A Stitch in Time
"To most people time is seen linear, only following one path to its destination. I see the parade from above, all the twists and turns it may or may not take and those consequences that come along with it. I see all of that and then some. I am Clockwork."
Daniel Fenton a.k.a. Danny Phantom was ready for his summer to begin. He had one last period to go before school was out but unfortunately that class was taught by none other than Mr. Lancer. "So students even though you all haven't paid a bit of attention in my class this year you have all passed." Cheers went up throughout the class room. "WHICH means that next year I will have to push you all harder, to make sure you earn those grades, and there will be no 'I'm the mayor.' excuses or any 'I have to go fight ghosts.' Are we clear Mr. Foley and Mr. Fenton?" "Yes sir." They both replied rather glumly. "Good now you may all leave my class early today and get on with your summer vacations." Another cheer went through the class room as the kids stormed the door to Lancer's class room.
"Mr. Fenton. A word if you will?" Danny glanced at Sam and Tucker. "Go on. I'll catch up with you guys later." The two left as Danny walked up to Lancer's desk. "You wanted a word sir?" "Yes indeed I did Mr. Fenton. I am well aware of your responsibilities as the protector of Amity Park and all those within the city but I expect more effort out of you next year. I will be lenient in some cases though and cut you some slack, and the same goes for Mr. Foley, but I still expect your best effort." Danny looked at Lancer and replied "Yes sir." Lancer waved him to the door. "Thank you for your time you may go catch up to your friends and enjoy your summer vacation."
Sam and Tucker were waiting at his locker for him. "So?" Sam inquired. "What did Lancer want?" Danny turned his arm intangible and rummaged in his locker for his things. "He just wanted to tell me that he expects my best effort for next year and he will be willing to cut me and Tucker some slack to do our responsibilities." Danny got ahold of his book bag and pulled his arm out of his locker. Tucker rolled his eyes as Sam elbowed him in the ribs. "Ow! What the heck was that for?" Sam sighed. "You should be lucky he's giving you a break now come on everyone left already. Let's get this summer on the road." They started for the door. "I just hope that it's not like last summer when we had to spend the first 3 days running across the country to save our parents from a demented ringmaster suffering from ghost envy." Danny said as they recounted their showdown against Freakshow last year. They all laughed and took off towards Fenton Works.
Clockwork, with the appearance of a young child, fiddled with his staff waiting for the Observants to show up. "3..2..1…" The Observants appeared in the center of the atrium of Clockwork's tower. "Ah, Gentlemen I've been expecting you." The Observants floated nearer to Clockwork, now with the physique of an elderly man, and spoke. "Clockwork you know the time is drawing near. Correct?" Clockwork frowned slightly. "Don't talk to me like I'm not the master of time." He shifted to the form of a middle aged man. "I know very well the time is nearing. Everything is coming together as it should be. Now, care to observe the door?" The Observants glanced at one another. "You may think you know all the outcomes but one day you will slip up Clockwork and then… why should we tell you? We are sure you already know that outcome as well." The Observants teleported out of the tower. Clockwork glanced at the giant portal before him showing a scene of Danny, Sam, and Tucker running off towards the Fenton Works. "Yes I believe I do know that consequence as well." Clockwork smiled as he started fiddling with his staff once again. "Yes I do."
The trio arrived at Fenton Works and went inside. "So?" Tucker asked. "What are we going to do first?" "I'm down for anything." Danny said. "I know of a concert that's going to happen on the edge of town tonight. How bout we check it out?" Sam said. Tucker groaned. "Not another goth concert." "Calm down Tuck it's a Dumpty Humpty concert." Danny walked to the basement door and went down to the lab. Tucker and Sam noticed that Danny wasn't in the kitchen anymore. "Hey where'd Danny go?" They both said simultaneously.
Danny was standing at the control panel to the Ghost Portal pressing buttons and inputting data. "Yo, Danny, what are you doing down here?" Tucker shouted as him and Sam descended the stairs. "I have to go check on something in the Ghost Zone before the concert tonight. You two head on home and get ready. I'll call you when I'm done." "Ok Danny see you later." They both said. Danny flipped the lever on the Ghost Portal and stepped through.
