowly flapping their tattered wings. And behind them all stood Pariah Dark, wreathed in green flame, crown and ring visible for all the Ghost Zone to see.

"I chose him because he had started the mess by first threatening me." His friend said simply, eyes never leaving the image before them. "I assumed the five other spirits came to me in desperation instead of arrogance, and that if I only eliminated this dark ruler, Time would once again be safe."

The Clockwork in the vision stretched out his hand, and the very fabric of reality seemed to blur and shift around his floating form, sending spiraling energies out towards the floating island. As it made contact, there was no impact. No energy seemed expended. And yet, row after row of warriors collapsed into flame and dust in an instant, as millennia passed in seconds. Swords rusted away, bones collapsed; dragons fell from the sky as their membranes dissolved in a maelstrom of pure, unstoppable time.

Until Pariah stood alone, frozen by Clockwork's power, unable to move and unaware that he was not moving. The robed ghosts stretched out their hands, and the empty remains of his vast fortress shattered. After stealing his royal tokens, the spirits lowered the still-frozen form of the Ghost King into a sarcophagus and sealed him away, defeated. The centuries-long war had been ended in less than an hour, by one ghost.

Danny turned awestruck and horrified eyes on his ancient friend, who was watching the window with an equally troubled expression.

"Never before then had I exercised my powers in a way that would change history." He said quietly. "It was horrifying, violating my very nature, my purpose. Despite all of the destruction and pain that had been prevented, I could never forgive myself. I vowed that day to never do so again. But the ancient spirits, founders and some still members of the Ghost Council, witnessed what I had done. In fear, they never provoked me again until a second danger, too great for them to control, manifested itself."

Clockwork turned and faced his young friend.

"You." Danny paled.

"Me?"

"You." He repeated grimly. "Or your evil future self, at any rate. My power is unique in all of the Ghost Zone, but there are two others who gained the power to see into the future, though only the most likely one. They are known as The Observants." The window changed, and showed two ghosts who resembled floating eyeballs, looking in horror at the dark future that Danny had prevented. "When they saw this, they took the news to the Ghost Council. And then they came back to me, with the second of three ultimatums that I have received in all of history. Once again, I was forced into action. However, I could not kill you. As I told the Council during my trial, you were innocent of any crime. It would have been unjust. So I guided you to a different path, and in the course of my meddling, came to respect and eventually to like you. But this time, my actions had a consequence." The floating window fixed on an image of Danny's evil future self.

"The Paradox, Dan Phantom. It was necessary that he exist in this reality for a time, so that you could learn your lesson and steer away from evil. However, his very existence posed a grave risk to the Ghost Zone, and violated the nature of Time itself. So, I locked him away, and set about preparing for the day when he could be destroyed." The window changed again, this time showing a now-familiar chamber.

"My first step was to reestablish my ties with the Ghost Council. Since Pariah's defeat, all ghosts have been granted certain rights by the Council; a lair, a haunt, and some degree of privacy in our own homes. Of the other four members on the Council, only the chief ghost, Gregory, and the woman ghost, Drezelle, agreed that you and Vlad should have these rights at all. The others were either callous or openly aggressive to the strange new creature that had come to invade their home. The fifth ghost before me, Bartus, had eventually allowed Vlad his rights, but had been bribed. When I arrived to speak at the Council, he was firmly opposed to your receiving those rights, as I'm sure Vlad wanted. I replaced him on the Council, and pushed that the rights be extended to you." The window opened once again.

"Clockwork." Intoned the wispy memory of the chief ghost. "You understand what it is that you ask?"

"Yes." The past Time Ghost replied calmly. "Masters has already been granted these rights, and is living in relative peace, while Danny suffers constant attack and invasion. I have already revealed to you that Bartus was being controlled by Masters specifically to deny the boy his precedented rights; it is only just that we give them to him."

"Very well." Gregory replied, ignoring the looks of indignation on his immediate left and right. "Send someone out to fetch the boy, and let's be done with this."

"I think I have someone." Called out Drezelle, the ghost on the far right. "A freed prisoner, released from Walker's control after he managed to prove he had been falsely accused and unjustly imprisoned. I believe he mentioned working with the boy."

"If you say so." Grumbled Gregory. "I don't speak a word of that gobblety-gook."

"I believe it is Esperanto." Clockwork replied mildly with a smile. "And Wulf should do perfectly."

