"Got anything yet?"
The GIW agent that was bending over the screen looked over his shoulder at his superior. He shook his head sadly and returned his gaze to the computer.
"I'm afraid there's nothing we can do," he said, taking his glasses off and rubbing his sore eyes.
"Then we have to go to plan B?"
"There is no alternative," the agent said getting up. "I'll send agents 54 and 45 over to Amity Park right away."
"I have a feeling that I must go as well. Make my plane ready!"
"Right away sir!"
"We need to act swiftly, only that ghost boy can help us now, but I loath to admit it."
Amity Park was, to say the least, an interesting place to live. With the town haunted by ghosts every hour of the day, it wasn't exactly a calm place like the boards said on the highway to incoming cars. Needless to say, Amity's out highway was more crowded than its in highway now-a-days; the cause being the fact that more ghosts were finding ways to come into the human world. Many ghost hunters were employed to keep the population down, but they were so overwhelmed that they just left—all except for one.
She was a local huntress, Valerie Grey by name. Her fierce way of dealing with the spectral species was famed throughout the nation, but not favored. Her only employer, Vlad Masters, didn't keep a tight rein on her—probably because he was still wallowing in depression of the loss of his best friends and their kids. Valerie fought for the same reason, her potential boyfriend had disappeared after the death of his family and no one had been able to find him. He had been declared legally dead a month after the Nasty Burger explosion that killed his friends, parents, sister, and their English teacher—who really wasn't missed at all.
Along with the explosion and deaths was the disappearance of the famed Phantom that had once protected Amity Park from powerful ghost attacks—at least that was how other people saw it. Valerie had a bone to pick with that coward—not because he had destroyed her reputation, it was far too easy to get the new one she had now, but because he had abandoned the city that needed his help the most. Valerie hated to admit it, but life was a lot better knowing Phantom was around to kick super ghost butt when she couldn't. Plus ghosts seemed to fear their own kind more then they feared humans. The less powerful ghosts feared her enough to flee on sight, but the more powerful ones saw it as a kind of game to play when she tried to put them back from where they came from. Phantom could strike fear into their ectoplasmic forms by just the mere mention of his name—that to Valerie meant he was still active but where she couldn't begin to guess.
Rumors had spread global-wide about Phantom. Some say that they saw him floating around the ruins of Rome, others claimed that he was standing on the great church of Notre Dame in Paris, still he was seen in various parts of Italy, Asia, and the UK. He was frequently seen in the southern states in America, but some stories were contradicting, others were viable, but had no proof. Valerie didn't have the time to see the claimed sightings because of the situation here, but she was sure if Phantom had really been there that he would have left a dead end trail, or a cold one. She tried to get information out of the ghosts she captured, but they didn't know anything about Phantom, other than he had a very bad temper and you didn't want to go seeking him out, no matter how desperate you were for his help—he didn't seem to offer his aid to anyone anymore.
Valerie wondered what had made the radical change in the ghost for him to just up and leave and then change his personality almost entirely. Sure she had been trying to kill him almost six years ago, but six years is a long time to re-analyze information you were too stubborn to see before. Phantom had really been trying to help the people that year. She realized this as she went over old newspaper clippings and downloads from an old website that was still in her computer. Once she had been disgusted by Phantom, but now she just wanted answers to this mystery, and for once she didn't have the drive to kill him anymore—it was all wasted on confusion and anger that he just disappeared without a word of warning.
She was also surprised when the Guys in White showed up at her doorstep and their proposition.
"You want to find that freak?!" she asked incredulous.
The agent, a general by his stars and talk, lowered his sunglasses to stare at her with brown eyes.
"He may be able to help us," he said slowly, as if trying to explain something without giving it away.
"Well, he's not all that helpful anymore, if you haven't noticed," Valerie sneered. "Plus I haven't the faintest clue as to where he is."
"Why not search his home? The Ghost Zone?"
Valerie hadn't thought about that.
"There's no way to get there," she countered her thoughtlessness. "Plus, even if there is a way, I don't know my way around there."
"We have a portal, we have a map," the general said smiling big time. "We provide the resources, you do the foot work."
