Prologue

Clockwork loved many things about what he did. He loved watching things happen just as they were meant to. He loved knowing everything everyone else didn't. Most of all, he loved to meddle in the chronological map.

It was his very favorite pastime to have his nose in everyone's business. Watching mortals react to roadblocks he had put in place gave him a certain feeling of power. He was the pebble thrown into the proverbial pond of life, creating the waves that shaped the surface. He moved the iceberg into the path of the Titanic. He sent the hurricanes and the earthquakes and the fallen tree that delayed an average joe from encountering a drunk driver. Every path was laid out before him simultaneously, and he was an expert on seeing the 'big picture'. It was his entire purpose.

This particular time he meddled was probably his favorite so far. The reason for this was because the one he sent in to assure the correct outcome loved to meddle almost as much as he did. She was the only one he had met that completely understood the impossibility of Clockwork's position. She also hated the Observants with a passion. He became more familiar with her when she died.

Her name was Andrea, but it was in everyone's best interest to call her Andy. She was the product of a humble mechanic and an absent mother, and she was tough as nails. Clockwork had introduced himself to her at precisely the right time, and kept her around his tower to share his love of meddling when she wasn't out harmlessly tormenting other Ghosts. She had lost everything in the end of her short life, and was left to wander the Ghost Zone by herself. She had a unique set of abilities that Clockwork was all too happy to witness in use. He was even more pleased to employ them.

Her favorite thing in Clockwork's spacious tower, he knew, was a little green and silver Thermos on the shelf. The Thermos, dented and scratched from its use, contained a vicious Ghost who existed outside of the precious Chronological Map that Clockwork so carefully monitored. Usually, Clockwork destroyed things that were meant to remain timeless, but this circumstance was very important to the futures of several different times.

Andy was only seventeen when she died, and so lost that she craved companionship. All she had in her afterlife to fill the abyss of death was Clockwork, and he wasn't really a 'warm presence' per se. Andy needed a friend. The entity inside the Thermos knew this, and filled her head with promises of a position to do as she wished in his own territory, if she freed him.

Now, Andy was young, but she wasn't stupid. She knew Clockwork kept this creature locked away for a reason, but he never told her. "All in good time," he would say when she asked. She knew how he worked. If he truly didn't want the Thermos opened, he would've told her. Her excuse to her actions was that Clockwork wasn't stopping her, so it probably was harmless.

Clockwork had his reasons. He knew she would open the thermos. He also knew that the captive would have formed enough of a companionship with Andy to tell her where he was going, not that Clockwork didn't already know. It was obvious.

He was going to force his way back into the Chronological Map.

The captive did, however, leave Andy with a gift to meddle more in the lives of Ghosts while he was away. She treasured it, and kept it with her every moment of her afterlife. Clockwork found it touching, despite seeing it coming.

It was because of this companionship between the two of them that Clockwork decided to send her after the freed Ghost to assure he couldn't achieve his goals. Andy found it cruel, but understood that Clockwork had reasons for everything. Heavy-hearted, she agreed to do as he instructed.

"It's called Amity Park," he told her, waving his staff to show her the town. "His younger self resides there, and he must make sure that this child goes through the necessary trials to grow into himself."

Andy's eyes changed from an uninterested gray to a cold blue as she saw the captive Ghost's former self. He was, in this part of time, the same age she was condemned to remain. He had peachy skin and hair the color of a raven's feather. His eyes were a deep blue, and his build was leaner than the Ghost she had come to know.

"Phantom's first target will be the young woman to his right," Clockwork gestured, shifting into an old man.

Andy looked where Clockwork gestured. The girl had the same hair color as Phantom's younger self, but her eyes were a deep purple, like two amethysts, burning with determination. She had fair skin that was accented with dark clothing and lipstick that matched her eyes. She looked defiant despite her small form.

"Why?" Andy asked, curiosity sparkling yellow in her eyes.

"He has an infatuation for her. They both deny these shared feelings for reasons that hold no sense. In the future I have set, they must end up together." Clockwork shifted to a child.

Green flooded in Andy's irises.

"The future Phantom has envisioned will end all creation before you can fully enjoy it, Andy," Clockwork remained looking into the portal, not having to see Andy's face to know her envy.

He waved his staff to show her an image of herself and Phantom. They looked maliciously content. He ruled over a fearful wreckage of what once was a town. Phantom froze over the buildings of the city in seconds and he shattered the ice with a Ghostly Wail. The townspeople scattered, screaming as their world came crashing down around them.

"There's still people there," Andy defended, her eyes flashing yellow again.

Clockwork waved his staff again.

Phantom was irritated. He had run the humans out of his domain, and no longer had anything to keep him occupied. Andy had left, fearing the malevolence she'd witnessed. This enraged him, and he scoured the globe for new cities to haunt.

Fear darkened Andy's eyes to black and she looked away. "He'd leave eventually, wouldn't he?"

"Yes," Clockwork answered, becoming an adult. "He would return to destroy the Ghost Zone."

"Is his path only destruction?" Andy asked. "He seemed more intelligent than that."

"His creation was one of intense pain," Clockwork said. "Surely you can appreciate that."

Defeated, Andy sighed. "So what are you going to do?"

Clockwork smiled. "I'm sending you back there. With a little more help, Phantom will be defeated. For good."

Clockwork met her deep blue stare, "Love isn't a feeling he would accept, Andy. He believes his humanity was stripped from him. He feels nothing but a thirst for vengeance and power."

Andy dropped her eyes away from him. She looked into the portal at the young human with an arm around his friends. She set her jaw, decided.

"What will you have me do, Clockwork?"