Chapter 4
It took nearly an hour to calm Vlad out of his berserk rage and another two to coax him back into human form, and Tony promptly offered to let the exhausted halfa and Time Ghost stay in one of the guest rooms until they were rested, sober(Vlad), and ready to explain everything as promised(Clockwork). The Ghost of Time graciously accepted (likely having already known he would offer) and lead the still aggravated and drunk halfa to one of the guest rooms. Charles asked if he could stay as well (likely to ensure that the awkward and uneasy truce between the ghostly duo and the Avengers lasted through the night) and Tony responded with, “Three floors up, second hall on the right, fourth door on your left,” because Tony always had rooms ready and waiting for his friends should they appear and want to stay over.
It was now nearly ten in the morning and Tony jumped out of his seat and almost spilled his coffee (granted it was his fifth cup in the past hour, but whatever) as Clockwork suddenly appeared on the other side of the table.
Clockwork nearly smirked for a moment before it was gone, replaced by what had to be the best poker-face Tony had ever seen. “Vladimir is awake, hungover, and in desperate need of caffeine.”
And with that, the Ghost of Time unceremoniously dropped the groaning pile of ruffled clothes and messy hair that Tony was certain he hadn’t had slung over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes just a second ago into the nearest chair.
Vlad glared for a moment before whining and throwing his arm over his eyes as he curled up in the chair. Tony got up, topped off his mug, got out a fresh one, filled it, and set both the mug and half-empty coffee pot on the table in front of the hungover billionaire. Vlad peeked out at the coffee placed tantalizingly close to him, stared at it for a full six minutes, and then reached out and took the coffee pot, drained half of it in a single gulp, and then cradled it like a baby in his arms. Tony pouted aggressively and put his hands on his hips.
He opened his mouth to say something, but Clockwork cut him off right as he was about to speak. “I can answer your questions now, Tony. Oh , little foreword of advice: Never ask a ghost what their obsession is, it is considered extremely rude.”
Tony’s pout was gone and an excited glint of curiosity shone in his eyes. “C’mon, have a seat.” A rather maniacal giggle escaped the excited engineer before he could stop it. “So, what exactly is a ghost core?”
“A ghost’s core is the very center of their entire being, what they manifest from, the absolute most important organ in a ghost’s body, actually, it’s the only real organ ghosts have. There are several different types of cores; standard cores are the most common, elemental cores are rarer, and there are only six entities with Infinity cores that can ever exist. I have the only Time core, my sister Amp has the only Power core, my brother Psyche has the only Mind core, my sibling Able has the only Reality core, my brother Anima has the only Soul core, and my sibling Journey has the only Space core. Fire and electricity cores are slightly more common than ice and air cores, with the exception of the people of the Far Frozen, who all have ice cores. Plant cores are one of the rarest types of elemental cores, only being beat out for the title of rarest by fear and corruption cores. Only about ten percent of all ghosts have elemental cores, the rest have standard cores.
“Before you ask, yes you are right about Phantom, no he does not have a standard core and I’m certain you can guess what type of core my hungover mate has (“‘Boyfriend,’ not ‘mate,’ tha’ soun’s weird,” aforementioned hungover halfa mumbled, “Irh zix’w xluw ifaex rc Puxxpo Fihkov?”) They are called halfas and that is an explanation for another time. A ghost without a core is called an imprint, and imprints are not considered true ghosts. They are simply ectoplasm pulled together by strong emotions after a person’s death, but the emotions aren’t strong enough to condense and pull enough ectoplasm in to form a proper ghost. These almost ghosts are far more common than actual ghosts and they’re what most mistake as ghosts. Imprints are entirely harmless and often have trouble interacting with the physical world. I will explain the different kinds of ghosts later. Anyway, ghost cores are the source of core powers. Core powers are only possessed by those with elemental cores, often called elementals, and Vladimir are you listening? You should be listening, I know you weren’t listening when I explained this to you the first time.”
That earned him a glare and Tony asked why Vlad hadn’t been listening the first time.
