Oh my god. Is this what I think it is? I think it is. A new chapter! Holy crap, are you excited?
Don't be. Seriously, this is the unedited draft. I just really wanted to post this, so I can apologize to you guys. This story might be going on a hiatus for a short while, mainly because the previous chapters need to be edited (as does this one).
On a new note, I edited my other important story previously known as "Inevitable" (It got a legal name change and is now known as "The Clockwork of the Universe".) That story is my baby, and I'm hoping it'll grow up into something good. It's Clockwork/Dan, and I just got a new chapter up, so please go read it if you think you might like to. (And if you do, I'd love a review.)
Danny groaned, rolling over on to his back although he lately realized that was a fairly huge mistake. He hurt. Man, he's never hurt this bad before; his entire backside felt like it was on a dull fire. It ached horridly, and the ache made it feel like an inferno.
Peering over, he looked at the alarm clock next to his head. The lithe blazing red digital numbers read '4:32'. Ugh, definitely not time to get up yet.
Wait, where was he?
Danny rolled out of the bed which was much larger than his own at home but not quite as large as the one in his bedroom.
Yeah, it was necessary for Dark to have a He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named status.
The sheets were an off-white color; he definitely was not at home or in his ghostly self's castle which left the question: where was he?
Cautiously pulling himself out of bed, Danny worked his way over to the door, fumbling with the strange lock he opened the door to reveal a long red carpeted hallway with walls lined with a god-awful white floral wallpaper. There were doors lining both sides of said hall and each was numbered. It was clear where he was now.
Danny was in a hotel, possibly Amity's own hotel? He wouldn't know; one never had a reason to stay in the hotel of your own hometown. Sam had a fantasy about staying in it for few nights before and after graduation, but that was far off in their future.
He shut the door gently and heard a click behind him. It was the click of a door opening. Jumping around- much to his body's dismay- he noticed one of those doors that hotel's commonly had to adjoin rooms. If not cautiously, he slowly and gently made his way to the other door and unlocked it.
Pulling the door towards him a few inches at a time, he stood face to face with another door albeit there was a small stream of light reaching in, indicating that the door was slightly ajar.
What to do? The only plausible option would be to push it open, right?
Right.
Danny pushed open the door and stepped through, being careful to leave his door wide-open on the other side.
It was one of those hotel rooms that had everything, a full kitchen connected to a half-dining room, a small living room and a bed nestled into the corner with a nightstand and a generic lamp. There was a door next leading to the bathroom on an angle to the 'front door'.
Jazz looked up from where she sit at the table, head buried in a book scribbling something intently. "Danny! Oh my god, what happened to you?" She gushed out, anxious and upset. "When you didn't come out and the house reduced to rubble and ash- oh god!"
"Mom was screaming; Danny, it was horrible."
"It's okay, Jazz. I'm alright. I'm fine. I'm me." Danny said, although mainly to himself. "Are mom and dad okay?"
Jazz nodded. "We're fine; I convinced them to go to bed. You were gone a whole day, little brother. You can imagine how frantic they were when we found you."
Any hopes of this all being a psychotic fucked-up nightmare were all crushed by this point; Danny ran a hand through his hair, all the while standing there awkwardly. "Where exactly did you find me?"
Jazz shut her book abruptly, trapping the papers she was working on effectively inside. "Outside of what remains of Fenton Works. I really don't like to rush you Danny, but I want you to tell me what happened. Last I saw you, you were frantically panicking about Dark. Then, poof, you disappear for a whole day which is so unlike you."
"I don't really remember, Jazz. Inhaling the smoke must've gotten to me." Brilliant, Danny, 'inhaling the smoke'? Ghosts don't breathe genius.
"You don't have to tell me anything, but I'm here for you when you're ready." Sometimes he really missed the old obnoxious tag-along Jazz, at least then he didn't have to feel bad about not keeping her in the loop.
Change the subject. "So what're you working on?"
