Night had fallen in the home of Sir/ Lord Lionel Baxter. Dash sat down at the dinner table, eating meat off a bone while his father Lionel Baxter was pacing around the dining hall, feeling worried about Danny since he still hadn't returned back to the castle.

He turned back and spoke to Dash sternly, "Oh the devil take it! Anyone's got better sense than to go barging into that infernal forest alone. You had no business letting him go."

"Look dad…." Dash began, before taking another bite of meat. He then threw it to their large ghost dog Cujo as he finished his sentence, "I'm not the whelp's keeper."

"Oh blast it all! I AM!" Lionel argued back, as Cujo began to chew at the bone he was given.

Lionel sat down as he finished rubbing his head in worry, "After all, I took him. Adopted the boy you might say. Being his foster father, I'm responsible. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't care. You are his foster brother and….you still shouldn't have let him go into those woods."

Suddenly Cujo got really excited and ran to the door as Danny entered now in his human form. Cujo jumped right on top of him and Danny laughed as Cujo began licking his face and he tried pushing him away playfully.

Jason and Clockwork entered and Clockwork couldn't help but smile at the scene. Lionel grabbed Cujo by his collar and pulled him away as he said, "Cujo that's enough!"

Danny laughed once more as he phased the drool off him. Lionel then frowned at Danny and said sternly, "Now look here whelp, what's the big idea of galloping off into the woods and worrying the living daylights out of everybody?!"

"I'm sorry sir." Danny apologised.

"Sorry is not enough. That's four demerits. Four hours of extra kitchen duty." Lionel said. "Now, report to the cook!"

"But sir, I'd like you to meet…." Danny tried to introduce Clockwork but Lionel cut him off and snapped, "Come on boy! Hop it! Hop it!"

Not wanting to make his foster father madder than he already was, he immediately hurried off to the kitchen. Lionel then turned to Clockwork and said now calmer, "With a big place like this, you need a tight schedule. Strict rules, especially for young boys like Danny."

"And I most certainly agree." Jason said with a nod.

"Who are you and…." He first began to ask Jason, but then stopped and asked Clockwork, "I mean….who are you?"

"My name is Clockwork." Clockwork answered, before poking Jason with his staff and finishing, "And this is Jason, the highly educated ghost bird."

Jason cleared his throat and stuck his beak in the air. Lionel then began to laugh taking it to be a joke, "Educated ghost bird?"

Jason glared at Lionel as he continued to laugh and merely flew off, perching himself on one of the tusks of a stuffed boar head. Lionel then realised that Jason did talk and guessed at Clockwork, "Say, I think I know what's going on. You've got that bird under a spell Clocky. You're some kind of ghost magician? Hmmmm?"

"My name is Clockwork Lord Edward Baxter and not only am I the Ghost Master of Time, I am also happen to be the world's most powerful ghost wizard!" Clockwork corrected.

That made Lionel really laugh out loud, not believing Clockwork one bit and taking it as a big joke. Clockwork shrugged and said, "Alright. I'll prove it to you."

He raised his staff above Lionel's head and shouted an incantation, "Higitus, Figitus, Migitus mow! Wind and snow, swirl and blow!"

A stream of white energy and wind suddenly hovered above Lionel and before he knew it, a bunch of snow fell on him and it began to snow right on top of him, he could already feel the coldness of the snow as it continued to fall on top of him and him only.

"What in the world?!" He shouted in complete shock and realised that Clockwork wasn't messing around.

Clockwork chuckled and said, "I guess that it what I would call a wizard blizzard."

Lionel shook at the coldness and said to Dash in shock and amazement, "Hey Dash, would you look at this? An indoor blizzard and in the month of July."

Dash continued to eat and said with little interest, "So what?"

"Alright Clocky, turn it off. I'm convinced." Lionel said, shivering from the coldness of the snow.

Clockwork raised his staff and said, "Alacazap!"

Immediately the blizzard stop and Lionel brushed the snow off himself. He then asked a little bit worried, "Uh Clocky, you don't happen to go for any of that black magic….do you?"

"Oh no! Of course not. Never touch the stuff." Clockwork answered as he placed his bag down. "My magic is mainly used for educational purposes. In fact that is why I'm here, I have come to educate Danny."

Lionel's eyes widened at that. There was no way he was going to allow this ghost wizard to change his schedule like he was the boss. He walked straight up to him and snapped, "Oh no you don't! I'm running this place and if you think you meddle with my schedule, you better pack up your tricks and be gone."

And then suddenly, without a trace, Clockwork disappeared completely shocking Lionel. He didn't expect the ghost to just….disappear when he told him.

"By jove! He's gone." Lionel said, still shocked.

Dash shrugged and said, "Good riddance."

"I am gone….but then I am not gone." The sound of Clockwork's voice could be heard, making Lionel jump a little.

He looked around for the voice, even looked inside the ghost's bag, but he wasn't there. Clockwork then said, "So then if I do leave, you can never be truly sure that I am gone. Can you?"

Lionel chuckled nervously and sighed as he agreed, "Well, I must say you got me there Clocky. I guess you're welcome to stay if you like."

Clockwork then re-appeared right behind Lionel speaking and making him turn around, "Thank you. You're very kind, very generous I must say."

He then led Clockwork outside and on the other side of the castle, he gestured to a very run down old tower as he said, "Well, all I can offer is room and board. Hard times you know. I'll put you up in the North West Tower. That's the guest room. It's a bit draft in the winter, but in this blazing hot weather it's the best room in the house."