“Oh, Vladimir can’t listen when he’s frustrated and distracted.” This earned him a kick to the chair and offering to elaborate on why Vlad was distracted earned him getting his arm caught on fire and DUM-E (upstairs gathering food set out to restock the lab’s snack bar) rushed over with his ever-present fire extinguisher and tried (and failed) repetitively to put it out, the Time Ghost chuckling the entire time. Tony just watched in slight panic and reminded himself that Clockwork had mentioned Vlad having pyrokinesis (and he was pretty sure the halfa was a fire elemental). Clockwork used his chronokinesis to refill the coffee pot in Vlad’s hands and the fire put itself out. Cap and Strange picked that moment, as Vlad halted the burning of his ghost boyfriend and purred into a very full and now boiling pot of coffee, DUM-E confused and holding his fire extinguisher at the ready, and Tony sitting tense in the chair, to walk in. Cap was confused, and Strange was furious.
“You,” the sorcerer’s voice rose, getting everyone’s attention and earning a harsh glare from the hungover half-ghost, “The ghost that apparently is the physical manifestation of Time, should not be laughing and goofing off! You should be far more concerned about the fact that a raging lunatic is searching for the Infinity Stones and I know that you must know he’s coming!”
Clockwork’s face darkened and his eyes glowed stronger, a sign that Tony had noticed indicated his anger despite the lack of change in his monotonous voice (Tony had also noticed a slight lisp as the ghost explained things to him). “I am fully aware of the fact that the Mad Titan Thanos is gathering Infinity Stones. His last stop will be Earth for the Mind and Time Stones, neither of which will I allow him to get. I have already contacted my siblings and they are on their way, Journey will be here first. Tomorrow morning, in fact. Possibly with Able. they’d be here already if they were at full strength. We will find Vision and remove the Mind Stone in a way that won’t kill him when Psyche gets here. We will have to seek the aid of Wakandan technology.
“Thanos already has the Space and Power Stones and he’s sending three of his children, Ebony Maw, Corvus Glaive, and Proxima Midnight, specifically, to collect the earthbound stones. Iron Man, Dr. Strange, and Spider-Man will stop Ebony when he goes after the Time Stone as he is unaware that it no longer exists, and Captain America, Black Widow, and Falcon will save Scarlet Witch and Vision from Proxima and Corvus. They will arrive searching for the Stones in exactly one week. I will tell you where to be when the time comes, and not a moment sooner. Do not let the children of Thanos learn of the existence of myself and my siblings, they will inform Thanos and he will then actively seek us out and use the Stones to force us to do his bidding, not just abuse our powers. The failure of his children will draw Thanos to Earth, where the Avengers, the entire Wakandan army, the remnants of the Guardians of the Galaxy, Thor, my siblings and I and whoever I decide to bring along will defeat him. I know what I’m doing, mortal. Everything is currently as it should be.”
Everyone in the room, which now held Natasha, Bucky, and Charles, stared in shocked silence (except Vlad, who was glaring daggers at Strange). The silence went unbroken as Charles seemed to have a telepathic conversation with someone (likely Clockwork) until Strange was unnerved enough by Vlad’s glaring to say something about it.
“Okay, Masters. What gives? Why are you giving me that look?”
The faint smell of burning wafted through the air (noticeably not from Clockwork’s formerly singed arm). “Stop making him mad. Clockwork told me what happened last night so I know you know my secret. I know you people can’t feel it, but Clockwork’s aura flares with his emotions if he gets upset enough and I can feel it.” a slight sense of dread hit every human in the room all at once. “You should be grateful that he has such a good control over his Presence. If he didn’t you’d all be running for the hills.”
“Ypihuruv, vow, cae v vux, fex sepp fign caev Svoworgo. Cae raz xloc’vo mersc oraef iw-uw.”
The layer of dread eased away and Clockwork gave Vlad a little smile.
“So Thor’s gonna be here?” Tony’s sudden question drew the room’s attention. “What about my Science Bro? And who are the Guardians of the Galaxy, friends of yours?”
Clockwork gave him a look. “The Guardians are not my friends. They are a team composed of a former child of Thanos, a man whose entire family was killed by Thanos, an angry raccoon that was experimented on, a sentient tree that the team is raising who is presently a teenager, and their alleged leader who is half human, half celestial and briefly held the Power Stone in his bare hand. Doing so nearly killed him and the other Guardians, with the exception of the tree, he wasn’t more than a mere twig then, and the half celestial then killed his father whose true form is a planet and that particular celestial was trying to consume the known universe.”
“Yikes.”
Clockwork nodded slowly. It was not lost on Tony that he was avoiding the question about Bruce (and subsequently, the Hulk). However, Steve was the one who spoke up.