"Some homework. With everything that's happened recently I didn't have a chance to finish it." Ah man, he hadn't even started his homework; it's not like Dark had picked it up for him. In fact, I bet the fire did a nice job destroying it. I wonder if that's a valid excuse for not doing it. Knowing Lancer, probably not.
"Can you believe I'm graduating this year? Then it's off to Yale. I just can't believe it."
"Yeah." After what's happened to him recently, he could begin to believe anything. "You know what Jazz? I need to leave; I'll be back in time for school."
Jazz stood up. "Where are you going?"
"Nowhere!" He exclaimed. "Jazz, please. I just need to leave."
"Okay, I'll cover for you if mom and dad wake up, but don't worry about school. Taking a few days off won't kill you; I'll pick up your make-up work from Lancer."
That idea didn't sound appealing actually. "No! I just want to get back to my normal life… or at least as normal as possible. Ugh, I really have to go."
Danny spun on his heels and quickly exited the room through the door. No one was awake he assumed, so he was careful to be quiet.
He didn't even care when Jazz followed him out, calling after him. He was gone, flying off towards home… or at least what was left of it.
Soaring up above Axion labs, it was still a dark blue black color outside, but a lighter color near the horizon threatened the rise of the sun soon. It was beautiful as the air was crisp and plentiful, and it was Danny's favorite time of day.
It almost took the depression after seeing his home reduced to nothings in front of him. He'd grown up in this house, and now it was just gone. Just like that. Even the Ops center was gone which was certainly strange. It may not have been hurricane proofed, but it certainly had some defense against fire, but no remains of it were there at all.
Hoping that the basement survived the attack, he intangibly dived through the rubble and down into the calm blue depths of the lab.
Danny let out a sigh of relief. The lab was fine. A few beams were falling, things were destroyed, and everything was coated in a layer of ash, but it was still there nonetheless.
It was such a joy to see the portal intact. Still sitting there, waiting to be opened. He could only oblige to its wish.
Walking over to hit the 'release' button, a sharp series of beeps alerted Danny to whole different matter to be dealt with. The ecto-filtrater needed to be changed.
Sighing, he resigned himself to the task although it wasn't like another explosion would do that much more damage around here… and there we go. The job was over quickly as he'd done it enough times to complete it blindfolded successfully.
Meter now safely in the green, he hit the release button and flew into the Ghost Zone to the one place where he could seek comfort: Clockwork's lair.
Flying through the ghost zone sky, there was an obvious difference to the one in Amity Park he loved so much. Here the sky was always green and shrouded in darkness; it never really changed.
The ghost activity was minimal making traveling much faster. It made Danny wonder: were the ghosts all still asleep, or were they all heading to bed?
A good chunk of time now used up, Danny finally made it. The citadel loomed over him; normally one would be frightened, but it was the most welcoming thing he'd seen recently because the inside promised him Clockwork, the calm intelligent if not a bit sarcastic ghost of time.
"Clockwork?" He called out cautiously while entering the ghostly building. "You home?"
"Daniel, when am I not here?" Clockwork called out to him. There he was floating by the looking portal in his child form and for once, dare he think it, Clockwork looked nervous or just generally upset.
Cutting straight to the chase, Danny hovered a few feet in front of the ghost and whispered as if others were listening, "He got out."
"I know, Danny." Clockwork said back, obviously seeing no need to whisper.
"How, Clockwork? Why did you let that happen?" His voice took on a higher octave, something which stress does to him. It didn't even occur to the boy how general 'that' was of a pronoun; maybe he didn't even know what 'that' referred to.
The time master looked back at him, and Danny noticed that the ghost was truly nervous. "You see, there are some things that even I cannot predict or control. The first being things that exist outside of time."
Danny thought he knew where this was going. "And he exists outside of time ever since I destroyed his timeline."
"Exactly." The child figure in front of him nodded before aging to his adult form. "If it's any victory prize, he's not out for blood although I really doubt it's as such."
No. "Not for mine, at least." He's not.
Clockwork nodded hesitantly. This conversation was starting to get awkward for the both of them. "I may not be able to see his decisions and their future results, but I am not completely sight-less in this situation."
