The Final Word

***The Final Word*** is the twenty-fourth *Omniverse* episode of *Clock 10: Choose Your Own Adventure*.

## Plot

Immediately following the events of the previous episode, Clock finds himself flung into what Paradox described as a future that needs his help. Clock finds himself in the South American military base that once housed a piece of the Potis Altiare. Eventually, he enters a corridor at about the same time as his future self, who was already in the form of Mettlehead.

Despite Clock's pleas of being a friend, Mettlehead rushes him, and Skurd's goo oozes from his Omnitrix, turning his arm into a Bloxx weapon to fire blocks at Clock. To combat the attack, Clock becomes Squidstrictor. Mettlehead's arms then change into Lodestar's as he holds Squidstrictor up by his metal armor, questioning if "she" sent him. Squidstrictor tries to break free by becoming Goop, though remains in his magnetic grasp due to the anti-gravity projector. Mettlehead makes vague comments regarding Taryn, mentioning she's been "hurting everyone else" and that "family means nothing anymore." His solemn nature causes him to lose grip on Goop, who becomes human again. Determining his past self to not be an immediate threat, Mettlehead instructs him to follow.

The two go to the central command room of the base, where future versions of Rook, Julie, Ship, Fistina, and Rad are doing various surveillance tasks. After Clock makes awkward small talk with Julie and Rook, Mettlehead decides to bring Clock up to speed. He unlocks a few transformations for Clock, the first of which to be used is Ingenieous so that Clock can, in a way, bring himself up to speed. Mettlehead asks him the question about what happened after the Xerge on Earth were defeated, giving away which future this is; that of Clock 10,010. Upon the question being asked, Ingenieous creates an illusionary flashback.

For two years after the Xerge threat on Earth ended, the Plumbers helped to rebuild the world. Taryn opted to take over the Plumbers, while keeping her presidential position. Although the UN already agreed to help with her plan to take back the planets the Xerge had taken, Clock was against Taryn having so much power, and wasn't going to have any part of her plan, believing it would simply bring the other planets into a similar ruin as Earth.

Clock would later, during a procedure on Albedo, question Taryn about Kevin's location. Taryn elaborates that she had Kevin "taken care of" so he wouldn't be a liability in case his Stabilitrix was faulty, and let him go insane again. Clock ponders the procedure on Albedo, with Taryn explaining that they're removing residual Xerge influence on the Ultimatrix, and will take it for themselves. Clock surmises that, as the device will be taken from Albedo instead of him being allowed to keep it, she's planning on killing him as well. After the Ultimatrix's removal, and Albedo's death, the device was kept in a secure area. Or so the others thought. When Taryn entered the chamber, it blew up, explosions rigged by Clock, who entered the explosive area unharmed thanks to being Chromastone. He dug through the Ultimatrix's remains, and retrieved the polymorphic crystal before leaving. He, his current group, and Terry left the Plumber HQ, taking up residence in the Great Wall of China. He would also travel to the beginning of the universe, and obtain Skurd, then return to his present, and perma-lock himself as Mettlehead.

At some point, Hope enters Taryn's lab, attempting to make a truce between the cousins, only for the meeting to be a trap, as Taryn absorbed her powers, and leaving her to die. Elsewhere, Bryk and Morty led a group of Plumbers to swarm the Great Wall of China. The group find Terry having been left, and this was also a trap, with the entire Great Wall immediately being blown up, including the Plumbers, and Terry who had informed them Clock's group was there. From here, the group left in a cloaked ship. Ingenieous describes other events, such as Clock making a Fulmini-charged Enoch statue in Rome, and Taryn extinguishing the entire continent of Australia, and says this conflict is just as dangerous as the Xerge.

As the flashback ended, Ingenieous is sent back into his human form, who is in denial. Ultimately, Clock's hope that people deep down can still be helped result in a shouting match between him and Mettlehead; the former comments he'd "make the impossible possible" despite Mettlehead's insistence that Clock's methods won't work, and are easy empty promises to make for someone who hasn't lived what he has. An annoyed Clock leaves for the bathroom, but comes back a prisoner, as Mettlehead deems him a liability, and covers his Omnitrix with a Diamondhead casing to keep him from transforming, and finally leaves him in a hard-light cell.

