#the clockwork monster

[pb-dot]

Spooktober Sunday Special: The Clockwork Monster Part II

Another Sunday, another Spooktober Special. In this installment, we learn a little more about what landed our intrepid hero, if he is not a victim, in his current predicament.

11.09.552? Recovered from Site A after the Incident. My captor’s absence has grown lengthy, and so I have taken the chance to spend a little time to collect my thoughts and regroup. I will still attempt to be brief, as I have no guarantees his absence will be lengthy. Luckily, the vertical coal chute that he uses to access this hidey-hole is a noisy old thing, and scuttling down it as he does makes ample noise of forewarning. I suppose he could always use the one door to my one-room prison, but considering how heavily it is barred, I severely doubt that’d take less time or make less noise.

I suppose I should start with how I got to wherever and whatever this is. It all started the afternoon of the day after my entry about contacting the Enforcers. I skipped lunch and headed for one of the beer halls they tend to hang out in. I did not relish the thought of seeking out one of those dark, noisy places, stinking of stale beer and violence, but it was the price I paid for getting the Enforcers involved, part of the price at any rate.

The first block of my journey went without incident, although I could still feel that strange tingle in my blood that someone, somewhere, was watching me. I hadn’t exactly tuned it out, but I was working my way to a state where I could, at least for the duration of my stroll, pretend that I was not worried. This all came to an end when I heard the second clang. The first time I heard the muted, yet unmistakably resonant sound of bronze on cobblestone, I assumed a workshop had left their doors open. It wasn’t that uncommon of a thing, the bane of floor managers everywhere. When I heard it again, though, a sliver of doubt twined with fear started digging into my mind. Had it sounded almost exactly as close as last time? That would mean the source of the sound was moving.

I upped my pace. Not into a run, of course, but a more brisk walk. Like a man who comes to remember he has pressing matters to attend to, or who catches a glimpse of one of the large shift clocks in the intersections between streets in the Foundry District and realizes his break grows short indeed. Much to my terror, the clanging seemed to pick up the pace, confirming what I feared. This clanging was from some sort of footstep. I didn’t want to imagine what sort of a being walked around in town with one armored boot, but it wasn’t really the kind of thing I could stop myself from. I tried a casual peak behind me, but what I saw did not assuage me.

In the crowds, rapidly thinning as the change of the hour meant the start of a new shift, I could see my pursuer, or rather, I could see his caped and cowled form. It would be considered gauche to walk around in such garb, so whatever else I could say about my pursuer, he was not vain. The thought of what he looked like to prefer the total anonymity of this disguise briefly crossed my mind, and I decided not to dwell on it as I again upped my pace, now being only a slight change of posture away from breaking into a jog.

The streets wouldn’t be empty enough for any footpad with at least an ounce of self-preservation to harm me right out in public. This wasn’t to say I was safe, though. In the rapid onset dark of early fall, it wouldn’t be too hard for an experienced throat-slitter to pull me into an alley with nary a one of the tired souls marching homewards after a long day of work even noticing. I’m a pretty strong man, but I didn’t like my odds if it came to such a gambit. A knife in the ribs cares little for the muscles of your chest and shoulders, after all.

My pursuer kept pace with me. Somehow, the ease with which he did so seemed unnatural to me, like he had merely accelerated rather than putting in more effort to match my speed. His gait was uneven, I spotted when first noticing him, but it did not seem to slow him down any. If anything, the foot he favored seemed to propel him forward faster than the other.

I thought I’d beat him to the next intersection, but it was difficult to be sure. With the blood pumping in my ears from stress and the exertion of the brief aerobic exercise, I could no longer hear the tell-tale ring of my pursuer’s steps, and I could not find the courage to turn my head again. He would be right there, I told myself as my body, entirely without my input, decided to prepare for a mad dash as soon as I could chose directions freely.

It was a desperate gambit, and ultimately a futile one. Something hard and cold closed around my neck, not a crushing pressure, but certainly enough to make me stop cold in my tracks.

I could hear him behind me now, his breath uneven but measured. I stood still, petrified by this new development. Whatever was latched around my neck pinched the skin, but otherwise didn’t harm me. I raised a hand to touch whatever it was, but a quick squeeze dissuaded me with haste.

