AN: This wasn't supposed to happen. This story wasn't supposed to happen. I've never ever been bitten by the plot bunny. I've had ideas that I really liked before but I could always set them aside and work on them later but this idea hit me hard and I immediately started writing it. It took me a little over 4 straight hours to write out plus a little bit of editing.
All I can say is I've seen like 4 Danny Phantom Homestuck crossovers and in each and every one of them Danny is already in the Game and there's no explanation as to why. All the characters know him and I don't know I happened to ponder it and suddenly I had to rectify it. (This is just a one shot. As far as I can see... I will not be continuing this. For my own sanity, as far as I'm concerned, this story is complete.)

Edit: This is no longer a oneshot... and, I have gone through and touched up some spelling and grammer... and the number goof...

Anyhow... please enjoy a touch of my insanity...

The Outer Ring

It started here… the moment his soul began to reawaken, with a not so simple visit from an old friend.

Clockwork frowned as he looked down at the person he'd come to meet. "Daniel." The ghost of time, having just shifted from an older visage to a prime youth, greeted the perceived boy, who long out grew the title, with a curt nod.

Danny Phantom was curled into a loose ball as he rotated slowly in a vast empty space. His black hazmat suite glowed softly under his own ghostly light. Distant stars twinkled around them. Rotating slowly vibrant green eyes peaked over a shoulder toward his guest. "Clockwork." Phantom greeted tersely. His eyes lacking any interest or surprise that the ancient specters presence normally brought forth from other ghosts who knew him.

The timekeeper glanced around standing at a door that stood opened behind him. It hovered in the open space it's violet door swung in and away from a tear in the otherwise unending spice. The tare seamed to lead into an equally unending green expanse. The master of time noted that it was also the only source of bright light in the vicinity. "I see you've opened up your living space." The ghost words were level and serious, but his words brought a slight smirk to the face of his host.

Slowly Danny rotated until he was able to face his guest and uncurled. He was in no rush. He had nowhere to be and he knew the ghost before him had all the time. With that thought, he looked the ghost up and down. Clockwork seemed to be the picture of calm, but Danny noticed that both his hands gripped his time staff, the only sign that this wasn't simply a leisurely visit. The placement of the ghost hands was so subtle and lacked any obvious distress that most wouldn't even take note of it. Danny did, though he chose not to address it directly. He knew Clockwork would tell him what was the matter in due time, and only if it had anything to do with him. For all he knew Clockwork was looking for an escape and his unease had nothing to do with him.

Danny doubted this, having never known the ghost to run away from his duties no matter how infuriating mundane or taxing. Still, if his friend, by some small chance, did need an escape he would do what he could to help him. It was the least he could do for the old timekeeper.

Rolling his shoulders slightly as he kicked up his feet and reclined back on an invisible sofa he waved his hand slightly as a small table materialized next to them a tea set setting innocently atop it. "Come sit." Danny offered as the world around them shifted from the empty endless expanse of space into a homey living room. Clockwork instantly recognized it as a mock-up of the old Fenton's living space. The invisible couch turned into a plush sofa as Danny settled into it. Clockwork glanced behind him to see a comfortable looking armchair waiting for him. With another wave of his hand the now front door slid shut. "Have some tea." Danny said motioning to the set.

Clockwork managed to keep the smile creeping across his face contained to a small smirk as he shifted into the form of a young boy. "When did you learn to be a gracious host."

Danny snorted as he was pouring a cup of tea for himself. "Being the master of time you should know I've always known how to be a good host." His grin became mischievous. "I just rarely chose to extend that hand of hospitality."

Clockwork grunted in acknowledgment as he settled into the offered seat his body shifting to that of a young man once again. Danny took a sip of tea his brow quirking slightly as he noted how short a time the ghost had spent as a toddler. It spoke volumes of how serious the visit was. Reaching for the tea set the ghost began to speak as he served himself. "It's good to see you, Danny." The ghost said softly. "I know it's lonely for you here."

"You also know that right now I want to be alone." Danny countered.