Meanwhile, in the Plumber HQ, Cooper is criticized by Manny for being a kiss-ass towards Taryn, although Cooper insists he is simply just doing his job and following orders. Hip passes by the scene before heading into Taryn's office, telling her the broadcast team is ready. A few moments later, worldwide broadcast comes over the South American military base's screen, along with every other screen on Earth. The broadcast is of Taryn framing Clock for the Earth being in such a destructive state, and for the rest of the universe not being saved from the Xerge yet. Although she mentions having an alternative, she gives him an ultimatum: give her his Omnitrix, or let the Earth be destroyed with Clock on it. Clock is given three hours to respond.

Mettlehead unlocks Clock's cell, demanding his cooperation. Ingenieous was one of four aliens unlocked earlier. Mettlehead removed the diamond casing from the Omnitrix, and turned Clock into Creative Mode. Rook pulls up the schematics for a two-handed cannon, meant to emulate Atomix's physiology. Given the nature of his powers, Creative Mode is forced to create the weapon. Mettlehead looks over it, then orders Julie to get the Ultimatrix's polymorphic crystal. Skurd pops out of the Omnitrix, hesitant to follow through with this plan, but too intimidated by Mettlehead's mindset to refuse. Julie brings the crystal, and Skurd absorbs it, changing the Omnitrix into an Ultimatrix, and taking Skurd's life in the process. Mettlehead is immediately transformed into Ultimate Mettlehead, and forces Clock back into his human form, and into his cell. He then takes his leave.

In Cooper's lab, Taryn reveals herself as being serious, having not been bluffing about destroying the world. She orders Cooper to get to work on a sub-energy bomb. Manny inquires about the alternative Taryn mentioned, which is to use Hip's Omnitrix, though Taryn mentions not wanting to take it, as Hip being removed of his powers would make him a liability, and better off dead than being in the way. Although Helen pleads for him to be quite, Alan speaks up, shouting that Taryn has become no better than Clock, or the Xerge, but is silenced when Taryn uses a laser to blast half of his head off. She once again orders Cooper to do the bomb, and Hip to remain and take care of any other insubordination.

After Ultimate Mettlehead takes his leave, Clock questions is followers. When Rook says Ultimate Mettlehead is simply making tough decisions so no one else has to, Clock rebuttals with the decisions being made being no better than the likes of Khyber or Vilgax. Clock manages to convince the group to follow their hearts, that their personal thoughts aren't irrelevant, and Rook lets Clock free. Rook determines that, with both Ingenieous and Creative Mode unlocked, the other two Relic aliens would be unlocked as well, and that one can literally change the outcome of the situation by removing one of three futures. Clock recalls the powers as being that of Option Out when Alan Nomaly used the transformation, and thusly becomes his own version. The best future is presented as both Ultimate Mettlehead and Taryn being apprehended, preventing calamity. The neutral future is technical difficulties preventing the sub-energy bomb from going off, though Taryn or Ultimate Mettlehead would till perish. The final future, however, is presented as two, equally bad futures: the future where Taryn wins, and the future where Ultimate Mettlehead wins. Rook has Option Out remove the worst case scenarios, and then gives Clock an ID mask to disguise himself as Mettlehead so the group can pretend to comply with Taryn before getting the drop on her.

Ultimate Mettlehead enters the Plumber HQ, and meets with Hip, who had just put Manny away for insubordination. Ultimate Mettlehead warns Hip to step aside, but Hip refuses, prompting the former to attack. Hip becomes Antigravitesla, and flings Ultimate Mettlehead's weapon away from him, followed by physical attacks that are exaggerated due to his gravity powers. Ultimate Mettlehead manages to get a hit on Antigravitesla, who then becomes Brawlephant to block Ultimate Mettlehead's bullets from his literal finger guns. Brawlephant flings the bullets back, with Ultimate Mettlehead blocking them with his metal hand, only for that to be his downfall when Brawlephant becomes Lodestar and flings him around. When flung into a wall, Ultimate Mettlehead rips the panel off and throws it at Lodestar, who loses his grip on Ultimate Mettlehead, who then rushed him to attack, though each attack was dodged as Lodestar became Fasttrack.