“What do you want from me?” I asked, casting my eyes around in an attempt to sneak a glance at my attacker. It was no good, my phantom stalker remained in my blind zone, as silent as death. “Why aren’t you saying anything? What do you want?” I pleaded, but to no avail.

The contraption around my neck tugged at me, digging into the flesh of my neck with tiny prickling teeth. I took it as a command to move, and so I did start walking towards the little alley that my captor had apparently chosen for whatever fate awaited me.

“I don’t have much money,” I told him as I walked. “I have some scrip saved up, a stock or two I think? It’s not much but it’s yours if you let me go. Won’t even tell the enforcers or nothing.” I was admittedly getting desperate, but it got me nowhere. Once we were well into the alley, he threw the bag over my head. As of today, that’s the last time I saw natural light. I must end my narrative here, for I hear the shaking of the coal chute that heralds my captor’s arrival. I still don't understand what he wants with me, but if he wants to kill me, he’s had many a chance to do so.

[bet-on-me-13]

The Fentonworks Mega-Lab.

So! AU where the Fentonworks Labs actually stretch Miles upon Miles below the City of Amity Park.

It started when the Fentons wanted to add a simple addition to the original Lab when they ran out of space to store their more dangerous weapons. They didn't want their (at the time) young children getting their hands on their experimental Weaponry, it could blow up in their faces!

So they built a different Wing of the Lab to hold all those Inventions.

Then they ran out of space and added a few extra Storage Rooms. But then they decided it was a hassle to have to carefully transport their Dangerous Inventions all the way to the Storage Rooms, and built a Lab specifically for Dangerous Experiments near that same Section. Then that Lab was occupied for a while, and Jack wanted to start a different experiment as well, so they built a few more.

In the end they just never stopped building onto their Labs.

There are sections of the Mega-Lab that are entirely walled off because a few of their more unstable Experiments contaminated the area. Walking into them was not recommended, else you could walk out with an extra eye or 5.

In other sections, their Captured Ghosts had taken over a few Labs and created a sort of Mad Max style civilization using their discarded weapons and vehicles.

In another, all Ghosts became Humans and all Humans became Ghosts. That was a weird one, to this day they still didn't understand how they pulled that off.

In another, some type of Eldritch Time Ghost had been born, and now sort of always existed and never existed, and began experimenting with its powers. They nicknamed it Clocky because it liked to carry around a stopwatch.

And so many more. At one point a failed Portal Experiment messed with the internal Space of the entire thing. Now there was literally no way of Mapping it. The Fentons still somehow managed to navigate it perfectly.

When Jazz and Danny grew up, they too learned how to navigate the Labs, which is how Danny managed to show his friends the Portal Experimentation Wing in the first place.

Unfortunately, it wasn't safe for anyone aside from the Fentons to enter the Mega-Labs, so one day when the Fenton Family+friends left town on a Week Long Camping/Road Trip, they put up a few Ghost Shields to keep both Humans out and the Ghosts in.

This drew some unwanted attention after some tourists saw the giant Glowng Green Building in the middle of an Illinois Town, and rightfully called the Justice League.

Now, the Justice League had tried to call the owners of the house, but nobody picked up the phone. (An incident with Jack and a Canoe had knocked most of their phones into the lake. They weren't even at the lake yet.)

When nobody picked up, they decided to investigate personally.

After getting into the House, they quickly found a door labeled "Labs: Do Not Enter (unless it we are late for Dinner)" and went into ignoring all the warnings.

They quickly regretted it.

[puppetmaster13u]

Prompt 81

Danny blinked at the small children Ellie was holding the hand of, looking quite proud of herself. The small children- between ten and twelve so somewhere similar to Ellie’s age- who both practically stank of magic and Gods. 

He took a deep breath, pinching the bridge of his nose even as Dan cackled while opening the door more to let them inside. “Alright, what’s your name, kids?”

“B-billy…um, Billy Batson...” “‘m Percy! Percy Jackson.” 

“Nice to meet you two- any idea where in your family you have a god or two, because one of you definitely smells like Zeus and I’m pretty sure Poseidon and I am not dealing with either of my half-brothers.” 

[nelkcats]

Star Thief ✦

After a medical check with Frostbite and a conversation with Clockwork, it turned out that Danny didn't have a protect obsession, and it was more of a ghostly reflex about protecting his haunt from invaders.

