A/N: I'm back! Sorry for how long this took. It took me a while to work up the inspiration to write this, especially between working (which means going to bed early for me), and hanging out with the family. I also cut it in half, or else it would have taken even LONGER.

Review Reply to Guest: (Please leave a nickname! I feel horrible for just calling you "Guest"!) I'm glad the Luke/Pearl fan base is bigger then I originally thought! And believe me, the chaos hasn't started yet. That's what this chapter is. I'm sorry I didn't get it up earlier!

All the italic speech/thought like things are happening within The Lord's/Danny's head.

Alright, I can't think of anything else. Away we go!

…

Chapter Nine: Clockwork

The Lord flew quickly through the hellish green and black landscape, his golden eyes trained on his destination ahead. The Tower looked different then he remembered; like a large, grandfather clock with large gears and cogs accenting it, but he knew, in his heart, that that was his tower. His stronghold.

Already, he could feel the power of the Venrin artifacts that that lay inside.

There was just one little issue…

Stop this! Please! Let me go!

This Halfling was stronger willed then he'd ever faced before. Since taking over his body, the mind of the Halfling has been resisting him. There were times where the Lord felt compelled to do something he himself had no desire of doing.

Just keeping control of this body was a battle. One that the Lord was winning, of course, but still irritating.

I will do as I please, he told the conscious of the Halfling, before pushing him back deeper into his own mind and rocketing forward.

…

Clockwork knew what was coming.

He was the ghost of time, after all. He saw everything: past, present, future.

He knew when the Venrin would be discovered, and the young man who would go into a self-inflicted exile to discover more and protect his loved one, all for the sake of keeping the Venrin power out of the wrong hands.

He knew that the young hero, Danny Phantom, would fall prey to the Venrin Lord, and that the Guys in White would be largely responsible for this.

He knew that the Venrin Lord would come and fight for his lair back, and that he, Clockwork, would lose this battle.

He knew what would come after his defeat.

All of this knowledge, however, did not stop the ghost from arming himself with a scythe and preparing himself.

The Lord, within the body of Danny Phantom, flew in through one of the windows and looked around, instantly spotting the time master as he shifted from kid form to adult.

"Clockwork. It has been a while," The Lord said in his eerie, doubled voice. Clockwork frowned, his pity for Danny mingled with his hatred for The Lord.

"Yes. I wish I could say it was a pleasure to see you again, but that would be a lie."

C-Clockwork? What are we doing here?

SILENCE! The Lord roared at Danny's conscious, only to be ignored by the Halfling.

How irritating. He would have to deal with him later. For now, he looked at the ghost floating in front of him.

"I have come back for my Tower," he growled. Clockwork's eyes narrowed, and he gripped his scythe tighter.

"I won this Tower from you fair and square. It is mine now," he replied. The Lord tipped his head slightly to the side, and a slow smirk spread across his face.

"Perhaps. But you know I am going to defeat you, do you not? That is why you are so scared."

"I am the Master of Time. You cannot defeat me."

"Oh? Not even… with this?" The Lord held up an odd medallion, a match to the ones hanging on the wall that made it's wearer immune to Clockwork's powers. Before entering the Ghost Zone, the Lord had made sure to scour the Ghost Lab of Fenton Works. This was just one of the many interesting objects he found.

Clockworks face fell, and the Lord wrapped the medallion tightly around his wrist, just under the Spirit Band, in order to make sure Clockwork wouldn't be able to cut it off. He then dove forward, his hands glowing a mixture of Danny's green and Venrin gold. The two clashed, bounced off of each other, and dove towards each other again.

Finally, the Lord tapped into Danny's memories as he fought, searching through his attacks.

Hm… that one looks interesting…

No! Not that one!

Ignoring Danny's protest, the Lord darted backwards, away from his foe, and looked him straight in the eye.

"Fair well, Clockwork," he said, before taking a deep breath and unleashing the Ghostly Wail. The sonic wave hit Clockwork straight on, slamming him into the wall. It then seemed as though his very essence was being stripped away from the sound, as he quickly changed from his child form, to teenage, adult, old man, skeleton, and finally, a pile of ash which was blown away by the Wail.

CLOCKWORK! Danny screamed, resisting harder against the soul in control of his body.

Quiet. You are giving me a headache. The Lord shoved back at Danny, before freezing for a moment. His eyes flashed from gold, to blue, then back, and the Lord put a hand to his head. You will not regain control of your body, little Halfling. Even if your soul takes back control, the bands will keep you locked under my will.

You're wrong. Even if I don't figure out how to get free, my friends will help me. You picked the wrong 'Halfling' to mess with, spook.

Heh. We will see about that.

Back in full control, the Lord sank through the floors of the Tower until he reached the basement. It was clear that no one had entered this basement for quite some time. In the middle was a large chalk circle, surrounded by Venrin ruins. The Lord floated over until he was in the center of the circle, and landed. He then closed his eyes and began to chant in an ancient language.

…

A/N: Okay, this one is no where near as long as it was supposed to be. I cut this chapter into two due to wanting to get something up tonight, and not being sure how long this whole chapter will take me.

Poor Danny. Poor Clockwork. What will happen next!?