"I do." Clockwork nodded. "That is why I usually leave you be during your down periods. I know how vital it is for you to get your head straight."

Danny snorted unable to hide the slight bit of disdain in the hum that road with it. "Yeah. We all know what happens when I lose my mind."

Clockwork did not dignify that with an answer as he studied the halfa in front of him. The room was filled with a comfortable silence for a time as the two drank. "That hasn't been an issue for a long time." The ghost finally said.

Grunting Danny shrugged. "Long time or no I'm still stuck under the Observant's microscope."

"Danny…" Clockwork said slowly knowing that his next words would lead to the tensest part of their conversation. He was sensitive to the boy's situation but knew that treading softly here would only lengthen their conversation and needlessly complicate the discussion. "Although the Observant's are still wary of you they are focused on other things these days. You are hardly even a second thought."

Danny blinked. Then laughed. "Whoa. That's a surprise. What happened? Did a new half ghost upstart pop up to capture their attention or something?"

Clockwork sighed knowing that that statement was the way Danny's desire not to be alone manifested itself. Ignoring that he shook his head shifting into an old man. "No. The truth of the matter is that time has just worn away their fear of you."

"Time?" Danny asked his heart clenching at the implications. "How much time?"

"Well…" Clockwork readjusted the timepiece atop his staff. "About a few hundred years." Danny's blank stare and trembling hands were an expected response. The timekeeper sighed. "This is the fifth time you ducked and hid away from the world Daniel. The first time you stayed here in your layer for nearly 3 years. The second time you held up here for half a century. The third time it was a century. Now the forth was only a few years but you have to have noticed that you don't really keep track of time when you fall into these slumps." He gave his friend a pointed look. "This time it has been exactly 413 years 6 months 12 days 10 hours and 25 minutes since you isolated yourself."

Danny blinked. Once. Twice. Then slowly he looked down to the cup in his hands dragging his thumb along the rim of the cup. Biting his lip, he shrugged. "Well…" He let out a slow breath. "Can't say I'm not surprised… How's the world doing? Did I miss World War 3?" He chuckled his eyes suddenly sad.

Clockwork shook his head. "If you want to know you should go find out for yourself. Though I warn you… travel is a bit more complex these days."

"I think I can handle it." Danny said with a slight smile. The two fell into another confrontable silence.

"I hope you know that this is not a simple house call."

Danny sighed setting his empty cup down. "With you it never is."

"The sentiment is shared."

Danny gave a half shrug. "Eh… It'd be boring otherwise. So what is the reason for your visit? Considering your earlier statements, I'll make a wager and say it doesn't involve any evil future me's?"

Chuckling slightly as he shifted to a young adult Clockwork shook his head. "Not at all. In fact, it has little to do with the word you know at all."

Confusion crossed Phantoms face. "How come when you come around you never bring anything I'm accustomed to? It's always something out of left field."

"Beyond the field, I'd say, in this case, from the next ballpark."

Danny's curiosity grew. "Okay. I'll bite. What is it you need me to do?"

"I wouldn't go so far as to call it a need." Clockwork said as he refilled his cup. "More of a request."

"Isn't it always?" Danny asked crossing his arms.

"Well, this is a request for a… well actually from The Outer Ring."

"The Outer Ring?" Danny asked. "What is that?"

"It's a plane of existence on the outskirts of the Ghost Zone. Little is really understood about it other than the fact that it is believed to be the thread that ties the universes together."

"Universes?" Danny asked eyes wide. "As in more than one?"

"Well…" Clockwork sighed. "The thing is the world in which all things live is highly complex. It's a highly tangled mess of time and space. So complex in fact, that even I do not fully understand it."

"Whoa."

Danny looked like his mind had just been blown but Clockwork pushed forward knowing that the conversation needed to keep moving. "This is all so over my own head that I refuse to even attempt to explain the bits and pieces I do understand to you. Just understand this. The inhabitants of The Outer Ring are not like anything you've ever encountered before. They are hard to take in and your encounter with them, should you accept to help, will be blissfully short."