The window once again closed. Danny looked over at his friend.

"That's the day you showed me how to make a lair." Clockwork nodded.

"Yes. It seemed fair that you have some peace and quiet, and the barrier against Vlad would draw Danielle to you, giving you support for when I knew Dan would escape." Danny scowled slightly at the reminder that his friend's manipulations had almost caused Dani's death. "But then, your powers began to develop."

The window reformed, showing a horrified council look at Vlad's defeat at the docks.

"Clockwork." Gregory said in a low, terrified whisper. "What was that power?" The Time Ghost shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"It was Danny." He conceded at last. "But, his energy will go back down shortly, there were outside circumstances involved."

"Outside circumstances!" Shouted the ghost to his inside. "Not even Pariah managed a power so great. What is happening, Clockwork?"

"Will the boy become as powerful as that?" Gregory asked. Sagging, Clockwork nodded. "Then you must do something, Clockwork. Such a power can not be allowed to exist again." The Time Ghost seemed to freeze, and then looked up, eyes alight.

"No." The others were taken aback.

"No? Clockwork, you forget who is in charge, here, you-"

"I said, no. I will not change Time; I will not manipulate the way things are meant to be. You forget, Pariah asked this of me once, and you saw my reply. Now if you'll excuse me, that ghost broke our laws, and I have a job to do." The memory Clockwork turned and left in a flash of power.

The real Clockwork turned to Danny with a wry, sad smile.

"Yes, even then I was bluffing. Always bluffing. If only they'd accept that I do not wish to act, I wouldn't have to threaten anyone, or pretend to revel in awesome power. But of course, my pleas and threats fell on deaf ears. The Council and I have been fighting about you ever since. Gregory became terrified that you would become the next Ghost King. And in his fear, he switched sides, tipping the balance of power against you."

"When I did eventually allow Dan's escape and watch as you and Danielle eliminated him from the timeline, the Council was more than ready to pounce on my actions and impeach me. I was removed from office, and Bartus was reinstated, his crimes against you deemed pardonable for obvious reasons. They felt that once I was off the Council, they could go their own way and eventually destroy you on their own."

"They commanded me to forfeit my powers. I could have defied them, but that would have been a twofold mistake. First," he said with a wink, "it would have set a bad example for you. And second, the council would have immediately attacked me, forcing me to bend Time to my will in defense and break my vow. So I obeyed, and watched, and waited. I had seen much of what was to come, and pushed and bluffed where I had to, all to ensure that Gregory did not order me to act until I wanted to act. And when I finally did, I saved you from certain destruction and exposure and stopped all plots to manipulate us in one fell swoop."

There was silence in the frozen room for several long seconds.

"What?" Clockwork quirked an eyebrow.

"What what?"

"How did bringing some super-powerful future me in to save the day get the Council off your…our…whatever…back?" He asked in exasperation, feeling a headache starting to set in.

"Simple. The past is fixed." Clockwork said smugly. "No matter what the Council does now, they lose. That future version of you was the only being in existence with the power to knock down that shield. If he hadn't, you would have been exposed, and the Council would soon face an army of half-ghost GIW troops, or some other invasion. So," he said, grinning, "The Council can take no action to weaken or kill you until whatever unnamed date I pulled that version of you from, or it will create the mother of all paradoxes! They can't do a thing, and my actions were fully justified by their own orders!"

"So…all of that 'strategy future' stuff was about…the Council?" Danny asked, shaking his head.

"Oh, no, no! That was about you facing Vlad and the Guys in White."

"But you said you expected me to fail!" The ghost boy argued, his headache getting worse.

"Of course I expected you to fail." Clockwork said lightly. "You were overmatched, Danny. I knew that from the beginning, when I first warned you of the future to come. My advice and preparation was just to keep you alive and under cover long enough for the shields to go up, so I could force the Council's hands. Under the circumstances, you did a spectacular job. I was just looking beyond that eventual failure and trying to get us both out of a situation where the Council would force me to kill you!"

"My head hurts." Danny announced at last, miserably. Sighing, he fell back against the lounge chair. Clockwork nodded sympathetically.

"It is a lot to hear, Danny. But you're safer now than you've been in months, maybe years, and things should quiet down again for a while."

"But you didn't answer my question." He said, rubbing his head. "Is the Council right to be afraid of me? Were you right to stop them? How do I control that kind of power?"

