Hello everyone! It's me Polyrhyme with a new fic in tow!
Kinetic Potential-We can all agree that there were many things wrong with DP. Errors, inconsistencies, and whole bunch of things that would leave you irritated or just scratching your head. Good thing we have an unlikely duo to help point them out. Follow Star and Clockwork, as they watch the timeline unfold and point out, maybe not everything is as perfect, as it seems to be.
This fic also develops Star and Clockwork's characters, the two pushing each other to be the best person/ghost they can be.
Disclaimer: I don't own DP, if I did then 95 percent of Season 3 would not have happened.
Anyways onward to reading! In addition the cover art for this fic is MINE and I would highly appreciate it if you did not steal it.
Chapter 1. So I Found My Way to Your Tower, Now What?
Star's day had been relatively normal. She'd gone with her best friend Paulina, had eaten lunch with her and several other A-Listers, shopped some more before deciding to call it quits and go home. While it was great that Paulina was so lovey-dovey, sometimes she took it to the extreme, grabbing Star's wrist as she pleaded and begged the blonde to stay with her for another hour. For someone as small as Paulina, she had a strong grip. It wasn't until she pulled the Supernova that made Paulina finally let go.
With at least a dozen bags in each hand, she briskly walked down the sidewalk, cautiously glancing down empty alleys for any hidden threats,seeing as it was dark outside, somebody could attack her at any moment. Her worry eased considerably when she couldn't spot any visible threat, continuing on her wayhome, happily humming a random song she'd heard Kwan sing earlier. Spotting her house at last, she let out a relieved sigh as she hopped up the stairs, then set the bags down,blindly searching her pockets until she heard a familiar jingle; pulling the keys out her pocket, she put the correct one in the lock, fiddling around with it.
'Which way did I usually turn it? Left, right?' She thought in confusion. While it was common for the teen to have trouble with locks on doors every now and then, she simply wished she didn't have trouble at this very second since it was dark outside, and danger could be right around the corner.
"Get back here, whelp!" She faintly heard and she heard that then she knew Phantom wouldn't be far behind.
"Why? So you can hang my skin on your wall? I don't think so!"
'There's Phantom.'
Star guesses she doesn't have much longer before they come her way, and tries her best to unlock the door that was giving her so much trouble at this time of night. She tried banging on her door to see if her parents were home, only to be let down when she can't hear footsteps rushing down the stairs, mom or dad coming to open the door. Common sense whispers for her to take cover, but messes with the troublesome lock, her eyes widening when she hears someone screaming at her.
"-k out!"
Bright green floods her vision, and then…
Darkness.
Star slowly wakes, blinking her eyes and trying to adjust her sight, and when she can see again the first thing that catches her eye are purple doors, floating in midair against a swirling green sky. Pushing herself off the ground, she stands up, brushing invisible specks of dust off of her clothing, her gaze darting around, fully alert. Star looks down at the rock she's standing on, and the neverending green and purple that surrounded her, grumbling,"Great, now how the hell am I gonna get home? I'm pretty sure a taxi won't be here,wherever here is."
Turning to her left, she sees a ghost floating several feet away. Stomping her foot down in determination, she uses her co-captain voice, "Hey you!"
Star beamed when she'd successfully caught the ghost's attention. It looked at her, then pointed at itself. "Yes you!" With a wiggle of her finger, theteen made the come here gesture, "Over here!" She shouted.
The ghost floated towards her, and Star almosts jumped in joy because I'm getting out of here. Befuddlement consumed her when a green finger was pressed against her lips, instantly shushing her.
"Wha-" she began, but was silenced again.
"Be quiet!" The ghost hissed at her, "Walker might be around, heaven knows what he might do to a human like you. Heaven knows what he might do to me," it muttered the last part to itself.
Star maneuvers around the finger, now fully observing the ghost in front of her. It doesn't take long for her to realize who it is. "Lunch Lady?"
Lunch Lady nodded. "That is my name deary," she said with a gentle smile. She tilted her head to the side, retracting her finger from where Star stood and lowered her arm in confusion, "How did you get here?"
To this, Star shrugged in reply, "I honestly have no clue. One minute I was setting my bags down, trying to open my door, next minute Phantom and Skulker start duking it out, badabing badaboom, I get hit with bright green light and now I'm here." She looked around at the green sky. "Where is here?"
"Ghost Zone," Lunch Lady replied. "Our home."
"Interesting," Star muttered. "If this home for ghosts, then why do you all constantly leave?"
The former cafeteria worker began to repeatedly pull the elastic of her yellow gloves. "For me, I'd only came out because I noticed someone had changed the menu, and it just felt so wrong to me. When I found out that it was that girl who wears all black-"
"Sam," Star hissed out dangerously. "I knew she was behind it."
Lunch Lady nodded in affirmation before continuing, "Mmhmm. When I found that it was her, it greatly infuriated me. Kids need meat in their diet to give them their proteins, right?"