“You’re avoiding the question: What about Bruce?” Clockwork shifted to a child and gave him a dead stare.
“I know I’m avoiding that question, thank you. I’m doing so on purpose.”
The Avengers present looked at Clockwork with matching looks of annoyance and disapproval. Tony asked why.
“Because I can.” Was Clockwork’s simple reply as he aged into an old man and leaned back in his seat. Strange glared at him, and Vlad tossed a pillow at him.
“He does that often,” the halfa said as he ignored the sorcerer’s indignant shout. “You’re actually lucky he’s being this helpful and cooperative. That’s honestly the most information about the future I’ve ever heard him give anyone, myself included. He is the single most cryptic and unhelpful entity that I have ever encountered. Quit complaining.”
Strange glared at everyone in the room, and turned and left only when Charles fixed him with a look. The telepath then turned to the room.
“Jean called me a moment ago and told me that I, and I quote, ‘need to get back to the academy right now and get the argue-flirters to either shut the hell up or get a room.’ Of course I left out the gratuitous amounts of swearing she did when she had to yell at them because they brought their argument indoors. Clockwork has agreed to send me there via teleportation.”
Tony looked curious, but Bucky beat him to the punch. “You can teleport?”
Clockwork nodded. His age changed again, this time to an older teen, and as his age changed so did the position he was seated in. He sprawled across the chair sideways, reaching a hand over to play with Vlad’s hair, hand moving to his ear when he started hissing and smiling as that hiss turned into a purr. Steve cleared his throat to get the Infinity’s attention.
“Wouldn’t teleportation be more of a ‘Space’ power than a ‘Time’ one?”
Clockwork looked thoughtful for a moment, then nodded and shrugged. “Well, all of my siblings can teleport to some degree, Space is just the most skilled and least limited in that power. I usually just open portals when I have to transport more than just myself. Less tiresome honestly.”
The room fell quiet again. When it became apparent that the ghost had no intention of continuing, the only sounds in the room being vlad’s purring and Clockwork’ contented chiming, Charles cleared his throat.
“Oh, right,” the ghost said with a few loud ticks that sounded almost like a chuckle, “My apologies.” And with that, he suck out his hand and a clock hand appeared and spun around, leaving a swirling blue vortex in its wake. “There you go, Charles. One portal home.”
Charles hesitated, and stared at the portal.
“Go on, it’s safe. Although you may want to hurry, I can’t keep it open forever. If you wait too much longer it will start to destabilize.” Charles nodded, said a quick goodbye, and was off. The portal closed with the clock hand reappearing and copying its earlier course once Charles was through and when the Avengers looked back to the Time Ghost and halfa they found Clockwork sprawled across Vlad’s lap, Vlad smiling, drinking coffee, and looking much less hungover, and the both of them purring.
“You’re purring.” Bucky was the one to break the (relative) silence after several long moments of staring at the purring pair.
Vlad huffed, “Very astute observation, Sargent.”
“Let me rephrase his statement as a question,” Tony said as Bucky continued to stare with a confused look on his face, “Why are you purring?”
“Ghosts purr when they are happy, to comfort themselves and loved ones, promote healing, and on occasion we purr as a means to flirt.,” Clockwork said, still purring. “It is an instinctive core response similar to a human smiling, only ghosts don’t fake purr.”
“So ghosts are basically spooky humanoid cats?” Tony asked, his face neutral.
“Not all ghosts are humanoid,” Clockwork shrugged, “But basically.”
Tony burst out laughing. He continued to laugh as a pillow was thrown at him and he laughed harder when he dodged and it his Clint in the face as he stepped into the room, who let out a startled yelp. Tony didn’t stop laughing for a full two minutes because every time he thought he was done laughing, he glanced at the ghostly pair and cracked up again.
“Sorry, sorry,” he said once he got control over himself again, “It’s just, spooky cats.”
“Spooky… cats?” Clint was now very confused (as opposed to minorly confused as he was a few seconds ago) as to what the hell he just walked in on.
“Ghosts purr.”
Clint’s face slipped into an expression that simply said “no” and he turned around and walked right out the door he’d come through with a quick “I’m out,” thrown over his shoulder. Natasha seemed like either she’d gotten bored of talking to people or she wanted to tell him what was going on and followed the archer silently out the door.
Tony and Vlad looked at the now empty doorway, then to Bucky (who was still visibly confused), and then to each other. When they made eye contact they both burst out laughing.