The need to protect his home had invaded his mind until it became a priority due to the constant in which the other ghosts kept coming, leaving his space obsession as a secondary priority until the end of the danger.

He only needed one night looking at the sky and getting stellar freckles to realize that he had an obsession with space, the problem? Phantom has become a possessive ghost.

As with his home, he had an irrational fear of the night sky being stolen from him, so he began stealing stars and keeping them with him. This might seem impossible if Danny were a normal person, but he was a half ghost, and a powerful one.

He stole the stars and hid them within his own ectoplasm, turning his appearance into one similar to Nocturn's. Or at least he did until Clockwork scolded him for interfering with his dimension's solar system and forced him to return the stars.

Which he did with great reluctance. But the desire to hoard the stars just for himself did not disappear; Danny looked for an alternative solution to the problem and with the help of the Infinite Map he found "The perfect dimension to steal stars and not have to return them"

However, this did not go unnoticed by the Justice League when an abnormality was detected in all parts of the cosmos, hundreds of stars were disappearing, and fast. They decided to investigate.

On the other hand, Danny was hugging and hoarding stars as he hovered in the new dimension sky. It was perfect! And he wasn't going to return them again.

[starry-bi-sky]

finally giving fem danyal her own au and fulfilling my 'danny is an animal whisperer' agenda at the same time: mother of monsters danyal 2.0

i say "2.0" because TECHNICALLY 'mother of monsters danyal' is an au I made back in June for Dark fem!Danyal (who I promptly named Layal). However, I haven't posted much for her yet, and I like the "mother of monsters" premise too much to leave it only to Layal. Plus Danyal in that au was going to become the mother of monsters anyway, just with significantly less world domination and mass extinction.

'Animal whisperer' Danny has been something I've been thinking about since my latest DP 'wolfpack au' post and it's! So fun to think about, and who no better to assign the idea to than Danyal Al Ghul? Who comes from a family infamously known for their love of animals and nature?

Fem Danyal is just purely self-indulgent. *gestures wildly at her* i just lomvb,,, her,,,, I've only really mentioned her in context of the 'Things in Threes' au/my first Danyal al Ghul au with the facial scar, but she's!!! I love her. She deserves her own au <33

So kill three birds with one stone! Make a post about it.

Anyways, Danny has a large lair. Similar to cult leader danyal, her lair is a giant mountain region resembling nanda parbat with a big temple/palace-like area built into the mountain. It's large, it's overflowing with natural flora, with its own mini-floating islands hovering over some areas, and it's also completely empty.

Danny takes one look at her lair upon first meeting, -- noting that it looked relatively smaller from the outside -- and promptly, with the elegance of an Al Ghul, goes "What the hell??" Because yes, while she does enjoy her own solitude and privacy, this is a bit ridiculous.

For heaven's sake, there's even a massive lake in there! What's she going to do with all this space? Can she make it any smaller? Why is it so big in the first place? This looks borderline like one of the mega-islands!

She finds out later that apparently, the amount of ectoplasm a ghost has can have an effect on the size of their lair. And since she has such a large core, her lair reflects that. Wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey stuff, it's bigger on the inside so it doesn't take up "too much space" on the outside. Don't worry about it too much.

Danyal isn't totally opposed to having such a large lair, she's just... a bit baffled by it. It feels like so much wasted space is all. All this flora and no fauna to enjoy it with. It's practically eerie.

She decorates her temple-palace area, transforming rooms to match her needs as she sees fit. In the center of the inner gardens is a massive tree that she likes to climb, with twisting, winding branches. Sam and Tucker have honorary rooms, even if they can't safely leave the specter speeder for long periods of time, even with proper safety equipment. So does Jazz. Ali (Dani) has one too, but he can actually use that one, and Danny brought him to her lair so he could decorate it himself.

She has a personal garden, but for the most part she lets the flora exist as it is. Too much space to cultivate it en masse anyways.

Skip to a few weeks later, on her next visit to Clockwork. She developed a habit of going to see him semi-regularly just because. She enjoys his wisdom, and he has a lot of stories to tell, and when he's not being the cryptic and esoteric timekeeper, he's a bit goofy.

