Ghostfreaked Out

***Ghostfreaked Out*** is the ninth episode of *Clock 10: Choose Your Own Adventure*.

## Plot

The episode opens with Clock at a park, seeing a kid throw a frisbee into a tree then climb up to get it, only to find he can't get back down. Following the kid, Clock notices the tree seemingly becoming bigger, and then becomes Stinkfly to fly up and help the kid, which just results in the kid getting more scared. Stinkfly tries to reassure him that there's no reason to be scared, only for the kid to turn back to face him, having had his eyes replaced with the single eye of Ghostfreak. Stinkfly attempts to grab him, but the child disappears and the whole tree turns into a giant Ghostfreak before Clock wakes up, the experience having been a dream. He then proceeds to go and get some fresh air.

The next morning the trio heads for a campus where Taryn has taken an interest in attending for summer classes. During the trip there, Clock hallucinates his reflection in the window as Ghostfreak.

After reaching the campus, the three are taken on a tour throughout it. Clock hears the sound of glass breaking and Geralt gives him the go-ahead to check it out. Running towards the sound, Clock finds the Circus Freaks. He activates the Omnitrix and dials in Upgrade, only to get Ghostfreak instead. Thumbskull attempts to crush him with a large chunk of the bleachers, but he phases through it effortlessly.

Clock blacks out and doesn't regain consciousness until about ten minutes later, when he's returned to his human form and is standing outside the building. Hearing a familiar voice, he turns to see Ghostfreak having escaped the Omnitrix, or more accurately: Zs'Skayr having escaped the Omnitrix. Clock attempts to use the Omnitrix but to no avail as it is still recharging. Zs'Skayr explains that his DNA was trapped in the device when Wildvine's DNA was added, as he was possessing the Florauna at the time. His time inside the Omnitrix took his power, but if he were to merge with Clock and gain the device, he could restore himself. Zs'Skayr then removes his outer skin, revealing his true form. Given his powerless state at the moment, Clock runs off. Zs'Skayr tries to follow him but is injured by the sunlight, causing him to retreat into the shade.

Clock catches up with the other two and brings them up to speed on the situation. Geralt elaborates that Zs'Skayr and Ghostfreak are a species known as Ectonurites. The outer skin worn by Ghostfreak was meant to keep him safe from the daylight, though hinders most of his other powers. Taking out a device dubbed the "sun gun," Geralt suggests they stay until night fall to fight Zs'Skayr, who will likely be more active by then.

At night, Clock once again tries for Upgrade, intending to use his optic beam to burn Zs'Skayr, but ends up with Cannonbolt. Going through the campus, they find the Circus Freaks again. Cannonbolt attempts to ram into them, but is knocked back by Thumbskull. Zs'Skayr then leaves Acid Breath's body, revealing to have teamed up with the freaks. He then attempts to merge with Cannonbolt, but finds the Omnitrix protects him from this. Geralt then activates the sun gun, harming Zs'Skayr before he merges with Thumbskull.

Cannonbolt rams into Thumbskull, knocking him into a building and forcing Zs'Skayr to swap over to Acid Breath. He then melts the ground near Cannonbolt and it quickly solidifies to trap him. Cannonbolt punches the residue to break it, and a piece of the debris flies off and knocks out Acid Breath, causing Zs'Skayr to leave and merge with Frightwig, though is easily knocked out by Cannonbolt again.

Determining this is too easy, Zs'Skayr heads for a much more difficult target: Taryn. Cannonbolt refuses to fight, and Zs'Skayr uses this to his advantage by climbing up to the top of one of the buildings. Cannonbolt looks around and sees some construction materials, then enters sphere form to use them to ramp up to the top of the building as well. Just as he reaches the top, however, the Omnitrix times out, leaving him as human.

Geralt uses some scaffolding to reach the top, then throws the sun gun at Clock who aims it at Zs'Skayr, demanding he exit Taryn. Zs'Skayr instead offers that Clock drop the weapon and allow him to merge with him, lest Taryn "take a dive." Not wishing to bring harm to his cousin, Clock drops the gun and Zs'Skayr heads straight for him. Just as he does, the Omnitrix's failsafe kicks in and accesses reserve energy, automatically transforming into Grey Matter.

Geralt leads Taryn to safety, while Zs'Skayr scoops up Grey Matter in a tentacle, causing the latter to bite him and be dropped. Grey Matter heads for a small crack in the wall, followed closely by Zs'Skayr as the two enter the clocktower. Using his intelligence, Grey Matter hits the Omnitrix and successfully becomes Heatblast. Zs'Skayr's attention is grabbed by the Omnitrix's light, only for him to be almost immediately scorched to death by Heatblast's flames.

The next morning, Taryn decides that fighting bad guys is more fun than she'd have at a school campus. Clock scrolls through the Omnitrix, finding only eleven icons, Ghostfreak's nowhere to be found.

## Major Events

* Zs'Skayr escapes the Omnitrix, thus keeping Clock from becoming Ghostfreak again.
* The Circus Freaks make their debut.
* Clock uses the Omnitrix's quick switch feature successfully for the first time, albeit only due to Grey Matter's intelligence.

## Characters

* Clockwork Firefly
* Taryn Firefly
* Geralt Firefly

### Villains

* Zs'Skayr
* Acid Breath
* Frightwig
* Thumbskull

## Aliens Used

* Stinkfly *(dream)*
* Ghostfreak *(selected alien was Upgrade)*
* Cannonbolt *(selected alien was Upgrade)*
* Grey Matter
* Heatblast

## Trivia

* Although their first onscreen debut, it was established in the Discord that Clock had faced the Circus Freaks at some point prior to this between episodes.