"Danny. The power isn't something evil, that will rule and change you. If you remain true to yourself, would you ever abuse it, or use it for dark reasons?" After a while, Danny shook his head. "I don't think so either. The Council is afraid of you because you represent change. Whether you become evil or not, you represent a major power shift to come. They acted out of fear and ignorance, and I have taken steps to protect you. I acted because I believe you will be a good person, Danny, and more deserving of that power than any other being I've met in all my existence." Danny didn't answer, though he did look inexplicably red.

Leaning forward, the time ghost picked up his cards and shuffled.

"Poker?" Danny shook his head.

"No. I think I should head home." He replied, floating up and heading for the door. "I've got a lot to think about, and my family probably needs me." Clockwork nodded, absently waving goodbye as he let time move again.

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Maddie smiled tenderly down at her husband from beside the hospital bed. Sure, he'd been beaten up pretty bad, but as he himself had said only an hour ago, it'll take more than twenty compound fractures, multiple second degree burns, and a major concussion to take down Jack Fenton! He was deeply asleep, but the doctors had said that that was to be expected.

When she'd finally managed to work through the retreating GIW vehicles and get to the hospital, she'd been shocked as Jazz ran up and hugged her harder than she had in years and cried. It had been almost an hour until she had been able to leave her daughter and see her husband. Jack had been grinning at her from his hospital bed as three different nurses adjusted elevated casts and medicine drips. Though he hadn't been able to stay awake long, at least she knew he wasn't going to let this accident bring him down.

After hearing his slurred take on events, and factoring in what Dani told her much later that evening, it seemed that Jack had just managed to fuse Dani together when the upper floors of the Fenton home exploded and collapsed downward. A barely awake and confused Danielle had barely managed to spin an energy shield around the pair before bombs hidden behind the portal finished the job. Collapsing under the sudden strain, Dani's long-slumbering ghost powers had been nearly overwhelmed, and she had been forced to stay in the basement with the unconscious and wounded Hunter for several minutes while she gathered her strength. It had been a near thing, and she hadn't been able to keep Jack completely safe, but she had done her best and Maddie didn't think she could ever thank her adopted daughter enough. Her children had eventually taken off with Valerie and Damon Gray to stay at their apartment for the night.

Maddie would go see them tomorrow. For now, she just wanted to watch her husband sleep.

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S looked over at his prisoner with a curious expression on his face as the GIW vehicles rolled out of town. Not that they had a choice with all of their weapons destroyed and public opinion firmly turned against them. Phantom had once again escaped, this time protected by the city of humans who had come to care for him in some obscure, grateful way. And yet agent S could not seem to summon up his old righteous fury over K's condition. Every time he tried, a horrified and sorrowful expression seemed to shoot fleetingly across his mind, accompanied by a mysterious blue light.

Musing, the battered, confused man turned his eyes back to the scan results. The mysterious white-haired man locked to the table showed signs of ecto-contamination, but the ghostly substance seemed completely inert, causing no damage to his body. When he awoke, S would be sure to ask him how he had been exposed. And how the two of them had come to be knocked unconscious at the Manson home.

The Guys in White had gone to Amity to defame and capture Phantom. In the process, S had been knocked out and lost several hours of memory. (Not that he was going to admit that; he'd seen what had happened to K.) The Guys in White had taken more negative publicity than ever before in their entire history, and had lost millions of dollars of sophisticated weaponry and equipment. And M had died. The body had been found outside Tower 22, a dark burn on his chest.

Inside, they had found the unconscious and severely beaten body of a Mr. Smith. Hours later, the alert man had claimed that he had helped to build the Tower system with DALV Corporation as charity work, and had been overshadowed by a ghost and forced to act the way he had. Though he didn't know why, S was positive that was a lie. When asked to produce his superior for questioning, he had named the DALV president, a white-haired man named Vlad Masters, who'd happened to be at the Manson home that day.

Oh yes, when this prisoner woke up, S was going to have some questions for him.

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Sam sighed to herself from the bed in her private suite at the Amity Park Royale. She had wanted to spend the night with Tucker, and help work through everything that had been happening with friends. But her parents, so used to a standard of luxury, had booked the upper floor of the hotel for a solid month. Who would have thought that the Mansons, upper crust elite of Amity Park, would be homeless?