(pushing my dadwork agenda here,,, i think Danny deserves to go 'hey, Lord Clockwork, do you want me to buy you something' while she's at walmart, only to receive a singular glowing sticky note that says 'cucumber gatorade'.)

(She insists on referring to him with his proper titles even for the most mundane of things because it's proper, but Clockwork sees a future where she eventually calls him "Cee" and by all things in existence is he determined to get there. Anyways,,,)

On her next visit to Clockwork, just as she is about to leave, Clockwork stops her and goes; "Ah, I have something for you. Hold out your hands."

Danny does as such, and Clockwork doesn't give out things often, so her curiosity has spiked to the highest levels. He turns away from her for a moment, using his staff to summon whatever it is he needs, and when he turns around.

He drops a fish into her hands. Granted, a fish in a small glass tank. But a fish nonetheless. A small one, roughly about the size of her finger, with a blue-black, eel-shaped body and four sets of glowing eyes. She can see thin, almost translucent, but spiny fins down its back and the start of bioluminescent markings. It's swimming around in circles in its small container.

"Lord Clockwork." Danyal says all too calmly.

"Yes, Danyal?"

"What is this?"

"That is an adolescent leviathan, Danyal." She’s transfixed onto the tank, but she doesn’t need to see Clockwork’s face to hear the smile he’s stifling.

The myriad of emotions that runs through her all at once threatens to overwhelm her, and she can’t tell if the feelings are negative or positive. So she carefully closes her eyes to breathe in through her nose.

“Clockwork.”

“Ah, I see you’ve dropped formalities.”

She ignores that.

“Why have you given me an adolescent leviathan?”

She's expecting the trickster to look amused when she opens her eyes. Instead, he just looks endeared. "I know you're fond of animals," he says, "and you always look amazed when you come across an animal of the realms. So I thought you might enjoy taking care of the young beast, it's mother is dead so it has no one to care for it."

Oh.

"But, if you don't like it," Clockwork's hands reach out for the tank, "I can simply take it back--"

Danyal shifts the tank out from his reach and hugs it possessively. "I never said that. How do I care for it?"

And so clockwork gives her a list, and when Danyal returns to her lair, she sets up a large tank in her room for the leviathan to swim in -- it's much too small for the lake right now, she thinks. She'll feel better if it's somewhere she can find it. She names him Suhā.

Suhā grows quickly, and by the end of the mortal month she transforms one of the rooms into a large pond for him to swim around in. He's a very loyal beast, recognizing her as it's mother of some kind. Danyal takes great care ensuring that her beastie gets quality care, and Suhā swims to the surface to see her when he senses her in the room.

It spirals from there. Somehow, Pandora catches wind that Clockwork gave her a leviathan, and so the next time Danyal visits the Greater Athens, she gives her a baby chimera. It's eyes are still sealed shut, Danyal can't bring herself to say no. She names the little beastie Firas.

Frostbite hears about it too, and not to be outdone, gives her an animal she's never even heard of. Infinite-realms born, apparently. A fox-like creature with two small horns like an impala, four eyes, and tall legs. The name isn't something she's quite sure how to write down, and she's positive that her friends won't be able to comprehend it. She names her Eira.

Getting the three of them used to each other was... interesting. Suhā tried to eat Firas when Danyal first introduced the two, and they've hated each other ever since. Firas and Eira are seemingly getting along. Her island already feels full enough with the three of them on it.

Of course, that's not the end of it. With her luck, she begins stumbling across other monsters. Realms-borne or otherwise. An injured hydra in the Grecian islands that, through lots of trial and error, Danyal is able to rehabilitate and heal. It routinely comes to visit her afterwards.

A griffin with a broken wing that she moves permanently to the island that likes to keep to itself, but tends to come down when she's near. It gets along best with Firas.

A panther-like monster from the Shades Woods that had six legs and three tails, with ends that reminded her of a venus flytrap. It stuck around the heavy foliage and she can only make out where it was when she saw its golden eyes reflect.

She befriends a young indrik with its leg injured, and much like the hydra it follows her back to her island, and stays there in the mountains. It comes out when she's alone, much like her other beasts.

