The Magic Clock (TF Request)

    Time had not been kind to the old man.

    There he sat, in his broken-down old hut, tending to his clocks. The very clocks that he had put so much care and love into when he was younger. It was his business, since he was a clockmaker, to tend to all of the clocks that he came across in his line of work. Fixing clocks was his job, but it was also his hobby. This could be seen in the various clocks scattered around his hut, each in near-perfect condition. They were like his children, he thought, as he looked over them. He had put so much care and effort into preserving them that they might as well have been.

    But even as he looked over them, a deep sigh escaped his lips. He loved his clocks, but as he reflected on the life he had lived so far, he was wondering if maybe he loved them too much. Because of his dedication to them, he had sadly missed out on many other things that he had hoped to do with his life. He had never found love, as he had been too obsessed with his clocks to give his heart to anyone else. He had never really explored other interests that he had either, since the clocks had kept him tied to his hut too often. These days, he barely even left his hut. Everyone who had ever loved him had long since passed away, leaving him alone. And with all of his clocks working perfectly, there was nothing for him to do except sit down and think about all of his regrets, about what he could have made with his life.

    Bowing his head, he stood up, walking over to his hut’s front door. Opening it, he stepped outside, looking out into the sky. It was late afternoon, and the sun was just beginning to set over the hills. He looked up at the sun’s orange glow, smiling to himself. He always liked to get out of his hut on days like these. Going for walks helped to clear his head, almost making him forget about the unremarkable life he led. Perhaps he would head out onto the street corner, and take a little walk around town. That always seemed to help his mood. Something about seeing all of the buildings lined up neatly along the road, seeing this order among the chaotic clutter in his hut, always seemed to calmed him down.

    A few moments later, the man was walking through the town, looking up at all the stores he passed by. However, this time around, one particular store caught his eye. “Fortsona’s Clocks,” the sign read, hanging over a small-looking shop. The man frowned. He didn’t remember any other clock stores in this town. Had it just opened? Curiosity overwhelming him, he stepped into the store, looking around at the shelves. They were lined with clocks of all shapes and sizes, from pendulum clocks to grandfather clocks to even a few digital clocks. At the front desk was a young man, dressed entirely in black. “Welcome to Fortsona’s clocks,” he said, grinning at the old man. “How may I help you?”

    “You… sell clocks, correct?” asked the old man. “I don’t believe I’ve ever seen your store here before. Are you new?”

    “Yes, I am,” said the young man, nodding. “I actually just recently got into this business. My boss wanted me to open this shop up, you see. Something about… getting a couple of requests involving clocks? Anyway, as I said, welcome to my shop.” He held out his hand. “My name’s Martin Fortsona. I run this place.”

    “It’s nice to meet you,” said the old man, shaking Martin’s hand. Then he frowned. “Wait… you’re the owner? But you just said you had a boss…”

    “Everyone has a boss,” said Martin, grinning once again. “But that’s not important. Now, have you come to buy something? I have plenty of clocks to choose from.”

    “I’m… not sure, actually…” said the man, looking around. “I… guess I really just came here to browse.” He looked around, examining the clocks. “I’m actually a clockmaker, myself. Well, lately my business has mostly consisted of repairing clocks instead of making them, but you get the idea. This has basically been my whole life, and… well, I’m starting to wonder if that’s really a good thing.” Sighing, he sat down on a nearby bench. “I feel like I’ve just… missed out on so much in life because of this. I never really had time for anything else in life.” He looked down at the ground. “If there was just some way to… I don’t know, reverse time… then maybe I could go back, fix some of the mistakes I made…”

    “Well, I don’t know if there’s any way to fix the mistakes you made in the past,” said Martin. “But there may be a way to reverse time… and perhaps change your life in the process.” He looked over at the old man. “What if I told you that I had something that could help you?”

    “You… do?” asked the old man. He walked back over to the front desk. “What do you have?”

    “Well… here, take this,” said Martin, handing the man a piece of paper. “That’s the blueprints for a very special clock… one that I think might be able to help you through your problem. Oh, and take this too.” He reached down under his desk, pulling out a small gem, rough and almost diamond-like in appearance. “That’s an Adamant Orb. It’s where the clock gets its power from. What makes it ‘tick,’ so to speak.” He chuckled to himself. “The rest of the material… well, you’re going to have to find that for yourself. Or you can just buy it here, if you’d like.”

    “Um… no thanks,” said the man, looking over the blueprints. “I think that I can find most of this for myself. But thank you!”

    “Don’t mention it,” said Martin, as the old man walked out of the store, blueprints and orb in hand.

    The sun had almost fully set by the time the old man made it back to his house, but he didn’t have time to appreciate it this time. He had a job to do. He took the blueprints into his house, setting the orb down on the table. Just as he anticipated, almost all of the materials he needed to make the clock could be found in his hut. As soon as he found them, he sat down, getting to work on making it. There were a few tricky parts that he had a bit of trouble with, but it was nothing major. He had done this kind of thing his entire life, so he knew what he was doing. This kind of thing was easy for him, and by the time morning came, he found himself putting the finishing touches on it.

    When he felt that he was done, he stepped back, admiring his work. It was quite a sight: the entire clock was blue and silver, the paint giving it a smooth, shiny feel. The Adamant Orb was resting in the center of the clock, and the hands that moved around it were thin and silver. It was an impressive clock… but how would it help him feel better? Feeling slightly confused, the man set the clock down, wondering what was going to happen now.