But that wasn't what was keeping Sam awake. She couldn't stop thinking about her grandmother. The things she had said and done that day had taken even Sam, who thought she knew the elderly woman, completely by surprise. After a deep breath, the young Goth tiptoed down the hall to the room her grandmother had chosen, and quietly slipped inside.

"Grandma?" She whispered. "I was thinking about what happened today, and I think we should…"

Her grandmother was asleep, one hand draped over the bedside end table.

"Talk." She finished lamely, walking up to fold the comforter over the elderly woman and do her best to settle her in without waking her. As she did, her eyes strayed to what the woman had been working on.

My Sammy, proclaimed the cover of a large, violet scrapbook. Smiling softly, Sam went over to the book and idly flipped through its pages.

It started simply with baby photos, pictures of Sam in fancy dresses going to balls with her parents as a young girl. Over time, the little girl seemed to smile less and less, and then only with her grandma, the dresses and hair patterns conspicuously absent.

Then there was an abrupt change in theme. The next section showed her smiling again, with Danny and Tucker, dressed all in black. 'Sammy happy again.' Read the caption. Sam grinned, pointedly ignoring the slight moisture in her eyes. The pictures continued through to high school, where another transition took place.

The next section was broken up. The photos were still there, but mixed in were news clippings.

'Mysterious Ghost Boy in Amity Park.'

'Ghost Boy Drops Millionaire Heiress at Local Goth Circus.'

'Invisobill Attacks Mayor!'

'Phantom Saves Town!'

'Local Boy Danny Fenton Leads Attack on Ghost Pirate Ship.'

In each article, Sam was somewhere in the picture, either beside Phantom or with Fenton. 'Sam as a Hero', it proudly proclaimed. The Goth girl blushed slightly. Then, as Sam turned the page again, she gasped out loud.

It was a pair of photos. One looked like a paper clip of Phantom, and the other was Danny from one of the hundreds of group shots. They were side by side. 'Sammy in Love' it said simply.

"Does she know?" Sam asked quietly. "Grandma?"

But no further answers were to be found; it was the last page. 'I see how you look at him' she remembered the woman saying. But that could just mean that she knew Sam felt for Phantom, not that he was Danny. 'Your parents can be blind if they want, but I'm not!'

Somehow, Sam didn't feel worried about this in the least. Whether her grandma knew or not. Smiling, and feeling much better, the Goth headed back to bed.

"Oh yes, we'll have that talk Grandma." She said quietly as she closed the door. "Soon."

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Jazz walked back into the Gray's spare bedroom slowly, the morning paper clutched in her hand. She'd walked out an hour ago to have breakfast and say thank you to Damon and Val. Danny had been snoring and drooling into his pillow, body hanging half off of the inflatable mattress. Dani was snoring away on Val's floor. And no wonder; they'd had a pretty intense day yesterday. To put it mildly.

As the older girl opened the door, she found Danny sitting up on the bed, looking at a small wall-hung mirror thoughtfully. Oh boy.

"Uh, Danny?" She asked hesitantly. Her brother started, and looked around at her, smiling sheepishly.

"Oh, uh, sorry Jazz." He said, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. "I've been, uh, thinking."

His sister smiled slightly and tossed him the paper. He caught it and looked down, a curious expression on his face.

'Ghost Shield Vast Conspiracy! Mayor Claims Ignorance, Head of Towers Claims Overshadowing.'

'Spook run By Government! Secret Undercover Branch Plots to Capture Local Ghosts!'

'Unidentified Flying Object Spotted Over Amity; Source of Powerful Sonic Attack!'

'Local Party Guest Controlled by Alien Force! Proof is In the Eyes, Claims Elderly Manson.'

'Billionaire Vlad Masters Accused of Plots to Control Amity Park, Murder and Assault of Two Government Agents! Claims Innocence.'

"It's good to see real news again, not some ridiculous Tabloid garbage." She said cheerfully. Danny cracked a half-smile.

"Only in Amity Park." He said in a voice that mixed amusement and resignation, before his expression once again grew thoughtful. Jazz cleared her throat.

"Uh, could I ask what you're thinking about?" She asked hesitantly. "I mean, we won, right?" Danny shrugged.

"I guess." He conceded. "I was just thinking about…you know... me. Or other me."

"Oh." Jazz said quietly, sitting down beside her brother. "Danny, no matter what, you'll always be my brother, and I care about you. And I know you'll do fine. It's not about what you can do, it's what you choose to do that matters." As she gathered her mental notes to start a pep talk / lecture, she paused as she saw him actually nodding.