She receives two more leviathan -- one from clockwork, and one she finds herself while exploring the deeper and darker recesses of the Ghost Zone. It was huddled against the carcass of its mother, and she managed to befriend and get close enough to it to bring it back to her island. Suhā is fully grown by then, with a head bigger than Danyal herself and he still likes to stick her head out of the water for nuzzles when she's near.

He's not very happy with his new siblings, but he's not trying to eat them when she's not looking. So she calls it a win in her book.

And it's not just large beasts either; smaller animals begin popping up when she's not looking. Bird-like creatures and small mammals, and she swears she saw a doe (or something resembling a doe) grazing in the forest while she was walking by.

She takes back with her a lone snake egg once, and it grows so big it wraps around her island and sleeps with its massive head on the mountain beside the temple, like some smaller breed of Jörmungandr.

And on and on it goes. Some of the beasts she comes across never step foot onto her island, some of them follow her back, while others she has to carry back. Not all of the ones that follow her stay, and Danny rehabilitates the injured and releases them when they're fully healed.

It's hectic, and busy, and frankly she loves it. Some of her rehabilitated beasts return to visit her, or to have their children somewhere on the island, or whatever it is they need to do.

She becomes a bit infamous for it. She goes to visit Dorathea once, and as she's walking through the streets she can hear some of the denizens whispering while she walks past.

"Is that her?"

"Her highness' friend? Yes--"

"--that's the one--"

"--Mother of monsters--"

Danny's not sure how to feel about that.

Although, she can't say she's opposed.

Danyal Al Ghul, Mother of monsters, raiser of beasts. It has a nice ring to it.

[clockworkcreature]

Primordial’s hands - padding added, and now getting covered with fur.

[starbxtchx0x0]

Rate my hear me out cake :D

⚠️TW!!⚠️

[cosmosis-mitosis]

Clockwork, Toby, and Nina are considered to be a power trio in the Household. In their own opinion, anyway. Self-proclaimed power trio.

They often plan out many of the ‘heists’ they want to do, sending their requests to Masky only to get.. Denied. Most of the time.

The ONE time he allowed them to go collectively rob this big-wig mayor’s house, Toby begged to set the house on fire. Masky said no, obviously. So instead they spray-painted that stupid penis shape all over the mayors garage.

[welcoming-grey]

So, lets imagine that Monster (the drink, lol, i forgot to mention that) gets really fucking popular in Gotham. Like, a lot. It's desired by a mix of both villains and heroes due to its the amount of energy it provides the body and it's property to act like a life-saver (literally). Nobody has been able to trace where exactly its produced from (Batman has tried to find the source and has tried to ban it but it just somehow keeps appearing and he'd rather stock up than lose it to his opponents).

Skip to Danny (after becoming the Ghost King) trying to convince his parents that after discovering that they are selling ectoplasm to Gotham as an energy drink that it is a bad idea, not knowing that his parents had been doing it from That Day. His parents argue that its basically holy water, ensuring that people aren't getting overshadowed (Because people literally turn liminal due to drinking it).

Monster is banned in Amity Park because Wes has convinced GIW and the citizens that they're basically drinking Phantom's ghostly fluids. GIW has disposed of the 'contaminated', they are less in number because not a lot of people trust the Fentons works. This explains why its citizens keep getting overshadowed.

Selling Monster is one the main funds resources that the Fentons use for their projects. And they're only selling place is of course Gotham. They had been contacted by a kind man by the name of CW who was willing to transport it to Gotham and get their money in exchange for keeping the portal in their basement and in promise of not bringing it out of their house.

This is basically Clockwork's plan B if push comes to shove to prevent Phantom from potentially getting attacked by his parents when he does reveal himself to be their son. So by turning Gotham liminal he's basically making it Phantom's hideout from his parents, ensuring that even if ghosts enter Gotham they won't be able to make it out 'alive' because of the bats. And also knowing Bruce Wayne, Danny will have a new family in no time.

PS: Amity Park knows about the existence of Gotham, Gotham just doesn't know about Amity Park. Its just the Fentons that don't know where this 'Gotham' is, but hey, they are getting their money, so who cares? Amiright?

[tanglepelt]

Dc x dp idea 16

The observant are done watching. They want to command the infinite realm. With the king sealed away they decide the time is now.