"Ok first stop Ember's place to return her guitar, then off to Walker's prison to bail out Johnny 13, then a stop at Clockwork's tower. Ok Danny let's get moving to make it back in time for the concert. Danny pulled the Infi-map and Ember's guitar out of the Fenton Pack, a small backpack infused with the powers of the Ghost Zone to give it near endless carrying capacity, and headed for Ember's. About 5 minutes of floating around and he finally found Ember's door. Danny pocketed the Infi-map and knocked on the door. "Give me a minute." Came a reply from within.
A few seconds later and the door opened up revealing Ember McLain, punk-rock ghost girl. "What do you want dip-stick? You better have my guitar." Danny sighed at her false threat and unstrapped the guitar from his back. "Yeah, here you go." Ember took her guitar and strummed a few notes to make sure everything was fine with it. "Thanks again for letting me borrow your guitar Ember. The data I got from that will help me develop better sonic weaponry." "Yeah, yeah, just remember you owe me a favor now." Danny turned to leave. "Don't worry, I won't." He closed the door behind him. "Ok one stop down two to go. Now how do I get to Walker's prison from here?" He asked himself pulling out the Infi-map. "Oh that's cool a portal to Walker's should be opening right… now." Sure enough a green swirling portal appeared right in front of him. Danny pocketed the map and floated through.
"So Walker what's the damage?" Danny was in Walker's office sitting opposite of its owner. "Let us see." Walker said flipping through a few papers. "Ah, says here Johnny was disturbing the peace, vandalism of public property, and being an overall nuisance to both the human and ghost community." Danny rubbed his temples. "So what's it going to take to get him out of here?" "Well if you keep an eye on him and make sure to keep him out of trouble… I'll be willing to let him go." Danny stood up. "Thanks Walker."
"Johnny this is, ironically, the thirteenth time I bailed you out in the past six months, and I doubt Walker is going to let me avoid protocol anymore. Now promise me you'll stay out of trouble." Johnny sighed. "Yeah, thanks man I'll try harder to stay out of trouble. Now I got to go meet up with Kitty. See you around." Johnny took off on his motorcycle as Danny pulled the Infi-map back out. "Now off to Clockwork's Tower." Danny said as a portal opened in front of him.
The tower of the Master of Time was one of the more calm and peaceful areas of the Ghost Zone. Clocks giant and small and other objects used to tell time where floating or sitting in random places of the tower. "Hey! Clockwork!" No response. "I need to talk to you!" "As I you young Daniel." Clockwork floated out from behind the giant time portal. "I found one of your time medallions in my backpack from my fight with…you know." He said pointing to the dented and beaten Fenton Thermos floating on one of the tables nearby. "Ah, yes I thank you for returning it to me. I knew you had it but I thought it best for you to return it on your own time." Clockwork hung the medallion up with the others. "Now as I said I need to talk to you. Come have a seat over here and we will discuss matters." Danny followed Clockwork to a large neatly kept desk and sat down. "I need to ask a favor of you young Daniel. There is a ghost out of his time and I need you to bring him to me." Danny listened intently. "Who is this ghost Clockwork?" Clockwork pulled a sheet of paper out from one of the desk drawers, wrote a note, folded it into an airplane, and threw it into one of the smaller time portals. "I believe you know Skulltech 9.9?"
Danny was speechless. He remembered the combination of Skulker and Technus from the timeline he averted by beating his evil self. "I thought he was from the now nonexistent timeline where I become evil." "Oh he was I assure you and that timeline will never be as you will not become evil. Which is why I want you to capture him and bring him to me, so I can determine the reason behind his existence." Danny sat silent for a moment. "But Clockwork wouldn't you have seen this and would have been able to stop it?" Clockwork frowned. "That's the thing Daniel. He should not exist in any time stream and therefore I wasn't able to see this coming. But now that he's in our time stream I can see all of what he will and could do." "Ok Clockwork I'll help you out. Where can I find Skulltech?" Clockwork got up and floated to his time portal. "You don't need to worry about finding him. He'll find you in good time. Now I believe you have a concert to be preparing for?" Clockwork opened a portal and through it Danny could see his bedroom. "Thanks Clockwork!" Danny shouted as he jumped through the portal which closed behind him.