"Actually, I think I figured that out on my own." He said, smiling again and looking straight at the mirror without flinching. "I am who I am, Jazz. And I think, after all of this, I can be cool with it. I know people will be afraid, or suspicious, or angry about me. But I won't be anymore. It's my life; being scared of it is stupid." Jazz's mouth worked silently for a few seconds, but finally she gave up and hugged him.

"I'm so glad you're better." She whispered.

"That's great Jazz." He wheezed. "But could you maybe let go? I'd like to stay half alive, if that's okay with you." Chuckling, she let him go. There was a knock on the door.

"Come on you guys!" Dani said, bursting in. Val smiled behind the girl. "Mr. Fenton woke up! The doctors say we can go see him now, and Mrs. Fenton will meet us there!" Beaming, Jazz headed off with the younger girl, pushing her against the wall so she could sneak ahead. Valerie smiled at Danny as he headed off to join along.

"So, how you doing, ghost?" She asked with a wicked grin. "Think things will change now that people have seen what you can really do?" Danny snorted, turning to walk beside her out the door.

"That's half ghost to you." He retorted with a small smile. "And they can just deal with it."

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From his position before the viewing window, Clockwork smiled. Yes, things had certainly worked out for the best. His smile briefly grew before he tightly clamped down on it as Gregory reappeared, venting his impotent fury.

"Clockwork!"

"Have you ever noticed that you always seem to greet me by yelling my name?" The Time Ghost asked conversationally. "Hello would be much more polite."

"Don't get cute with me! What did you do?" Clockwork's smile slipped for the barest second.

"Why what you told me to, of course." He answered mildly. "There is now almost no risk of exposure."

"But you used the boy!"

"Technically I used his future self." Clockwork corrected. "It was necessary to bring down that shield. You have my word on that."

"But now we cannot touch him! We have to let him grow into that power or face a paradox of time the likes of which even you have never seen!"

"Yes."

"Yes? That's it? It's a catastrophe! Hundreds of plans stopped! Useless! And what about the fiasco with Plasmius?"

"Oh, it's just Vlad, actually." Clockwork responded conversationally. "The GIW was kind enough to clean out every last trace of ectoplasm from his system before he awoke, and it had a rather…destructive effect on his ghost half." Yes, Clockwork would be flashing back to the look on Master's face when he heard that for a long time. Priceless. "Of course, I cannot continue my punishment over him now that he's no longer a ghost, but I doubt he'll be a great threat any longer. You should be pleased." Gregory's eyes narrowed.

"It seems that the brunt of damage has occurred to the boy's enemies, here, Clockwork. Phantom himself seems to have benefited greatly from your meddling." Clockwork gave a small, enigmatic smile.

"That is strange. But remember, I only ever acted on your orders, and everything you wanted has come to pass."

"You manipulated me!" Greg shrieked. "You knew this would happen! All of it! Even this part!" Clockwork grinned.

"Gregory, I have already told you the truth of foresight. From the beginning, I could only do what I thought would turn out for the best. Time is a complicated and exceptional force, Greg. I had no idea whatsoever that things would work out this way."

"Hmmph!" Grumbled the chief ghost as he vanished in a flash of power. Clockwork smiled as he turned once again to the view of his young friend, safe at last from meddling and death. At least if the council had anything to say about it.

"But I had hopes."

END!

Cue the travel music from The Time Machine!

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Right, so that's the end. Everything blew up, but things seem to be turning out for the best. I hope this explained exactly what was up, and why Clockwork had to act. There are a few things that are not clear, however.

What will Vlad do now? Will he avoid Federal Prison? Can he find a way to restore his ghost powers?

Does Grandma Mason know? Does Damon? Will agent S remember? And what's his real name, anyway?

Will Tucker and Val have French or Italian?

What will happen next?

To be honest, I don't know all of it myself. However, if you guys want, I'll continue this DP universe past the trilogy with my next work, based off of plot bunny number two: Danny's human body gets ghostish. I have several ideas on what will happen and why. Finally, thanks for the responses. Your reviews have meant the world to me. I have decided to use the name Evolutions. It will either describe the trilogy by itself or the entire arc. (When there is an arc) Thanks for all the suggestions. At the very least, they inspired me. I look forward to hearing from you all again when I create my next story. Can't wait!

HiddenAuthor