They discovered a way to twist the ancients. Doing so hitting both pandora and clockwork. Pandora now seeks to help free evil and wreak havoc. Clockwork is now actively trying to find the worst timelines to force to happen.

The observants didn’t get frostbite as Danny was figuring out his ice core. Which means now he had to deal with those two ancients as well as overgrowth. Maybe even vortex makes an appearance.

The observants game plan is to make all the powerful ghost look bad so they get locked away. The only one who can fix the personalities of the ancients is the king. Take out those powerful and no one can free pariah to defeat him.

Danny returns to amity to find time frozen. Danny the little thief he is stole three time medallions (clockwork let him). Pandora is preventing him from getting to sam and tucker releasing evil from her box.

Danny gets out of amity. Leaving Sam as overgrowths “daughter” his friends and family frozen then guarded by evil beings. He heads out human so they can’t track his ecto signature.

With two extra time medallions he sets out. He finds the justice league. Wonder Woman immediately wants to help. She wants to help free pandora. Superman also heads to amity to help out. Both have rigged up Spector deflectors so they can’t get overshadowed.

John is the one who figures out what caused the personality switches. Bad news the only person who can fix it is evil. Danny was ease-dropping (they had him making anti ghost weapons, Danny only made non lethal ones)

Danny being Danny leaves his time medallion and takes off to free pariah.

John and Batman follow the child. They try and stop him from summoning and freeing pariah. Danny is just like chill i sealed him up like 3 months ago I’m sure i can handle this.

No explanation he just transforms and frees pariah. John and Batman can’t do anything to the ghost king as Danny traps him and the king in an ice dome. No point risking others getting hurt.

Danny wins. Frees pandora and clockwork. Wonder Woman had managed to trap pandora (pandora was definitely fighting the spell and resisting as much as she could). Clockwork just knew it was gonna happen. The observants were silly to think he wouldn’t.

The justice league now monitor amity park for when the next earth destructive ghost escapes. Danny has been forced to take lessons. The first one is risk management and the importance of disclosing powers. It’s just a lecture made by Batman.

[pb-dot]

Spooktober Sunday Special: The Clockwork Monster V

Halloween is right around the corner, and I'm finishing off the Clockwork Monster for now. Jake and 13 go on the lam, and a twist of sorts presents itself.

16.09.552 Recovered from Site B after the incident I’ve had the opportunity to confirm the date since my last entry. Tempted as I am to try to correct the dating on my previous entries, I know it’d be mostly guesswork. Besides, I seem to have left my diary note behind when we left the coal cellar. I hope this mistake has not cost us our freedom. I hope there is no sensitive info for me to redact in the first place, but in hindsight, I realize I should have checked.

From what little 13 told me, he has been dodging a member of his organization, well I suppose former organization at this point, but she has been sniffing out his trail ever since. He and two of his fellow modified people, One and Two, were sent by their boss (ruler or religious head?) to capture me for this reason or another. I personally suspect it is because my work on clockwork limbs is relevant to their interests in some way, but 13 has been unable to confirm this. One had stalked me for an extended period of time in preparation, and the plan was for Two and 13 to move in to snatch me on the 8th.

13, however, had other ideas. He hasn’t said much about it other than that he didn’t want to stay with his organization any longer, and that he had temporarily disabled Two, kidnapped me ahead of schedule, and made sure to keep me somewhere hidden. I have no idea what caused the damage I repaired, but his ex-colleagues remain my main suspects. It is, for example, quite possible that One made his escape difficult after dealing with Two, but without knowing her abilities and strengths it is hard to determine for sure.

The night grows dark, and my head grows weary from exertion. I’ll get to discussing our escape and my plans on the morrow.

17.09.552 Recovered from Site B after the incident Our new hideout is considerably less cramped than it was upon first viewing. The sunlight and draft in the abandoned apiary make waking up here a mite shocking, as I had grown accustomed to the darkness of the cellar and we arrived here by moonlight. Apparently, buildings such as these small towers were built in an attempt to vivify the town’s dying greenery by the presence of a large population of domesticated bees, but needless to say, they’ve been empty for just about as long as I have been alive.