    Tick… Tick… Tick… The clock continued to tick as he watched it, and the more it ticked, the more enticed he became. Why couldn’t he look away? The orb in the center almost seemed to shine with an eerie glow, and the man found that he couldn’t tear himself away from it. Suddenly, his hand shot up to his chest, a cry of pain escaping his lips. Something hard had formed in the middle of his chest… something small and rough, almost like the orb in the clock! Before he could react, though, the orb in his chest began to pulse, sending waves of energy throughout his body. With each tick of the clock, a new pulse went off, causing the man to drop to his knees.

    The clock continued ticking, and the man was just now realizing the devastating effect it was having on his body. He had taken off his shirt to get a better look at the orb, and now he could clearly see what else was happening. There seemed to be… some kind of metal covering appearing from where the orb was, spreading across his chest. Each time the clock ticked, the metal covering spread, growing more vast until it resembled a large pentagon, the orb still sticking out of the center. But as the clock kept ticking, something else began forming on him: a blue, metallic substance began spreading all over his belly, spreading further and further with each tick. Looking down, he quickly noticed it spreading to his legs as well.

    But that wasn’t the only change to his legs. With each new tick, the man saw his legs grow thicker and stronger, until they grew right through his pants! As the blue metal spread to his feet, he started feeling them change as well. Another tick caused his feet to grow right through his shoes, thickening and growing circular to match his legs. His toes also disappeared, three large, metal blades growing out of his feet to replace them. Another tick sounded, causing the man to bend over in discomfort. He felt his spine stretching, extending further and further out his behind with each tick that he heard. When it finally stopped growing, he cautiously looked behind him, causing his mouth to fall open in shock. A large, blue, metallic tail had grown, curving up toward his back. His lower back also began changing, each clock tick triggering a long, thin spike to shoot up in a fan shape until a total of five had appeared.

    As stunned as the man was by these changes, looking down immediately alerted him to a crucial fact: he was naked. He quickly moved his hands to cover this fact, but looking down at them revealed that they were changing as well. The same blue metal that covered his torso and legs also covered his arms, and each tick seemed to cause it to spread further and further, until it reached its hands. It spread across his fingers, causing his fingernails to sharpen and grow out. Each tick caused them to grow longer and longer, until they almost looked like the blades on his feet. But as the man watched in stunned silence, he felt another, much more… unusual change to his chest. It felt like the metal covering was… pushing out on the sides, like something was growing underneath it. Only when he looked down at it did he realize what it really was: breasts. He was growing a pair of breasts. Even more changes followed that one: his hips widened, his body became more curvy and feminine, and the bits he had been trying to cover before seemed to vanish, replaced by their female counterparts. Only now did he realize what had happened: he, or rather she, had become a girl.

    But as she was trying to process that, the ticking from the clock became louder and louder, until it seemed to fill her entire head. She closed her eyes in pain, not noticing that her neck was growing longer and taller, each tick seeming to extend it further. The blue metal also began covering it, spreading all the way up to her face. The ticking seemed to reach a climax, growing so loud that she could hardly bear it. Finally, she screamed, the changes completely taking over her face. Her eyes became small and yellow, her teeth sharpened in her mouth, and her face seemed to push out into a small reptilian muzzle. The back of her head also seemed to stretch out, her grey hair giving way to a massive, pillar-shaped growth. To complete the change, two streaks of metal grew out from the side of her head, stretching back to match the length of the growth.

    The ticking stopped. The man, or whatever she was since that term didn’t really apply to her anymore, stood up, almost banging her head against the ceiling of the hut. Apparently, she was much taller than before. She looked down at her body… at the blue metallic skin, the tail, the rounded legs and feet, the… female bits. What had happened to her? What had she become?

    A word suddenly popped into her head: Dialga. Dialga? What was that? Was that what she was? Was that her new name? She looked back over at the clock she had built, the Adamant Orb in the center still glowing. As she looked at it, knowledge began filling her mind. She was Dialga, the lord of time. Time was her domain, and she could control it at will. She blinked, snapping her out of her trance. Controlling time… was it really possible? She turned to the door. There was only one way to find out.

    Carefully opening the front door, she bent down so that she would be able to fit through it. Once she finally got outside, she looked up at the sky. The sun had just started rising, and there were already plenty of cars and people lining the streets. Cautiously, Dialga raised her hand… and snapped her fingers.

    Everything stopped. The people and cars were suddenly still, frozen in place. Time had frozen completely. Dialga stared at her hands in disbelief. Had she really caused that? She snapped her fingers again, and the cars and people started moving. She couldn’t believe it. She had really stopped time! Curious as to what else she could do, she closed her eyes, moving her hand to the left. She felt the light from the sun disappear, replaced by nothing but darkness. She opened her eyes, discovering that it was night once again. She continued moving her hand in that direction, staring in disbelief at the effect it was having on the world around her. Cars and people on the street were quickly moving in reverse direction, and as she watched the sky, the sun slowly appeared on the western horizon, rising and lighting up the night until it was daytime again… daytime of the previous day.

    Watching this, Dialga couldn’t help but grin. She could fully control time! She could stop it, reverse it… she could do anything! She was practically a god… a god of time! She looked around, wondering what she should do with this immense power she now had. Then she looked back at her hut… and an idea came to her.

    She knew that there was no way for her to change her own past. But with this new power of hers… maybe she could help other people. Maybe she could prevent them from making the same mistakes that she did. After all, only she know what the future held for them. If she could show them how to make the right choices… then maybe she could help change their lives for the better. It was worth a shot, right?

    She smiled. She was ready to start a new chapter in her own life… and a rather interesting one at that.