"Well it seems the Observants were correct. I didn't see this little hitch in the plan. But as they said I do see the outcome." "Talking to yourself again Clockwork?" The voice came from the Fenton Thermos on the nearby table. "No, I do believe you get lonely in your eternal imprisonment so I feel the need to keep you updated on the processes of your good counterpart." Clockwork chuckled as a paper airplane came through the portal he sent one through a few minutes ago and floated in front of the Time Master's face. He took it from the air and read it. "And once again everything is coming together as it should be."
Danny stepped out of the portal next to his bed and looked at the clock. 8:45! The concert started in fifteen minutes. Danny changed clothes and took a thirty second shower with his deodorant spray and ran down the stairs. "Mom, Dad, I'm going to a concert I'll be back later!" Jack ran around from the corner of the kitchen. "Danny wait! Don't forget a Fenton Thermos." "Already got one dad." "Ok son. Now don't stay out to late and remember to have fun!" Jack shouted as Danny ran out the door.
Danny checked his phone and saw he had a text from Sam. It read "Yo Danny where r u? Tuck and I r already here." Danny responded with, "On my way.", and went ghost. He took off into the air and flew towards the sound of shouting fans and the glare of spotlights. Danny checked his phone. 8:55. He was going to make it with a few seconds to spare. Danny landed on the outskirts of the crowd and changed back to human. The concert just began as he found Sam and Tucker in the middle of the crowd. "Dude what took you so long? Sam was freaking out. Owww!" Sam jabbed Tucker in the ribs. "I was not! Anyway what did take you so long Danny?" "Can it wait until after this song? It's kind of hard to hear you guys."
After the song ended the band took a short break to rehydrate and rest for a few minutes. Sam pressed Danny for an answer to her earlier question. "Danny what took you so long earlier?" Danny pulled a soda out from the Fenton Pack and cracked it open. "Clockwork had a favor to ask of me and gave me the details of what I was supposed to do." "And?" Tucker and Sam asked. "Do you guys remember Skulltech 9.9" Sam's eyes widened as Tucker asked "Wasn't he the Skulker, Technus combo from the future that your evil self ruled?" Danny took a drink of his soda. "That's the one. Clockwork said he's loose and I need to capture him so Clockwork can interrogate him. Because, according to Clockwork, he shouldn't even exist."
Clockwork, in the form of a middle aged man, was studying the scene through the large time portal in his tower when the Observants appeared in the room. "May I help you gentlemen or are you just stopping by to say hello?" Clockwork turned, smiling, to see his two employers floating towards him. "Clockwork as we foretold there has been an occurrence you were not aware of." Clockwork frowned. "If you are speaking of the rouge ghost from the future I already have that taken care of. Young Daniel Fenton is on the case ready to apprehend the fugitive." The Observants chuckled. "It seems you don't see everything after all." Clockwork raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?" The Observants seemed genuinely surprised. "Your little errand boy has already captured the rouge ghost and is enroute to your tower. We came to inform you that the ghost child seems to have developed a new ability and will most likely need your aid." Clockwork frowned slightly. "What kind of ability?" "You will find out when he arrives. We will now take our leave." As the Observants teleported out of the tower Danny, Sam, and Tucker came up the stairs. "Hey Clockwork we got Skulltech 9.9 and there's something I need to tell you." Clockwork fiddled with his staff as he inquired further. "I'm more interested in this new ability. Something is interfering with my powers and I wasn't even aware of your capture of Skulltech 9.9… so what is this new ability?" Danny handed over the Fenton Thermos that had Skulltech in it to Clockwork and said "I controlled time Clockwork."
Clockwork, now with the physique of an old man, went still for a few moments. He regained his composure and set the thermos on his desk. "Explain please." Danny, Sam, and Tucker took a seat at the desk Clockwork was currently at and Danny spoke. "Well my ghost sense went off and I figured it was Skulltech. My guess was proven correct when… wait it's there on the time portal."