After sunset yesterday, 13 had unlocked the door to the coal cellar he had been keeping me. As I had suspected, it connected to one of the collapsing manors of the old Noble Quarter. The huge building was no doubt owned by someone on paper, but inhabited only by dust and decay. There were many of those after the nobility that knew sense sold off their assets and fled the country while there was still a country to flee in the later days of The Wars. The Spire owned most of them now, but seeing as restoring them was expensive and most everyone who could afford it lived comfortably in the spire itself anyway, the houses mostly just got lost to entropy until they could be torn down for cheap.

The Noble Quarter was eerily quiet as we left for the city proper. It was about at this point I realized that I thought about 13 and me as “we,” and the thought of ditching him and making a run for it just didn’t occur to me anymore. He could be lying about any number of the things he has told me, but for better or worse I believe him because - Entry ends suddenly with signs of being rushed by outside factors, see next entry.

17.09.552 (later) Recovered from Site B after the incident We couldn’t stay at the apiary. Two found us, and although I barely got a look at her as she scaled the walls of the little tower, climbing like half a spider might, I now understand why 13 had no desire to remain in her company. While the modifications done to 13 are considerable, there’s a certain level of effort put into making him move like a human. Two, on the other hand, have been outfitted with entirely clockwork-powered joints for the elbows and knees, with the limbs themselves being stripped to the bone. Hell, the way she climbed, it looked like her joints had been replaced entirely by mechanical ones, as she was both double-jointed, and much faster than a human could be. 13 spotted her a second later than me, and we wasted no time fleeing into the crowds. I couldn’t see her, but I’m sure somehow that One was also present somewhere in the area.

After the many days of isolation and skulking by night, it was chaotic and scary to be back in the crowded bustle of the city. If it was unusual and stressful for me, though, I can only imagine how scary it was for 13, who was out among “regular people” without his cloak for what must’ve been the first time. At one point he grabbed my hand, and I held on for dear life as I dodged and ducked our way through the lunchtime rush. I had no idea if Two had any compunctions about following us through the crowd, but a staccato of clacking from the roof somewhere over us hinted that she probably chose to pursue us that way.

While I’m no canny street urchin, I will say I am good at moving through crowds and navigating the city. It didn’t take us long to lose the clacking that I took to understand as the sound of Two’s pursuit, although it is quite possible we were still followed in silence.

I’m writing these words from our current hideout, a room in a semi-reputable inn in the Entertainment District. It’s noisy and it smells like stale beer in here, but the proprietor seemed like a decent enough sort. He may not be above selling us out to our pursuers, but he didn’t seem bright enough to connect the dots just yet.

13 is sleeping. After our mad dash through the city, he seemed disproportionately tired, so I let him take the first shift in the room’s one admittedly decent bed. If I can find the peace in my soul to get some sleeping done, the couch’ll have to do for me.

Peace in my soul does seem unlikely though, as I am starting to realize this problem is bigger than I assumed. 13 may not want to carry out his assigned task, but his former allies seem to have no problem with the parameters of the mission. I can’t return home, and I can’t return to my place of employ. My life as I know it is, effectively, forfeit. I guess 13 and me have that in common now.

18.09.552 (morning) Recovered from Site B after the incident To whoever may read this: My name is Jake, former Journeyman at Barker Automatics. For reasons I still don’t fully understand, I have been targeted by an organization that implants complex clockwork gadgets in human subjects to enhance their abilities. I believe it is my experience with clockwork limbs that has brought me to the attention of this organization as my expertise should allow me to eventually repair and replicate the modifications in 13.

My savior turned out to be one of my would-be captors who decided to take this chance to flee from his fellow modified in the hope that I would know or be able to learn how to maintain his clockwork parts. He has since introduced himself as Adrian, and let me know the number tattooed on his forehead is his production number.

Both Adrian and I know that we can’t hide out where we now hide forever. Our pursuers are clever, and there’s little doubt in my mind they’ll sniff us out before long. Adrian and I have come up with a plan of sorts, but for it to succeed we’ll need to visit my former workplace to secure my closing wages and a few personal effects. There is a good chance our pursuers will attempt to stop us, and there is every chance they’ll succeed, but I know in my heart that if it comes to that, we’ll make them fight for it. Adrian has asked me to promise to kill him if it looks like Two and One are going to bring him back in, and I can only be thankful that he didn’t press the issue, as I still don’t know if I’m capable of such a thing. I will say his intensity on the matter makes for a compelling argument.