Star nodded. "Exactly. Sam however is a vegetarian-"
"She is?" Lunch Lady honestly looks astonished. "If that was the case, then the school could have fixed her an alternative lunch."
"The school does."
"But why did she switch the whole menu?" Lunch Lady rubs her elbows to think through the information Star has given her. "It doesn't make sense."
Star's shoulders slumped, but then a sly smirk took over her face, "I could ask her for you?"
"Thank you!" Lunch Lady beams, "Also can you ask her about 'This is the thanks I get for thinking like an individual?' I heard her say something like that but I don't really understand it. Perhaps if she ate meat, she'd learn some respect."
Star chuckled, "Lady, I don't think respect comes from meat."
"Are you sure?"
"I'm absolutely positive."
Silence hangs over them before Lunch Lady breaks it, "Now back to the matter at hand," she pointed directly at Star, "You, need to get out of here."
"That I do," Star parroted back in agreement.
"If only there were natural portals that lead to Amity, both its correct place and time. I don't think there would be many ghosts who would be inclined to help… Wait, Clockwork!"
Star quirked an eyebrow. "Clockwork? As in, the movements of a mechanical clock?"
Lunch Lady laughs, a full-bellied laugh echoing around the two, to which Star chuckles awkwardly. Her laughs soon died down, finally stopping when she slapped her hand on Star's back, oblivious to the blonde wincing. "No, honey, Clockwork as in the ghost of Time."
"Clockwork the Time Master?" Star deadpanned.
"Exactly."
Seriously, who even names these ghosts? The naming makes sense, she supposed, but still, couldn't they have come up with a better name than Clockwork?
"Mhmm, he'll help you out."
"So an all-powerful Cogsworth-like ghost is supposed to help me out?" Star said flatly. It didn't sound like that far of a stretch, since Amity does have their own Casper the Friendly Ghost fighting to keep them safe. If there really was a ghost who get her home, she'll roll with it. "Well, I'll take what I can get. Where is his tower?"
The other woman tapped her chin in thought,. "How to get there? Clockwork lives quite a pretty penny away from the central area of the Zone. While there isn't a clear cut way to get to his tower, if you start seeing fewer ghosts hanging around, you're going in the right direction. Once you see the Citadel, you've arrived."
"I'll make note of that then. Thanks Lunch Lady! Be sure not to get into any trouble without me!" Star smiled, waving goodbye.
Lunch Lady laughed, "I'll try my best; as long as no one changes the menu, then I'm fine. Good luck to you Star, and get home safely!" She waved back, then floated out of Star's sight.
Star turned around, her determined grin widening, "Cogsworth, I'm coming for you!"
Looking down at the strange rock she stood on, the lack of other strange rocks close to her and the never ending green sky made her determined grin slowly fall into a thin line.
"Now how the hell am I supposed to get there?"
"In a shocking turn of events, rocks can float. Turns out I have landed on a rare mutated form of Minior," mumbled Star as she was sprawled out on the ground. Her fingers trailed across the stone surface, occasionally smoothing over little pebbles, pushing them into the small holes. "I shall call it Mini and it shall be mine and it shall be my Mini."
Her eyes fluttered shut, blocking out the sky above her.
She opens them again, squinting to get a better look at the darkening green and sudden lack of purple doors hanging by. How long had she closed her eyes? No matter, she stood up, and looking to what seemed to be her right, was another rock. Carefully, she stuck out one leg towards it, making sure her foot was firmly planted where she was standing before awkwardly hopping her way towards it.. With one foot on each rock, narrowly avoiding certain death, she spontaneously did a Herkie, momentarily forgetting where she was. When her feet touched the ground once again, she chastised herself for acting so goofy at a time like this.
"Are those stairs?" she asked, not really expecting an answer. "They are. Minior Number 2, direct me to the stairs!" Star commanded, giggling softly as the rock did so.
Star now stood on the stairs, eyeing the even darker gradients of green lining the sky of the Ghost Zone. "I think this is where I need to go," came her declaration, she turned around and happily waved at the two floating rocks. "Thanks Miniors! I'll never forget you!"
The two rocks slowly floated away from the green stairwell, leaving Star alone With a heavy sigh, Star walked down the staircase, her eyes soaking in the heavy greens before she descended down into darkness.
Star had descended from light into darkness and found herself falling face first on the ground. 'I wonder if I can spend the rest of my life faceplanting this rock.' She thought to herself, letting out a dry laugh as she forced herself to stand up. "Well Star, time to figure out where you are- holy moly, it appears I have arrived at my destination."
Her eyes widened once she caught sight of the Citadel. Huge glowing green gears hovered around the tower, three scythes with a green skull and wings attached to them stood in the higher posts of the tower, and a pendulum swung rhythmically in the center of the tower. Looking around to the sides of the tower, she saw bits of gears attached to the Citadel. 'I don't want to admit it, but Clockwork has a nice aesthetic going on with his tower. Time and death, an ever-constant and infinite duality.'
