I don't own Danny Phantom.

Complete Summary:

After living in the tower as Clockwork's apprentice for four years, Danny finds giving himself up the only option left to save his mentor. Now that the Head Ancient has sentenced him to a life being tortured at Vlad's in exchange for Clockwork's life... He finds out just how inevitable defeat truly is.

Inevitable

Prologue:

Some things are inevitable. They must happen, whether you like it or not. You can do nothing to change it, and sometimes, by changing something else you are the cause of the event in your attempt to prevent it. The event will take place, because the time stream needs to be ever-flowing down its rapids and smooth waters. Who, however, is to look after this torrent of confusion?

Why, the Time Master of course. He or she will regulate the stream, moving its small stones and boulders down until they are unneeded or are a threat to the fragile timeline. Now, this means the Watcher of Time will be in constant alert. They must be always gazing into the clear, blue water to observe what needs to be observed, and –let's just say- relinquish any rouge stones from the stream, should they be any threat. That, however, will be but one of the duties of the Time Master. This being must be understanding, and compassionate with others, even those who are not of their kind. They must hold no prejudice toward anyone. On the other hand, though, this being must be tough and powerful, for no one shall be permitted to cross this noble Guardian of Time with their life intact. As the last, and most important requirement that this being must have, is to be the wisest creature in existence. They must be able to handle the responsibility of total control without turning to selfish needs. The time stream always comes first: No exceptions. This is a silently understood rule among Time Keepers.

The other understood rule among the Time Keepers is to care for the subjects that they have under them. So, this means that the Time Master at the time will do all that this ghost or person can to keep peace, harmony, and general happiness among the people that look up to them for help.

In turn, every ghost in the Ghost Zone loves the Time Master. They may offer things like allegiances, protection, friendship, and general loyalty. The Time Master, however, will most likely give a "thanks but no thanks", and just continue to do their job. This is why about a rough eighty-nine percent of ghosts loved the Time Master.

Now the Ancients, are a different story. The Ancients are the government of the ghost zone. They are "in charge" of the Time Masters and some more powerful ghosts. The Time Master presided over every other ghost in the ghost zone, and were feared and respected. These Ancients, the high ranking ghosts –around about two hundred- are presided over by a Head Ancient. The Head Ancient is not a ghost, but a different creature entirely. The name of this creature has been lost to the centuries, however, it was known for its great controlling presence and leadership qualities among other things. This leader will have the final decision on everything from court to which new Ancients he will hire to replace the others.

The Head Ancient has a different set of rules for the Masters of Time. These rules are used to enforce the Ancients' rule and oppress the duties of Keeping Time. These rules had been detested for millions of years by the Time Masters.

The first rule is Time Masters must obey the Head Ancient. He is the elder and far more powerful, therefore, must be obeyed at all costs. Failure to obey would result in instant death and/or taken out of existence… forever. Or, if you have special connections with the Ancients on the inside, you could just get off with a warning and three hundred and seventy-five years in prison, Ghost Zone time.

The next rule is to never abuse your privileges as Time Master. Those privileges could be taken away at any time by the Head Ancient. Should the Time Master interfere with the time stream, or cheat in any way, the privileges of entering the human world, life, and being in court shall be removed… permanently.

Another rule is the restrictions in choosing an apprentice. The Head Ancient must approve the candidate, and give the okay at least fifteen years in advance. The candidate must be at least half a century old to submit a request to become Time Keeper's Apprentice, and be an honest and wise creature, however, should there be a time when there is no Master of Time or Apprentice; a capable Ancient may resume the Keeper's duties. The race of the candidate may be either ghost or human. Failure to respond to these restrictions would result in extermination of existence.

The first Time Mistress in existence was very good with these rules and fulfilled almost all of these standards. She was a noble and wise creature that had distanced herself from the time stream to care for it tenderly, and kept it flowing at a gentle, soothing pace. This woman had but one flaw. She let her human qualities –for she was as human as they come- get in the way. She embraced the power, and overtime it blinded her. She ended up destroying the creatures called dinosaurs through her stupid choices in order to get herself more power.

Her successor was a ghost. This ghost was extremely different from most of his kind, for his pleasant and intelligent nature that separated him from the rest. He was an outcast until he was taken in by the first Time Mistress to be her one and only apprentice. He, however, was only in existence for two years as a ghost when she sent for him. So, she had to get permission for his Apprenticeship when he turned fifty-five, and when she did, he became the most powerful, feared and loved being in the Ghost Zone. He was molded into a perfect decision-maker, caretaker, Watcher, and friend by the Time Mistress she perished in an execution for her foolish meddling in time.

Eventually, her apprentice took over her post as Keeper of Time. He dictated the lives of the beings from human to ghost and everything in between, but disposed of any threats with an iron fist. This new detached Time Master always knew what to do. That was, until he met Daniel Fenton.

Clockwork knew, from then on, it would be much harder to stay unfeeling, and all-knowing. That is was going to be so much harder to stay focused… When he started to care for Danny as his son.

All right! I know some of you will be coming with pitch forks and torches later, but please note that I am not abandoning my other stories. I am just putting them on HIATUS for a bit while I work on this and some other things.

So, how did you like this so far? I know it was a lot of just explanation, but it is just a prologue.

kirby