If we succeed in securing my resources we will endeavor to The text ends suddenly here, as the remains of the pages were ripped out, possibly by 13.

Post Script I bring to you now this incomplete record of events, Oh Creator. It is unfortunate that I was not able to bring you the young clockmaker and your wayward creation as you have asked of me, but I beg your forgiveness in the matter as I am but a poor servant of your brilliantness. It is still not known to me whether Two is still alive, as she has not made her appointed check-ins since moving out on a lead to intercept Adrian 13 and the clockmaker. She may be dead, but equally possible that she is not, as she is mercurial even on her best days.

In my efforts to track down my quarry, I found 13’s former hiding spaces, the coal cellar, and the room in The Pelian Lady, Site A, and B, respectively. Apart from the documents I have attached, as whole and unmodified as they could be found, there was little trace to be found of 13 and Jake. I was unable to confirm the location of the disused sky-apiary mentioned in earlier entries, but I maintain my watch and vigil after it all the same.

While I am tempted to indulge in speculation, I know it to be folly in the face of such a mind as yours, and shall do no such thing. With that said, I personally suspect Jake may have tried securing charter on a ship heading towards Pelia or one of the former colonies. It is also possible that he and 13 are trying to make their way out of the city and try their luck with the Farmer Lords. With your blessing, I will follow these leads such as they are and attempt to secure that which you so desperately desire.

With Equal Loyalty and Admiration Your Slave One

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[bet-on-me-13]

What if I'm the Monster?

(Based on Monster from Epic the Musical, it's incredible, give it a listen)

So! For the past few years, Danny has done nothing but defend Amity Park from Agressive Ghosts, Lunatic Ghost Hunters, and the GIW, all on his own. But no matter what he does, he is always seen as a Monster by the people of the town, just for being a Ghost.

Over the years he has lost a lot.

His Best Friend. His Mentor. His Mom.

Tucker was caught by the GIW and arrested for helping Phantom, and was never heard from again. His Parents still visit the Mayor's office for any word of him, but no one has any idea what happened.

Danny and Clockwork had a falling out after Danny refused to go down his intended path. He wanted to live his own life, one not predetermined by a Time God. Clockwork had told him that he would regret the decision, and left.

And his Mom had died after discovering his secret. She had surprisingly accepted him, but then the GIW had tried to capture him and she decided to defend him, and she got caught in the crossfire.

Every time Danny tried defending the people of Amity Park, he was vilified and hated even more. He would never be a Hero in their eyes, he was no Justice League. He had lost so much just defending them, but he couldn't bring himself to resent them, they didn't know what they were doing, it was how they were supposed to think. He still needed to defend them.

But he could no longer do so acting as the Hero.

Being a Hero stopped him from raiding the base that he assumed Tucker was being held in. Being a Hero led him to disagreeing with Clockworks advice. Being a Hero led to his Mom's death.

So he would be The Monster, instead.

[ttrpg-smash-pass-vs]

The Clockwork Oaken Bolter, a gnomish self-loading ballista bot! Medium size, so somewhere in the 4-8 ft (1.2-2.4 m) range, and can understand/follow orders. Ummm...while I'll mention being able to swap to harpoons or explosives shots, I'm not sure those will be the most useful for our purposes. However, like all the clockworks, they're often modded by thier owner. Voice boxes, waterproofing, enhancements to durability or speed, suction, self repairing, you name it! So maybe you could find one with padded arrows or something if getting shot by a ballista is what gets you off? Also if any gnomes could explain why all of these have to include the primary material in the name, that would be great.

[clxckwork-sun-n-moon]

cryptid corner from @feralmoonlight's magma! featuring SCtW Eclipse, a lil @themeeplord's cryptid Eclipse, @zus-a-fungi Sphinx Moon, and Feral's vampire Eclipse

[clockworkcreature]

Primordial’s gloves in progress, plus shots of the claws being fabricated. The claws are EVA foam, coated in silicone rubber so they are impact resistant (impact proof, really), lightweight, and abrasion-resistant.

I will say that while I’m happy with how the claws turned out, and I know they will work well, there’s probably a dozen faster ways I could have done them.

[kane0e]

I hope we get some strange mysterious schlop creature like daesin in pirate101 soon bro