Hello! I'm back! (for now)
Had an inkling of an idea at the supermarket today (and had the end of this in my "potentials" list for a while now)
So... yeah. Here's a Halloween special! I hope y'all enjoy it!
Told from Clockwork's POV
I am the Master of Time. That means I should be prepared for everything afterlife throws my way. Yet every year, I found myself in the same spot, rehearsing the same speech. "Happy Halloween, and welcome to Long Now. I am Clockwork. Master of…"
My concentration was broken by a soft chuckle from behind me. I turned around to find the famous ghost boy with snow white hair and glowing green eyes.
"Danny," I started, not in the least pleasantly surprised. "Why am I not surprised you're here?"
"Dude. You can see the future. Multiple futures. You tell me." Danny crossed his arms, clearly content with his comeback.
Ever since the downfall of evil Danny Phantom, both versions of the ghost in question, as well as Vlad Masters, existed outside time: to an extent, outside the reach of my abilities. As much as I hated to admit it, as I still do now, I didn't know why Danny had shown up to my lair.
"Point taken," I said shortly.
Danny floated by next to one of my Time Portals (I have to work on that name.) In it was a view of the Fenton Thermos that contained the most evil ghost on the planet. It was shaking ever so slightly, but the anti-ectoplasmic resin coating the insides were proving to be too strong, even for him.
The half-ghost turned to me forcing a smile, not wanting to be reminded of all the pain his evil older self had put him through. "Sam saw you on the news. You really built another one of those spectral thingies and gave it to Lance Thunder?"
"Their fun was short-lived, as was mine. Why don't you get to the point and tell me why you're here?"
Danny's next expression was just as fake as his earlier smile, though this time it was of offense. "What, is everyone in the 'Happy' department on vacation or something?"
I didn't say anything in response, which was more than enough a response for Danny to keep talking. "Maybe I just wanted to spend this Halloween with my time-old friend."
"There's greater chance of Tucker getting a girlfriend."
Danny let out a very real, light chuckle. "Actually, he's seeing a girl named Ashley, now."
"My mom thinks," he continued, "in the Ghost Zone, you exchange presents on Halloween instead of Christmas. I wanted to ask if that was true."
"It's true. The Ghost Zone was created out of the fears of a single human. A scientist named Nicolai Magnus wanted to prove the existence of a realm of Gods called Asgard. He was a very bright individual with a vivid imagination. But unfortunately, that imagination came with extravagant fears. Fears that the King of Asgard, Odin, was a tyrant who ruled over his realm, among others, with an iron grip. He imagined Odin had two artifacts; they were the keys to Odin's reign. Whoever had those two items, the Crown of Fire and the Ring of Rage, controlled all."
Danny interrupted my story, arms crossed with impatience. "Just get to the point!"
I let out a sigh, which was more than Danny's "patience" deserved. "Odin and his realm became a reality, known as Pariah Dark and the Ghost Zone. The date was October 31st. After Pariah and the "people of Asgard" became a reality, he declared that day his birthday and made it a law that all the people give him presents on that day."
The ghost boy uncrossed his arms, eyes beaming with understanding. "Yeah, I remember this part of the story. You mentioned in class the other day that you and the rest of the House of Six took Pariah down years later."
I nodded.
"Anyway, here." Danny unfolded his fist and held it in front of me. In his palm was a small black-and-white cube, the size of a die. "It's one of my dad's inventions. It's a matter compressor/decompressor. There's a present inside."
Clockwork presses the button on top of the cube and it unfolds into a cage with a bird in it.
Danny: Tucker and I found this ghost owl while we were patrolling Amity Park a couple nights ago. It looked lonely, and it's eyes lit up when it saw us, so I'm assuming it wanted a home and a friend.
The last time I got a present was almost a hundred years ago. But that was from my sister. That was the first time I'd gotten a present from someone outside my family.
Danny must've noticed my excitement and the want to be alone with this new creature. "I gotta go. Tucker's waiting on me to go trick-or-treating. Smell ya later."
I gave him a second nod, my gaze still fixed on the black and green owl-in-a-cage.
As soon as the half-ghost left, I opened the cage and the owl flew out and onto my shoulder. I reached over with my hand and let my finger hover next to the owl's face.
The bird pecked it ever so lightly with it's beak and started rubbing his face along it.
"Hello, my friend," I said with a smile. "My Aeon."
Yes, Nicolai Magnus is Technus when he was human. ^-^ He changed his last name from Magnus to Technus because he's all about that tech.
