Symbiosis
Clockwork felt uneasy.
The last time he felt like this was…actually, he wasn't sure if he'd ever felt this way, and that was saying something.
"Could you repeat that?" he asked. He'd heard the first time, but he wasn't sure if he heard correctly. Part of him hoped he hadn't.
A single large green eye stared unnervingly back at him. The light from one of Clockwork's screens playing a future event glinted off of it. The eye spoke, its head barely bobbing.
"The Observant High Council is disbanding."
Clockwork sighed, his body shifting into his adult form. "And let me guess. You want me to go back and prevent this from happening?" His voice was thick was unamused sarcasm, but deep down, he was hoping this was all that would be asked of him.
For all the twists and turns of time he could predict, the Observant High Council was one of the few things Clockwork did not have much insight on. Rather, they employed him for insight on other things, and meddled in his day-to-day affairs when so required. They were annoying yet, unfortunately, necessary.
"No. Quite the opposite, in fact. We need you to make sure that the disbandment does happen."
This made Clockwork perk up. His unease had transformed into suspicion now. "Why?"
"As you know, it is our duty to keep order throughout the Ghost Zone on a grand scale, and to mediate affairs between our realm and the human realm."
Clockwork rolled his eyes to himself. The Observants had a frustrating knack for taking ages to get to their point.
The one-eyed ghost continued obliviously. "And while we do our best to maintain the appearance of a simple court of justice, it appears that an outsider has discovered the Council's true role as the official government of the Ghost Zone."
"An outsider? Who?"
Ghosts more or less knew that the Observant High Council was the de facto governing body of the Zone. However in most cases, it was Walker they had to worry about unless their crime was outrageous and involved the human realm. Otherwise, they were free to go about their daily basis without giving the Zone's laws a passing glance. Most ghosts just simply didn't care enough.
But depending on who it was, an outsider could cause trouble if they knew how much power the Council truly had.
"Vlad Plasmius," the Observant answered.
Clockwork tensed. Plasmius could definitely cause trouble. It didn't take a genius to see Vlad's evil influence in Dan Phantom (who Clockwork still had locked up in the thermos), and there had been the recent incident with him releasing Vortex on the Earth again.
Still, since they knew that he had this knowledge, the Observants could unite, prepare, and defend themselves.
"So why disband?" Clockwork voiced his trailing thought aloud.
The Observant seemed to barely shake his head, imperceptible to the casual observer. It silently disagreed with Clockwork's train of thought. "Because if we don't, nothing can stop Plasmius from gaining control of the Council."
"Of course there is! Rule 73L alone would-"
A hand stopped him. "He's half-human, Clockwork. Our laws can't fully apply to him. And even if they did, his existence on the human realm would still create loopholes for him." There was a long pause to think before he continued to explain, "If we disband, there's nothing for him to take over. He would have to start from scratch, and without laws it will be easier to stop him."
Clockwork sighed heavily. The Observants were always bound to their laws to a sickening degree, but the fact that they wanted them removed from the picture meant this situation was beyond serious.
"Please, Clockwork. You must ensure this disbandment happens. If Plasmius gains control of the Council, he'll gain power over the entire Ghost Zone, and will have direct control over you," the Observant pleaded.
There it was. He knew his symbiotic relationship with the Council would get twisted into all of this. Clockwork scowled at that, but he knew it was true. As annoying as they were, he'd much rather deal with the Observants' meddling than Plasmius' dictatorship. At least the disbandment seemed like it would just be a temporary set-up.
Besides, even without the Council, Clockwork couldn't stop being the master of time. His job wouldn't change in any situation, only who did or didn't control him. Not that he needed anyone to do that.
He gazed up at his timeline monitors. With this newfound knowledge, he would have a lot to pore over on these screens.
With a shift of his body into a more elderly form, Clockwork turned around to stare at the Observant. "Fine, I'll do it."
The Observant nodded in quiet acknowledgement and phased himself out of the tower without another word. Clockwork hung his head in exasperation. The things he did for the Council...
But if anything, perhaps a vacation from their meddling wouldn't be such a bad a thing.
This one basically wrote itself, so fair warning if it doesn't make sense. I like it though. (Prompt was "Twisted + Clockwork")
But guys. GUYS. ONE MORE. (And then Ectober happens.)
