So this one-shot is a result of sapphireswimming's reaction to my Tumblr post.
I hope they - and you all - enjoy!
Takes place after Chapter 12 of Embarrassment Ensues (You don't have to have read it though, unless you want to know a little more about who Aleph is)
Told from Clockwork's POV
"You should become a weather reporter. You'd be second to none!"
Those were Danny's words last time I met with him and his friends. They were still fresh in my mind, like a song refusing to subside.
"You could say 'There's a 100% chance of snow, but don't worry, it'll stop at 12:17' and no one would be able to argue!"
The notion was ridiculous. Me? A weather reporter? I am the Ghost of Time. Vortex would be a better match for the role, minus his intent to destroy Earth.
Perhaps some Earth television will distract me.
I floated over to my ghost-catcher-esque time portal and hovered my hand parallel to the screen. Green ectoplasm flickered like static on a TV, and the Hyena 12 News logo flashed before me.
"This is Lance Thunder with the weather report."
Not the best channel to be watching given my current problem, but I figured I would see what all the fuss was about.
"Pack your umbrellas because there is going to be rain from 8am to 12pm."
That was false. The rain wouldn't start until around 9am, and it wouldn't subside until 2pm.
A green vortex of ectoplasm interrupted my train of thought. As the vortex dispersed, a green-skinned ghost in indigo robes and cape and a gold crown stood beside me.
"Aleph."
"Hello, old friend," Aleph started. He floated over to my time portal. "What have we here?"
"I'm watching Earth television. Which brings me to my next point. I have a task for you."
Earth was used to incorrect forecasts every now and then, but the urge to correct them was still gnawing away at me.
"What does the Ghost of Time want with me?"
I told the Ghost of Creation what I needed him to do.
"You've grown soft, Clockwork."
"Yes, yes. I know." I let out a sigh of reluctance and spun my staff. A blue vortex enveloped me and teleported me out of Long Now.
"This is Lance Thunder with the weather report..."
My signature cyan vortex of a clock appeared next to Mr. Thunder and my indifferent adult self appeared beside him.
"GHOST!"
"Time out," I interrupted as the world around me froze. I took out one of my time medallions and placed it around Lance Thunder's neck.
"GHOST!" The blonde meteorologist unfroze and continued his hysterical screams.
"Calm down," I started. "I am Clockwork. Ghost of Time. I have come here to correct your forecast. You were about to to say it would rain from 8 to 12, but in reality it would rain from 9 to 2."
The weather reporter only caught snatches of what I had told him, probably because he was so used to getting attacked every time he met a ghost.
I let out what was probably my third sigh that day and called "Time in."
The rest of the forecast crew and the StormTracker screen behind Lance and I unfroze. The rest of the crew wasn't nearly as hysterical as Lance was, much to my convenience.
"I have come to give the forecast," I started. I repeated what I had told Mr. Thunder, except with more accurate timings. "It is going to drizzle from 9:02 am to 1:54 pm. After that, there will be 27 mile-an-hour winds for the rest of the day."
"That's pretty precise," started the brunette female weather reporter. "But how do we know it's accurate?"
I was glad Daniel was in school, otherwise he would've come here in no time flat making this encounter more complicated than it needed to be.
I pressed the button on the side of my staff right below the clock-like handle. "Time forward."
The space around us was enveloped by a cyan ectoplasm-like wind and sped-up clocks materialized around us. A couple of moments later, a bright white flash emitted from the clock on my staff and the room was returned to how it was before. Well, almost like it was before.
"What just happened," asked Mr. Thunder.
"I brought us an hour and a half into the future."
Everyone's attention turned to the clock on the ceiling. Sure enough, the time had changed from 7:37 am to 9:00 am.
"I wanted to show you that my prediction is indeed correct."
I brought their attention to the window beyond the transparent double doors of the studio. Everyone had smartphones nowadays so there was no need for me to keep a clock floating around.
Surely enough, at 9:02:11 am, a crack of thunder was heard and little by little, it started to rain.
"Why don't you give the forecast from now on," an upset Lance Thunder exclaimed with crossed arms. "Your predictions are clearly better than mine."
"That's what I'm here to fix." I pulled out a Spectral Barometer looking much like the one that was used to keep Vortex from escaping the Observant High Council... that is, before Vlad Plasmius somehow infiltrated the Council and freed the weather ghost. The only difference between that one and this one was that the outer rim was indigo and it had Aleph's logo, looking much like a fancy "N," on it.
"This," I started, "is the Spectral Barometer Mark 2. I had an old friend of mine design it. It alters the amount of water in clouds, the location of clouds, pretty much anything to do with clouds, and lets you set them to whatever you desire."
I handed it over to Lance, who examined the artifact like it was a foreign object, which I guess it was to the human.
"With this, your predictions will no longer be predictions and more de facto. Just think up what you want the weather to be, point the two-pronged end at the sky, press the logo on the bottom, and the barometer will fire a green blast up into the sky and generate or destroy clouds to match your 'predictions'."
By the time I finished my explanation, Lance Thunder was out the door and outside, eager to test his new toy.
"Okay, barometer," he started. "Stop the rain at 12:00 pm!" Mr. Thunder pointed the barometer up to the sky and pressed the black "N"-like shape. Just as I had explained, a green blast of energy fired up towards the raining clouds.
"Time forward," I enunciated, almost equally eager to prove my explanation right. after a brief moment of strong winds, two things had changed. The time changed from 9:07 am to 12:00 pm, and the rain stopped.
Mr. Thunder and his crew checked their phones to confirm that the time now was indeed 12 pm.
"Now we can change the forecast so all the other news stations are wrong and we are right," exclaimed the brunette meteorologist.
That obviously wasn't the intend of my intervention, but given the nature of my powers, I wasn't exactly shocked that she had said that.
"And with that, my work here is done," I stated as I teleported back to Long Now.
I wasn't quite concerned that I had just jeopardized the weather patterns of Amity Park because I knew they would break the barometer in two weeks.
But like I've said before, I know everything.
Yeah, not as solid an ending as all my other one-shots, sorry :'D
Leave a review, let me know what you thought!