The four of them turned towards the time portal in time to see an explosion of purple light on the stage. Everyone ran screaming except for Danny, Sam, and Tucker who charged the stage where Skulltech emerged from the smoke. Danny went ghost and fired a volley of ghost rays at Skulltech just to have them diverted by his ghost shield. "Sam! Tucker! Try flanking him and getting a few shots of with those new Fenton Blasters to see if he is weak against sonic attacks! I'll keep his attention." Sam and Tucker took off in opposite directions to the sides of the stage. Danny fired off a few more ghost rays before charging Skulltech with his hands coated in ectoplasm. Skulltech deployed four mechanical arms and extended them towards Danny. Sam and Tucker took this opening to fire off a few sonic blasts at the mechanical arms. The shots hit and short-circuited them for a few seconds before coming back online. "No use ghost child we aren't affected by any sonic attacks." Skulker said. "Yeah after experiencing your ghostly wail we upgraded our armor to disrupt any sonic attacks." Technus added.
The mechanical arms grabbed Tucker and Sam and threw them towards Danny. Danny distracted by his friends predicament didn't notice the missile fired at him as it impacted sending Danny twenty yards backwards and into the concession stand. Sam and Tucker hit the ground hard dropping their weapons and falling unconscious. Danny crawled out of the rubble of what was the concession stand to see Sam and Tucker unconscious on the ground. "Now ghost child." The two halves said in harmony. "We will destroy your friends!" Skulltech fired off a volley of missiles at the two unconscious teens. Danny knew he wasn't going to make it in time. He stretched his hand out trying to muster a ghost ray but couldn't do it. "No. Stop. Stoooooooooop!"
Danny's outstretched hand glowed bright blue as rings shot out and expanded. When they passed over the missiles and Skulltech time halted. Missiles in midflight and Skulltech in mid-laugh floated in suspended animation. Danny stood up and ran up to his friends. They groaned as they regained consciousness and screamed. The missiles were less than a foot from hitting them. W-w-what happened?" Tucker asked his voice shaking. "I-I stopped time." Danny said a little stunned. Sam sat up groggily. "Isn't that Clockwork's department?" She asked. "Well we have to go drop off Skulltech at Clockwork's so… maybe he can tell us what this is about." Danny sucked Skulltech into the Fenton Thermos and pulled out the Infi-map. "Well it looks like a portal will be opening soon. We should get to Clockwork's soon." With that the trio departed.
"Well Clockwork? What does this new power mean?" Clockwork, switching to the form of a child, was still staring at the now blank time portal. "I don't know Daniel but I think it explains why I wasn't aware of your fight and capture of Skulltech and for all we know it might be related to why he came to be in our time stream." Danny gave Clockwork a confused look. "As near as I can assume, you disrupting the time stream has an adverse effect on my own influence of the time stream. So until I know more I would request you not use this new ability unless absolutely necessary. Understood?" "Yes Clockwork." "Thank you. You children have had a long night. I'll open a portal back to the human world so you all can rest and have a good night's sleep." Clockwork opened three separate portals back to the rooms of each of the trio and they stepped through.
"Now," Clockwork said as he turned towards the new thermos on his desk. "We shall see what has brought you into existence." Clockwork opened the thermos and the still frozen Skulltech came out. Clockwork strapped him to a chair and restrained his movement with ectoplasmic chains. Clockwork pressed the switch atop his staff and Skulltech was freed from suspended animation. "Ha-ha-h… wait where is the ghost child? Clockwork? What are you doing? Where is the ghost child!" Skulltech struggled against their restraints trying to free themselves. "I shall be asking the questions. Now when did you come from?" The three fell silent. "I hope you know Skulltech that I have all the time in the world to wait." "Fine we'll talk." Clockwork smiled. "Good."
Danny woke up the next morning thinking that last night was a dream. "Did that really happen?" He thought to himself. "Well I might as well go find out." With that he pulled out the Infi-map.