Chapter Text
---
"Okay, just gotta put this piece here and tighten this screw..." a mysterious spherical cabbit clad in a green-and-pink cape mumbled to himself, tinkering with the mechanics of what appeared to be a bizarrely tiny Clockwork Star. He commented idly as he made adjustments, screwdriver held tightly in a gloved paw that floated separately from his body.
All around him, the stars of the Milky Way twinkled softly, though he didn’t seem bothered much by the fact that he was currently floating in space. There was only one planet particularly close by; a yellow, star-shaped planet with rings shimmering around it. This was planet Pop Star, though the stranger remained unaware, completely absorbed in the task at hand.
"And then I slot this in here-"
A second, much gravellier (and much ruder) voice interrupted the first, though the voice was heard only within the figure’s head. [SO ARE YOU GONNA LIKE. STOP TALKING TO YOURSELF, OR WHAT? ‘CAUSE YOU CLEARLY AREN’T TALKING TO ME.]
The first paused at the interruption. "Well, I’m done now! Okay, it’s done now, I mean. Look!!" He gestured towards the tiny Clockwork Star with a bit of pride, before twisting a turnkey on it’s back.
As the key turned, a dinky little music box tune played, and the Clockwork Star shuddered to life. Its eyes slowly opened, glowing sharply in the darkness of space. It took a few moments to look around, its expression completely unreadable for more reasons than its mechanical nature.
"YES!! My kitty works!" the figure exclaimed gleefully, instantly moving to pet the vaguely catlike robot orb.
The Clockwork Star floated backwards, ducking away from the petting. "Hello? What is my name?" it asked, in a voice that, while monotone, seemed almost... insulted.
"Oh- oh geez, I didn’t think that far!" the figure’s ears perked up with embarrassed surprise. "I... didn’t think about what I’d do when I got here. Okay, okay, how do people name Clockwork Stars... Wait, not many people have made Clockwork Stars, huh..."
The tiny Clockwork Star silently narrowed its eyes.
"Okay, how about Shimmerrrrrr......uh... Shimmer Starlight? Shimmer Magic? Shimmer Paw?" the cabbit continued. The Clockwork Star shook its, er, entire body ‘no’ with each suggestion, with increasing irritation. Finally, the figure sighed. "I’ll... just think on it later. Is that alright with you?"
While the Clockwork Star didn’t reply, it made no objection.
[COULD YOU JUST GET ON WITH DOING WHAT YOU BUILT THIS THING FOR IN THE FIRST PLACE ALREADY?!] the voice in the figure’s head snapped.
"Hey, don’t be mean! I was naming my cat! It wouldn’t be fair to leave him without a name!" The figure answered offendedly, before pausing and remembering something. "Oh yeah, I completely forgot about that... hold on!" He turned to the Clockwork Star and took a deep breath.. "This’ll hopefully, probably, maybe, be the only wish I ask of you but... Shimmer Spiral, I wish for infinite power! ...For uh, villain reasons, I guess?"
Shimmer Dawn(?) hesitated briefly. "Sure, whatever." There was no countdown or buildup, simply a brief, anticlimactic rainbow flash of its eyes. "Your infinite power has been granted. Do what you want with it, meow."
The cabbit, with barely restrained excitement, rushed to test the powers by summoning a ball of energy in his paws. A tiny orb of flickering rainbow colors materialized, causing him to gasp. "Oh!! Okay!!!! It works!!! Thank you, Shimmer Undecided, this is epic!"
[AN EYE-BURNING MARBLE. INVIGORATING. THIS IS WHAT YOU’RE USING YOUR ‘INFINITE POWER’ FOR, HUH.] groaned the disembodied voice.
He played around with the ball of light like it was a rubber ball, ignoring the comment. He was too ecstatic at his newfound powers to care about their grumbling right now, playing catch with... himself. The Clockwork Star simply watched, a hint of boredom in its face. Suddenly, the cabbit froze in alarm as he accidentally tossed it with a bit too much strength, watching powerlessly (somehow) as it soared off in entirely the wrong direction and collided with an unidentifiable object. Said object proceeded to slam directly into Shimmer Miracle(?), sending him careening down towards the star-shaped planet.
"NO!!! SHIMMER.......!" The figure made an attempt to catch his creation, but it slipped right out of his grasp, for the most part. The only thing he found himself holding onto was the turnkey, and a greebled bit of metal with text engraved on it. "...’Haltmann Works Company(R) Space Junk™...? Includes built-in contact-activated magnets to maximize inconvenie-’ AUGH!" He casted aside the nondescript metallic object. He then glanced at the turnkey he held. "Well, at least I caught this... wait, no, that’s BAD!! If I have this, then Shimmer... Celeste must’ve deactivated!"
The disembodied voice cut in, sounding wholly unimpressed. [DON’T YOU HAVE INFINITE POWER? THAT COULD’VE BEEN REALLY EASILY PREVENTED. LIKE, REALLY, REALLY EASILY.] The voice paused for a moment, thinking. [...actually. WHY WERE YOU DOING THIS IN THE MIDDLE OF SPACE IF THERE’S A PLANET RIGHT THERE?]
The cabbit paid the voice no heed, more focused on the fate of Shimmer Morning (?). "Well... at least he’s fireproof, so he shouldn’t burn up in the atmosphere..."
[...what???]
With a botched attempt at a fancy flourish that made the figure preeeeetty thankful almost no one else was there to see, he ventured downwards in the direction of Pop Star. "DON’T WORRY SHIMMER... WHATEVERYOURNAMEWILLBE, I’LL FIND YOU, OKAY?? OR ELSE MY NAME ISN’T FINITE-" (He pronounced the word ‘finite’ completely wrong- rather, he said it in the way one would say ‘minute,’)
[I HOPE YOU REALIZE HOW STUPID YOU SOUNDED SAYING THAT.]
"It... it was supposed to be dramatic!! Like, if I’m going to be evil and all-"
[WELL. IT SOUNDED BAD.]
"...it’s your fault I even said that out loud, Dark Infinity!"
[MAYBE IF YOUR THOUGHTS WEREN’T SO STUPID...]
Choosing not to respond, Finite flew down off into the atmosphere of Pop Star to seek out his fallen Clockwork Star, using his newfound power to track Shimmer Reality(?)’s location. Powers or no powers, he could already tell that it was going to be a long day...