Gaining a surprising upper and, Ultimate Mettlehead manages to land a hit on Fasttrack and knock him to the ground. Ultimate Mettlehead approaches the Atomix weapon, but is stopped by Paws Button absorbing his time. However, as Paws Button grabs the weapon, he accidentally loses hold on Ultimate Mettlehead, who attacks and gets the weapon back. Just as Ultimate Mettlehead fires it, though, Paws Button became Blockroach, and absorbed the hit before redirecting it, knocking out Ultimate Mettlehead and breaking his Aura. Hip then locks up Ultimate Mettlehead in the cell next to Hex, promising to let Hex out once Taryn is defeated, showing his true colors about the situation.

The disguised Clock and company reach HQ, and Taryn is surprised by the lack of resistance. Hip interferes with the conversation before the "Omnitrix" can be given up, remarking on what Taryn's plans are when Clock 10,000's DNA becomes unstable and he becomes a Kevin-esque fusion due to the lack of an Omnitrix stabilizing. Taryn says that won't be a worry, revealing she knew the real Clock 10,000 as Ultimate Mettlehead was already apprehended. Clock drops the ID mask and becomes XLR8 to attack. Helen matches his speed and knocks him across the room, and Taryn commands Cooper over the comms to drop the bomb. XLR8 then becomes Vertigurge, his nausea inducement sending Helen into the control panel in the room.

Helen's crash into the control panel causes the door to Ultimate Mettlehead's cell to open, and he takes his Atomix weapon back. Hex inquires about his cell being opened as well, to which Ultimate Mettlehead respons "Sure thing." before firing the weapon at the cell, destroying it and Hex before Ultimate Mettlehead takes his leave.

Vertigurge is pulled away by Hip as Oscar Gyre, who then becomes Clockwork to stop time around them. Clockwork remarks the two need to work together to stop Taryn. Clockwork comes up with a vague plan, and then puts Clock back in sync with time, right as he takes a hit from Taryn. Clock becomes Snare-Oh to wrap up Taryn, though it's futile as she simply blasts out of the bindings. Cooper contacts her over the comms, informing her he can't take the bomb to Earth. Although Taryn demands an explanation, Cooper flies far from the HQ and Earth, and his comms eventually go to static as the bomb is detonated in space, killing him. Snare-Oh becomes Mirror, Mirror, attempting to reflect Taryn's insecurities back on her, though it doesn't work as she already regrets the decisions she has to make, but does them anyway because she sees them as necessary. An orange-eyed Xenocyte interrupts Taryn, turning her into a DNAlien, with Hip walking up, revealing that the DNAlien is a part of his transformation Paracyte, where he had augmented his Omnitrix to accept Xenocyte DNA just in case.

The elevator opens, and Ultimate Mettlehead steps out with his Atomix weapon. Although Clock protests that everyone can make it out of the situation alive, Ultimate Mettlehead is determined that, as long as Taryn's alive, she's a threat. Paracyte's DNAlien is blasted off of Taryn, who blocks an attack from the Atomix weapon, and Paracyte is reverted to his human form. Taryn blasts Ultimate Mettlehead with a large magic blast that malfunctions the Atomix weapon, and reverts Ultimate Mettlehead to his human form, due to the Omnitrix/Ultimatrix not being good against magic. Clock offers his future self one more chance to do the right thing, only to be thrown across the room by said future self who attempts to dial in Alien X.

Rook yells for Clock to use the final Relic alien: Irradicate. Before Rook can request something to be destroyed, Hip steps in instead, and Irradicate destroys the thing he was thinking of. Hip reveals that the Plumber HQ uses a piece of Galilean technology to keep itself in orbit, as years of wars and the like have caused it to be too close to the Earth to remain in orbit. The technology is what Irradicate destroyed at Hip's request. Both Clock 10K and Taryn fall to their knees in hopelessness, only to lunge at each other, blaming the other for the events. Hip reveals Manny was actually sent to get a ship ready to escape, and the group needs to go before they perish. Clock wants to save the future Clock and Taryn, though Rook says that is impossible as that possibility was likely destroyed by Option Out.

The group get to the ship and leave, watching the Plumber HQ plummet to the Earth, landing in the Atlantic ocean and causing disastrous tsunamis. Hip promises a solemn Clock to help him get home, and that the continuing fight against the Xerge will not result in another such sacrifice.