"So… these inhabitants…" Danny chose to stick to the word Clockwork used feeling that the ghost had used it deliberately. "They are asking for my help?"

"In a sense. It's more or less that they have made a… contract with a being and are attempting to fulfill their end of the bargain if you will. They feel that your nature will be more welcome in the universe they are trying to aid than one of their own."

"What kind of contract?"

"That I do not know. The place they wish to send you to is outside of my reach. If you go with this, I will not be able to help you. You will only be able to return once those in The Outer Ring have chosen to return you."

"That sounds kind of risky… I know nothing about this Outer Ring… how can I trust that they won't just leave me where they please?"

Clockwork actually shrugged. "You don't, but Danny… would it really change anything if they did?" With that the ghost of time looked around them as the living space faded back into the empty expanse of space.

Danny sighed as he looked around. "Well… I was getting tired of just floating around… at the very least this'll give me something to do with my time."

Clockwork nodded his face void of any clear expression. "Then it's settled."

Danny laughed. "Right. So when do I leave?"

"Now."

Danny felt a pull at his abdomen and gasped as he looked down to see a tactical wrapped around his waist. Looking back, he saw it was reaching out of nothing. With a startled yelp he turned to see the world suddenly warp and Clockworks form vanish before him. Instantly, and uncomfortably, Danny found himself within a hoard of what he could only describe as monsters.

They were all smashed together writhing in some kind of pile. Danny was wrapped in the abducting tentacles, his face smashed up against something scaly. Something huge and slimy slithered against the other side of his face, pinning his head. A large red eye blinked at him his horror-filled face reflecting back at him clearly in its large pupil. Danny felt something pushing up against his mind. It felt like something in his head snapped and his eyes went wide as he let out a scream. Feeling like his brain was being shifted through haphazardly he gritted his teeth as indistinguishable voices and screeches filled his mind. They collapsed into a roaring presence that spoke to him. It wasn't a voice though. It felt more like every word was its own presence- its own being.

DANNY… DANNY PHANTOM… GHOST CHILD…

They hissed in his mind and he let out a choked sound. Pain and fear suddenly falling back to a shattering numbness that became his whole existence.

YOU HAVE TAKEN UP THE TASK. THE TASK. YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR FULFILLING OUR WILL. OUR WILL. DO NOT FAIL.

Breath slammed into his chest as his body suddenly kicked into survival mode, overriding the lack of instruction from his brain, it was a sudden and automatic action that shook Danny out of his stupor. Breathing greedily, he only partially wondered how he could take in oxygen under such a mass of monstrous beings before he found his voice. "Y-Your will?" He croaked. "What- What do you mean?"

There was an indescribable screech that cut through his mind causing him to curl slightly his hands reaching for his head only to get caught somewhere along the way.

ROSE LALONDE HAS MADE CONTRACT WITH US. HER WILL IS OUR WILL. PROTECT LALONDE.

"R-Rose?" An image flew through his head of a pale girl with short bobbed hair and lavender eyes. She wore what looked to be a set of orange pajamas. Without warning, the presence in his mind vanished and Danny found himself in a bright white light feeling as though he was falling. Gasping for air trying to come to grips with what just happened to him he tried to discern if there was an up or down. The light started to fade to black sparking like lightning here and there just as Danny collided with something solid face first. His back rolled over his head and his feet hit the ground. Groaning he fell to the side. "I think I just got raped." He murmured to the hard surface in his face.

Then he heard voices. Real voices. Not the terrifying grind of those horror terrors that threatened to rip his mind and soul apart. These new voices were garbled in his confused state. The sounds were just bouncing around in his now empty head as he tried to pull the pieces of his mind back together into something resembling functioning. One voice cut in clear as a bell the words shaking slightly. "What the hell did you do Lalonde?"

AN: I know that it Homestuck that the Horrorterrors are creatures that reside in the Furthest Ring... but I'm having the ghost refer to it differently to show that the universes are different. If I continue this story (and I'll post a chapter to announce when that happens here) this would probably be cleared up... since this is just a one shot right now... it's not as clear. Anyway, thank you for reading!