The look he then gave Danny was one filled with something that appeared to be remorse… or pity.
He knows?
"You… know; don't you?"
Another nod. "Yes, but to answer your question, no; I will not permit you to travel back in time." Well, this conversation was beginning to feel one-sided. "It's not possible to stop this from occurring."
You've got to be shitting me. "Not possible?" Danny echoed in confusion. "This isn't just about me, Clockwork! This is about everyone: Mom, dad, Jazz, Tucker, Sam! They're in danger too. Even you! What if I lose them? What if I lose you?"
"I'm not helpless; losing the majority of my sight concerning you and Phantom is troubling and inconvenient, but I can still handle myself. You need not worry about me."
Wait. Rewind, rewind. "Me? You can't see into my future anymore?" Danny asked. That didn't make any sense; he was still part of the timeline, unlike his other self.
The other ghost ignored him and continued his own speaking. "Worry about yourself and your family."
"Oh Clockwork, what do I do?" Danny asked desperately. How he wanted to go on with his life, how he wanted to pretend this was all a bad dream- a tasteless joke preformed by Nocturne. He could even pretend that was possible, if it wasn't for the fact Nocturne had no idea Danny even had an evil self.
"I wish I could answer that."
Danny chuckled. "And I wish Desiree was here."
Clockwork smiled and almost seemed as if he'd laugh if they weren't under such dire circumstances, and quickly the smile was gone replaced with a small frown. Danny was a good kid. Even in this situation, he was still thinking of his family and friends; hell, he was even concerned for Clockwork who should've been the least of his worries.
"Daniel," Clockwork began, but instead of continuing his train of thought glanced over to the elaborate door.
The ghost boy followed his gaze. He didn't know why, but he could picture Dark standing there, leaning against the frame of the doorway, a cocky smirk creeping its way onto his face. The man need not even be looking at them, but instead just standing there… waiting- like a man would wait for the bus to show up, or a man impatiently waiting for his girlfriend to stop chatting with her friends.
It was eerie, and Danny suddenly felt watched as if he couldn't go anywhere without being seen or followed.
"I can only get glimpses of your timeline now; I can attempt to see more, but I'll have you know it's dangerous." Clockwork explained carefully.
"Dangerous how? As in you'll interfere with another timeline or something?" Danny asked.
Clockwork shook his head. "More like, I could cease to exist- destroyed permanently. I don't want to worry you as that's only the worst case scenario. It's more likely I'd end up ruining what's left of my knowledge of your future or there's the possibility of blocking my sight into other timelines, but those chances are slim. It's important to remember that they're not impossible- but slim nonetheless."
"I don't like the sound of any of that."
"I knew you wouldn't."
Danny smiled childishly and hopefully as if the two were the same thing. "Because you could see it?"
"No," Clockwork smirked back. "Because I know you."
"Shuddup, you Know-It-All." Danny chuckled.
"Of course I am, I am after all the master of time, Danny, and speaking of time, you're going to be late for school."
Danny grabbed Clockwork's wrist, shocking the man. The watch read: '6:42'. He'd so never make it in time. "Ack! I have to go! I'll see you later, Clockwork; I promise."
He zoomed towards the exit, speeding up once he hit the place he imagined Dark to be standing. He slowed to a stop and called back towards the man who was still standing there. "Thank you! I mean it."
"I know you do." Clockwork whispered to himself, and it was true; he did mean it.
I know what you're thinking. No Dan? *gets ready to throw bricks*
Before you kill me, 1) think about who will be writing this after I'm dead. That's right: No one. 2) So he wasn't in it… Maybe he was? I don't know. You tell me.
I was going to write more for this chapter but just couldn't. (On the bright side, I know what happens in the next chapter- and you don't. *dodges bricks*)
In a different note, I haven't written anything fluffy! I want to. I don't know what to write (for any pairing really, I don't care). Someone solve my dilemma. (God knows I need my fluff after working on this thing.)