## Major Events

* The Plumber Headquarters satellite crashes into the Earth, devastating the planet, and taking the future versions of Clock and Taryn with it. Afterwards, Hippocrates takes up the leader role of the Xerge Resistance.
* Ingenieous, Creative Mode, Option Out, Brawlephant, Paws Button, Paracyte, and Irradicate debut.
* Ultimate Mettlehead debuts.

### Omnitrix Debuts

#### Clockwork Firefly

* Ingenieous
* Creative Mode
* Option Out
* Irradicate

#### Hippocrates Firefly

* Brawlephant
* Paws Button
* Paracyte

### Future Characters

* Rook Blonko
* Julie Yamamoto
* Ship
* Fistina
* Rad Dudesman
* Skurd *(death)*
* Hippocrates Firefly
* Alan Albright *(death)*
* Manny Armstrong
* Helen Armstrong
* Cooper Daniels *(death)*
* Hex Spellbinder *(death)*

### Villains

* Clock 10,010 *(death)*
* Taryn Firefly *(death)*

### Flashback Characters

* Albedo *(death)*
* Hope Spellbinder *(death)*
* Bryk *(death)*
* Morty *(death)*
* Terry Firefly *(death)*
* Enoch *(likely death)*

## Aliens Used

### Clockwork Firefly

* Squidstrictor
* Goop
* Ingenieous *(debut)*
* Creative Mode *(debut)*
* Option Out *(debut)*
* XLR8
* Vertigurge
* Snare-Oh
* Mirror, Mirror
* Irradicate *(debut)*

### Clock 10,010

* Mettlehead
	+ Ultimate Mettlehead *(debut)*
* Chromastone *(flashback)*
* Alien X *(hologram)*

### Skurd

* Bloxx
* Lodestar
* Diamondhead

### Hippocrates Firefly

* Antigravitesla
* Brawlephant *(debut)*
* Lodestar
* Fasttrack
* Paws Button *(debut)*
* Blockroach
* Oscar Gyre
* Clockwork
* Paracyte *(debut)*

## Trivia

* This episode is a tribute to *RWBY* by effectively being a TL;DR of Volume 8:
	+ The use of Mettlehead (along with his Ultimate form) and the Relic Aliens of course are obvious *RWBY* references.
	+ Clock 10,010 and Taryn are both meant to take on the role of James Ironwood opposite one another. The Plumbers Helpers and the Earth Resistance group are similar to the Ace Ops, while Hip and Rook take on the role of Winter Schnee.
	+ Taryn threatens to remove Earth from the equation similar to how Ironwood does Mantle.
	+ The Plumber HQ falling to Earth is a nod to Atlas falling on Mantle.
	+ The Atomix weapon parallels the Due Process cannon used by Ironwood.
	+ The Ultimate Mettlehead vs Hip fight is meant to be a nod to Ironwood's fights with both Winter and Arthur Watts.
	+ Ultimate Mettlehead killing Hex is a nod to Ironwood killing Jacques, being done in the exact same way.
	+ Cooper's self sacrifice mirrors that of Vine Zeki's.
	+ The teaser for the episode used the titles of all of Volume 8's episodes:
		- "In an alternate future, the defeat of the Xerge on Earth has apparently only **divided** the Firefly's. Taryn has taken on a dictatorial mindset, and Clock 10K has gone into hiding for **refuge**. A cold war has been enacted between the two, but things could become heated at any moment should the **strings** be improperly pulled. With both sides at numerous **faults**, and **amities** broken, when **midnight** comes, **war** will follow in the **darkness**. A battle of **witch**craft vs watch-craft, **ultimatums** are set, and every move is a **risk**. Taryn works constantly to try to stop the threat she believes Clock **created**, and to do so, believes she must take the device only he was deemed **worthy** of, which causes nothing but further retaliation. But at the end of every game of chess, only one player can say **checkmate**."
		- Technically, "Checkmate" is only loosely the final title. The title is actually *The Final Word*, where this episode gets its title from, with the final word of the episode being "checkmate," said by Cinder Fall. Likewise, the final word of this chapter is "sacrifice."
* The Fulmini-enhanced Enoch statue was originally going to play a proper role in the story, but it was put into the flashback instead.