You know what's fun? World building. You know what's not fun? World building on your own.
*Sad noises occur*
Puppet Master
Clockwork woke up to the realization that they were most certainly not in the same room they had been a moment ago.
Clockwork couldn't understand it. Noh had locked them in a room to stop them from going to find more information about Pariah, that much they were certain of. But afterwards… what had happened?
Someone cleared their throat behind them, and Clockwork turned. A young man stood there, human-like and pale, with his form flickering. He was dressed in strange fabrics with his sleeves rolled up to his elbows. "So uh, I probably just broke like every rule there is." He laughed nervously, "But uh, in my defense- forget it. Karma told me to and I was bored so... ta-da."
Clockwork stared blankly at the ghost in front of them, "Who? What- what is this? Where am I?!"
"Uh, Limbo. That's kinda what we dubbed it. It's a meeting place for the completely dead." He put a hand on the back of his neck, "I- I should probably go. Flickers probably shouldn't actually be able to access alternate Universes. I'm just- yeah bye."
"Wait!" The boy flickered out of existence, leaving Clockwork alone. "And of course, you don't. Great."
"Flickers really suck at following directions, don't they?"
Again Clockwork turned, raising an eyebrow this time as a ghost stepped out from the grey fog which surrounded them. "What is this, a bad dream?"
"More or less," They smiled, pushing black hair from their face with one hand and placing the other on their hip. "The name's Karma. Your hair's too short."
"…Thanks?" Clockwork stepped back, "Are you going to tell me what's going on? How did I get here?"
"Well, you may have been locked in a small area filled with a lot of Miride dust."
"Miride? That's a… sleeping powder." Clockwork stepped back, "You knocked me out?" This has to be a bad dream.
"Technically Flicker did." Karma shrugged, "He's the one who put it there, influenced that stupid friend of yours to shove you in it… he really is quite good at his job."
"That's lovely, I'm happy for him." Clockwork took another step back, "If you'll excuse me, I really should be going."
"Oh, but you just got here!" Karma took two steps forward for every step Clockwork took back. "Tell me Clockwork, have you ever heard of reincarnation?"
"How do you know my name?"
"I'm creepy like that. But have you?"
"…Vaguely, yes," Karma was incredibly close to them now. They looked over Clockwork's form, humming something to themself. "But only in stories. Like the Master of Time legend."
"Legend?" Karma pushed more hair from their face, "I'm going to enjoy having short hair." Clockwork nearly missed their whispered words. "How old is this legend?"
"I don't know." Clockwork said, "Do I look like that Time Master to you? I have more important things to worry about."
Karma was silent for a second before a smile forced its way onto their face, and they quickly moved their hands to cover it. "Yes," Their voice cracked, "You do look like the Master of Time!"
"Okay?" Clockwork took another step back, "You really are not making sense. Can I leave now?"
"But you just got here!" Still grinning and looking like they were trying not to laugh, Karma placed their hands on Clockwork's shoulders. "So, what would you think if I told you that you're me?"
"I'm not you. Do I look like I'm talking to myself?" Clockwork shoved Karma's hands off of them, "Just be straight with me and tell me exactly who you are and what you want with me."
"Pfft, I'm never straight." They grinned, "And being misleading is fun! But alright, you'll get the truth the boring way." Karma placed one hand on their hips, and used the other to push loose hair from their face. "My name is Karma, and I am the Master of Time. Or at least I was, until I got murdered. But I was powerful, and had a backup plan. So they killed me, but I came back. Only, not really. I kind of screwed up reincarnation so that uh, I wasn't in the body originally and a new person was so uh, yeah… don't know how I managed to get it that wrong. The point is, I'm sick of hanging out here. So," They leaned in rather close to Clockwork, "Give me my body back."
Clockwork stepped back, shaking their head. "You're not making sense. Whatever you want from me, I'm not interested."
"Do I look like I care anymore?" Karma grabbed Clockwork's arm, much tighter than they had before. "You are me. I am you. And now it's your turn to hang out here because I'm sick and tired of being bored out of my mind and not being able to help anyone who's suffering!" They held tighter when Clockwork tried to pull away, "And if you weren't so stubborn this wouldn't have taken so long! Stop being so- so me!"
"I'm not you!"
"Yes, you are! You're nothing but a mistake I made- you shouldn't even exist!"
Clockwork pulled their arm away, stepping back. "Shut up. Shut up! I'm not you!"
"Yes, you are!" Karma snapped, and then appeared calmer and they examined their hand. "And if I were you, Olex, I'd get used to it." They turned on their heel and left.
"My name is Clockwork!"
Karma made a dismissive motion with their hand before disappearing completely.
Crossing their arms, Clockwork sat on the ground. I've had enough of this. Wake up. Wake up! They brought up a hand a smacked themself in the face. "Wake up!"
Flicker's feet formed right in front of Clockwork, who looked up at the obviously confused being. "Wait," Flicker frowned, "I just put you back."
Clockwork raised an eyebrow, "What?"
"In your body. I put you back in your body." Flicker's frown deepened, "But you're here. If you're here, then who did I put in your…?" He trailed off. "Uh-oh."
Clockwork stood, watching as Flicker placed a hand on the back of his neck. "What did you do?"
"In my defense," Flicker said, moving his other hand to the back of his neck. "Karma is a really good shapeshifter."
"What."
.-.-.-.-.-.
Karma pulled at a strand of white hair they now wore. "Ew, still too short." They stood up, dusting the remains of the Miride dust off of their clothing. "I love this cloak, though. Definitely keeping it. This uh, thing," They flicked the device in their chest, cringing at the feeling which resulted. "Okay. Never doing that again." They knocked a pattern on walls around them, waiting to see if someone was coming to get them out of this stupid tiny room. A wide smile ticked onto Karma's face as they continued their pattern. There were solid walls around them, and they could faintly sense other, vaguely familiar ghosts around them.
They were out of that stupid place. And that Flicker would never be able to drag them back once he figured out what they'd done. So maybe it was a bit morally wrong, but this should've been their body from the beginning! And maybe they shouldn't have tricked Flicker with promises that if he helped they'd find a way to let him spend a day or two in his body… oh well. They were alive, and as long as they could avoid any more of those stupid Observants it'd stay that way.
The door finally opened, and Karma rested a hand on their- okay, the lack of such wide hips would definitely take some getting used to. Settling for crossing their arms instead, Karma put on their best annoyed expression. "About time. I was wondering when-" They froze, staring at the Observant who'd opened the door.
Karma had never been able to see that much through their reincarnation's eyes. It had often been like there was something blocking them. Karma hadn't thought much of it, but now it all but screamed Observant.
"We heard about your plan," Oh no why me. "Clockwork." Oh thank god they don't know. "You are in a lot of trouble." You have no idea. "Are you paying attention?"
"No," Karma said. The Observants won't kill one of their own, right? Or one who's technically their own? One who they- okay, I quit making sense a while ago. "Start again, I'll listen this time."
"That attitude of yours will get you into more trouble than you can handle."
"Uh-huh. So what's my punishment for this horrible thing I planned to do, hm?"
Talk Clockwork being mind controlled to me. *Saxophone noises*
No you guys don't understand I'm literally obsessed with that and anything related to it.
This'll probably get a second part. Until then, thoughts?