A devious smirk tugged at her lips. "Cogsworth, I have arrived!" She shouted to the sky, dancing her way to the door of the tower, and thrice she gave a quick knock on the door. "Is anyone home?"
A small frown when no one answered her. With a glance at the doorknob, she jiggled it to see if the door was locked only to let out a soft "huh," when the door swung open as soon as she'd touched the knob. Star cautiously stepped inside the tower, looking upward to see if there were any threats looming above her. "I'm not sure if this is considered breaking and entering, but I did knock, and I may have messed with the doorknob but I swear to you that it opened on its own." Turquoise eyes darted around nervously, silently praying she hadn't angered Clockwork. Star ventured further inside the Citadel, careful not to bump into anything. Disgruntled at darkness of the tower, she pulled her phone out of her jeans, turning on the flashlight, resuming on her venture through the vast and dim corridors.
So far she had found nothing interesting, but if one counted they could see that each of the smaller gears inside the tower had sixteen grooves-
Her current train of thought was interrupted when she saw a single glass ball floating above a pedestal. The screen was blacked out, Star noticed, as she stepped closer to the orb. Now standing inches away from it, she tapped it merely out of curiosity, stepping back in a mix of awe and shock when it slowly fizzled on. Seconds later it fizzled out again, and Star twitched in confusion and annoyance.
Stepping away from the orb, her phone's light now shone on the outlines of a book. Her curiosity piqued, Star bent down and grabbed it, flipping it open to a random page.
"Hamilton!" She exclaimed, recognizing the text in the book, "It looks like I'm on the part where Hamilton is writing Washington's farewell address."
"Like the scripture says," she sang softly as she began reading, "Everyone shall sit under and vine and fig tree ad no one shall make them afraid. They'll be sa-"
"Hasn't anyone told you it's rude to enter someone's lair without their permission?"
Hearing the voice, Star immediately stopped singing and span around to face whoever was behind her. Looking up, she saw narrowed ruby red eyes glaring fiercely at her. Startled, she stepped back, now observing the ghost in front of her. He had blue skin, with a scar shaped like lightning bolt crossing over his eye - Now is not the time to make a Chosen One joke Star Lewinski - a violet cloak hung around over his broad shoulders, with a tiny black gear pinning it to his clothes. Underneath the cloak was a purple shirt several shades lighter, and a glass case containing an analog clock inside. If she had to guess, she would say that the glass case served as his chest. He had his ghostly tail out, flickering and swishing in tandem with his frustration.
'So this must be Clockwork,' she thought silently, 'He doesn't look how I thought he would. Granted, Lunch Lady didn't give much of a description, so there is that.'
Star noticed how Clockwork's was shaking in irritation, she decided now was as good as time as any to break the tense silence
"You don't look as Cogsworthy as I thought."
Clockwork flew in from an open portal inside the tower, yawning and stretching their arms out in exhaustion from their latest mission.
'Home sweet home.'
They floated away from the portal, an odd chill creeping through their spine. Someone was inside their tower.
Summoning their trusty scythe, they began to float through the tower in search of the intruder, suddenly stopping when they heard a young voice singing softly. It was impossible to deny that the intruder had a lovely voice, but all intruders must answer to Clockwork for breaking into their tower. Turning invisible, they slipped behind the unwelcome guest; Clockwork waited several seconds before turning visible again
"Hasn't anyone told you it's rude to enter someone's lair without their permission?" They bellowed out, irritation and exasperation bleeding out in their voice.
She freezes, turns around and stares at them. Clockwork's irritated as the intruder continues to stare; just as the Time Master was about to open their mouth, the intruder simply says, "You don't look as Cogsworthy as I thought."
What?
Clockwork's silence is unyielding, "What are you talking about?"
The intruder looks away, "You don't know Cogsworth? Does Beauty and the Beast ring a bell?"
"Again, what are you talking about?"
"Oh my goodness, you really don- forget it." Clockwork rolled their eyes at the intruder's dramatic antics. "So I found my way to your tower, now what?"
"Clockwork? Are you in there?"
Fantastic. Not only do they have to deal with this girl, they also have to deal with their idiotic employers. Looking at her again, Clockwork rose an eyebrow, "Now what, you ask? Now, you hide."
With a snap of their fingers, she's suddenly poofed away to another part of the tower. Using their telekinesis, Clockwork forced the doors open, the glare deepening even further as the Observants floated in.
I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I did writing it. I can't thank my family on Slack for helping me pull together plot points, listening to my insane ramblings, and encouraging me to post this! Like seriously, without them, this fic wouldn't have been have put together.
I hope to get chapter two out as soon as I can! In the meantime, have a Happy Holidays!
Please read and review!