It was a quiet day…or was it night? The Professor didn't quite know. He'd been in the bowels of time for far too long at this point. But he had needed a break from the stresses of life…so he stayed in his ship, a inconceivable scientific marvel of clockwork and gadgets. Bigger on the inside due to the ingenuity combined with lack of universal law within the nothing. He had been able to craft something that science said could never exist within the confines of reality.

A concealed realm within a grandfather clock. He called it Pendal after the human word pendulum. He thought he was so clever making it up on the spot when a friend asked him. Not that it was really clever as the ship itself was a clock where a pendulum was a main mechanism in it. But he surely tried to pretend it was.

The Professor's eyes shifted from the alien supercomputer situated at the center of the room on the clockwork console to the dials below it. Turning one with impeccable speed and accuracy to the exact increment he'd wanted to.

"Hah, perfect as always!"

The man remarked with a small chuckle. His eyes narrowing slightly but a moment later.

"Now what pray-tell is that!?"

He exclaimed as the ship began to quake. This was most unusual…in fact it had never happened before. Something slammed against Pendal, causing him to fly back, slamming into the wall. The being groaned softly as he tested his muscles making sure nothing was strained or broken, then picked himself off the floor.

"Well…that wasn't my idea of fun, Pendal- What's gotten into you?"

He ran back up to the console, grabbing hold tightly as there came another tremor. He shook his head, turning on the monitor. Nothing was outside that could have remotely caused this.

"How odd…perhaps this is a sign I should get back to the present, eh?"

He pressed a few buttons, slid a few controls, and pulled a lever. Pendal jolted out of the bowels of time with quite a bit of turbulence. He was thrown left and right as he held onto the console for dear life, slamming straight into the university where he worked. Coincidentally right into his own lecture room. A huge grandfather clock shaped hole now in the far wall. And a few dozen students and substitute stunned by the entrance.

The front of the grandfather clock swung open, and to The Professor's dismay to a room full of people. Then looked around in mock horror. Before he reached into his pocket and pulled out what seemed to be a laser pointer. But one of the students spoke as this was done.

"Hah, he couldn't really be 'The Professor' they always mention of TV could he?"

That caused the whole room to crack up. Until The Professor mentioned one thing that stunned the room into silence.

"Well, do any of you know my real name?"

The silence became almost overwhelming after about half a minute.

"Well?"

"Sir, we just assumed-"

"Never assume. Number one rule!"

"That means…"

"That's enough of that!"

The Professor pointed the laser pointer at the ceiling and pressed the button, a strange sound similar to that of a whistle emitted from it. He quickly closed the door to Pendal, rushed over to the substitute…the only person who knew his secret and hadn't been affected by the device, and whispered to him.

"How long have I been gone?"

"About a month…they were starting to ask questions. Wondering if you'd ever come back."

"That's strange…Pendal is always on the mark…I put in the right date…it should have been only a few days!"

"I'm telling you man, it's been almost a month. No one's heard from you since then."

The Professor sighed then turned to the students which now seemed to be slowly coming out of their induced amnesia episodes.

"Right, I should talk to the others…make sure people know I'm alive. Thank you, John…"

And with that he left…he had slowly walked to the door…leaving without a trace but leaving Pendal and the giant hole in the wall behind.

"Was that our professor?"

A student asked before he was out of ear shot…

"And what happened? What's with the grandfather clock…and the oddly grandfather clock shaped hole in the wall?"

"Eh, I've seen worse. Your professor was here for a moment but he had to leave again! Perhaps you will see him again soon! As for the hole in the wall…we will get that repaired…class will resume as usual today…and change lecture rooms for tomorrow."

The Professor sighed in relief when he heard the students calm down after a few minutes of confusion. Slowly wandering the halls of the university watching the eyes of the humans that stared at him in shock as he did so. They hadn't seen him come in…where'd he come from? And more importantly where had he been? Truth be told he wasn't going to answer either of these questions truthfully. But…sometimes the truth can hurt the ones you love and he knew that all too well.

His friends had always gotten burned when they decided to travel with him. So it was always his reasoning behind not wanting to travel with anyone. He hadn't done so in years. Ever since the incident. But he would never tell you what happened. In fact he hid it from most people…other than John. He would often confide in him…letting him know many of his secrets. He knew that this may inevitably hurt him in the future. After all humans were and still are fickle creatures. But he had no one else he trusted this much. At least not on this planet and he loved Earth most out of all the planet's he'd visited. Mainly due to how primitive it was. How anything he said was instantly the smartest words in the room.

It may be vain but he loved the compliments, the praise, and the idea of being the best in some way. After all…coming from literally nothingness has it's trials and tribulations. He along with his siblings and family and friends were nothing. Came from nothing. And only he had decided to breach the fabric of reality becoming a real boy so to speak.

He had no one. He was raised by monsters…horrible people that experimented on and tortured him. And still turned out decent in most aspects anyway. In any case the Professor wanted to help humanity and mortal beings not only survive but also thrive. Like he hadn't been able to as a child. His eyes locked onto the exit sign above the door and ran towards it, slamming the doors open. His breathing was heavy and filled with dread. It was happening again.