Clockwork knew Lionel was giving him the room on purpose, but simply said as he floated towards it with Jason flying behind, "Oh yes. I see."

"Just make yourself at home Clocky." Lionel said with a slight smug grin.

Clockwork said nothing and proceeded up to the tower. Later that evening, heavy rain began to fall and lightning began to strike and it definitely didn't make the tower very homey even after Clockwork and Jason unpacked everything and set it up. Clockwork was trying to patch all the holes in the roof with his ecto-plasm and umbrellas, trying to keep the rain from falling inside.

Pots and buckets could be seen everywhere, catching the leaking water and filling up fast. Clockwork then said in annoyance as he continued to patch the holes in the roof, "Best room in the house? Hah! More like un-welcomed guest room! But if he thinks he can get rid of me, I got news for that old walrus, I'm sticking it out and not going anywhere."

"And I say we just cut our losses and go back to the woods." Jason said, coming out of his bird house.

"We can't do that Jason." Clockwork said as he placed the sugar pot under a stream of water. "That boy has got to have an education that'll help him in the future."

The sugar pot came to life and scooped out all the water it caught inside with its teaspoon, and then slammed its lid back on in annoyance at Clockwork.

Jason gave a chuckle as he joked, "Maybe you're right. A skinny kid like that will make a cracking chimney sweep!"

He laughed at his own joke, but karma had got back to him as a huge amount of water fell right on top of him, drenching his bones wet. Clockwork laughed at what happened and joked right back, "Something tells me, you're all wet Jason!"

Jason glared at Clockwork and went back inside his birdhouse. Suddenly, the sound of a horn could be heard outside. He went over to the back window and looked to see a grey-skinned ghost wearing a dark cloak was blowing a horn at the castle near the moat that surrounded it.

"Who goes there?" The guard called from the top of the entrance.

"Ghostwriter! It's Ghostwriter, dash it all! I've got big news from London for Lord Baxter. Big news!" The ghost replied, announcing himself as Ghostwriter to the guard.

The guards immediately lowered the bridge, slamming down hard and causing the tower to rock a bit. Clockwork arched his head in interest from that announcement. He knew he couldn't go down there to hear about it, so he decided to send Jason instead.

He walked over to the birdhouse and began to ask, "Jason, would you mind flying down there and…."

Jason however knew exactly what he was going to ask him to do and immediately said, "Not interested."

Clockwork poked his staff in there and tapped Jason on the head gently as he said, "Oh come now! You're as wet as you can get."

"No! No, no, no!" Jason said stubbornly, crossing his wings in refusal.

Clockwork tapped him on the head once again and threatened, "Jason! I'll turn you into a human."

Jason gasped at the thought, "You wouldn't dare!"

"I will! So help me I will!" Clockwork warned once again.

Jason finally climbed out and began to fly off as he said, "Alright! Alright! Alright!"

Clockwork chuckled as he watched Jason head for the dining room, "Works every time. Just like magic."

Jason flew in through the window and perched himself on one of the stuffed deer's antlers. He watched as the door opened and Ghostwriter entered, taking off his cloak to reveal him wearing a purple tunic with grey pants, black boots and glasses. He had black hair, green eyes and a small goatee on his chin.

Lionel said joyfully at the sight of his friend, "Ghostwriter! Welcome back old boy. Now what's all the big news from London?"

Danny decided to listen in as he was stacking the dirty dishes and clearing the table. Ghostwriter sat down beside Lionel and began to tell the big news, "It's really big news. They're having a big tournament in London on New Year's Day."

"That's not really news. They always do every year." Lionel said, before taking a sip of his wine.

That's when Ghostwriter finished, "Yes, but here is where all the excitement comes in. To the winner of this tournament, goes the crown."

That definitely took Lionel by surprise. He immediately choked on his wine and spat it out in shock, all over Ghostwriter's goatee. He frowned and shook the wine off his goatee.

Lionel then asked once he got over the shock, "You mean, the winner of the tournament will be King of all England?"

"King of all England." Ghostwriter confirmed as he raised his glass in the air, but accidentally dropped another small amount of wine on his goatee.

"Dash, did you hear that?" Lionel asked his son.

Dash smiled and said with excitement, "Pretty fair prize I say."

"Yes and you could win it son if you knuckle down and work hard on your training." Lionel said as he got up and patted Dash on the back. "We'll have you knighted by Christmas and then we'll be off to London. You up for it?"

Dash shrugged and answered, "Sure. Why not."

Lionel then turned to Danny who was carrying a huge pile of dishes in his hands, "Danny lad, how would you like to go to London?"

Danny smiled at the thought and asked, "Sir Baxter? Really? You mean it?"

"If you stick to your duties and managed to complete your own training, then you can be Dash's squire." Lionel promised.

"I will sir. Don't worry." Danny said as he turned around heading for the stairs that led to the kitchen, however in his excitement he tripped over his own feet and accidentally fell over dropping all the dishes down the stairs.

Ghostwriter and Lionel laughed at the boy's clumsiness, while Dash merely frowned and sneered, "I don't want that whelp to be my squire."

Lionel and Ghostwriter however ignored him and began to celebrate the big news and the possibility of Dash winning the tournament and becoming King. With that, Jason began to fly off back to the tower and tell Clockwork everything he had heard.