Valerie tapped her fingers on the counter before turning back to the sink and filling the coffee pot with hot water.
"There's no guarantee that I can find him. Ghosts have an uncanny ability to not want to be found if they so desire, especially Phantom. That first year he showed up here, I tried to find him when he wasn't fighting a ghost, I really did, but he always slipped my scanners. It's like he just disappeared off of the face of the earth."
"And most likely, he did," the general smirked. "From the rumors, it's as if he has the ability of teleportation now. God knows how strong he's gotten over six years."
"Why do you need him anyway? You always hated Phantom, why call on him for help?"
"Because he faced this particular problem before, and was the only one to go at it alone and win. We thought it was contained, but we were wrong."
"And the government doesn't like to be wrong," Valerie sneered again. "What makes you think I could find him?"
"Because you hunted him the most, and were the only one that got close to him, even captured him at one point before he escaped. You know his habits, his attack patterns."
"Things can change in six years, haven't you already pointed that out? He's stronger, no doubt about it, plus the ghosts that I managed to get information out of didn't give me what I wanted. They all seemed scared of him, as if avoiding him was the best idea in the world. What if he's finally gone mad and we can't depend on him for anything, not that we could before."
"We have to take a chance, we have no other choice but to try and bring him in."
Valerie raised an eyebrow at this.
"It's really that bad?" she asked, a little more concerned of the situation.
"Worse than you can imagine," the general affirmed by his tight-necked nod.
Valerie pondered this for a moment, than shrugged. Hunting ghosts here wasn't getting her anywhere, and maybe her questions could be answered—finally—about why he just left.
"I'll use my employer's methods," she said, not trusting government facilities. "He can give me everything I need. I'll contact you when I find him."
The general laid a card down on the table and walked out without another word.
"I hope you're up to answering some questions Spook, because I really want to know why you stopped caring," Valerie said, taking her phone out and placing a call.
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"I've given you everything you need," Vlad Masters said, handing Valerie a newly equipped belt. "This scanner can lock onto Phantom's basic signature. I say basic because it may pick up other ghosts with similar patterns. His signature might have changed over the years, but it will have some trace of the old one. You have new weapons, you'll need them in that hell hole, and this," Vlad had a crumpled up letter in his old hands and he gave it to Valerie. "If you do manage to find him, give him that. I don't know what good it will do, but it will help me."
"With what Mr. Masters?" Valerie asked perplexed. "Why do you want to give that Spook a note?"
"Let's just say I want to make some amends for past sins," the old man was leaning heavily on his cane. "Now go, you can't waste time if the Guys in White are concerned about something."
Valerie nodded and took the elevator to the lab where the ghost portal was kept. She didn't know about it until that afternoon when she met up with her employer and explained her situation. Vlad at once agreed to equip her with everything she needed, at no cost. She didn't know what that glint was she saw in Masters' eyes when she told him about finding Phantom, but he didn't ask any questions and only acted. Maybe this problem was bigger then she thought.
Before she lost her nerve, she ran straight for the open portal and activated her jet sled. She couldn't tell if the big doors closed behind her as she felt the cold shock of crossing worlds, but she knew she had to put some kind of beacon up so that she could find her way back for an easy way out of this unnatural place. She opened a packet on her belt and brought out something that resembled an ant. She pressed down on it and the small light on the end lit up like the star on a Christmas tree. She left it hanging in the air by the portal and hoped that no ghost would come by and take it.
She turned back around and used her heal to coxed the sled into movement. It drifted lazily in the strange green aura of the place and she couldn't help but look over her shoulder, feeling like she was being followed. She checked the scanner for any signs of Phantom—and it started to blink rapidly.
"Will you be my friend?!"
Valerie turned around, shocked at the suddenly whiny voice behind her. It was a blue tinted ghost, wearing pink , and goofy looking teeth with freckles running from one side of his face to the other. Valerie vaguely remembered this ghost, it didn't come out of the Ghost Zone often, maybe only once, but she heard other ghosts talk about it. It was just annoying and not a big threat—but why did the scanner pick it up?
"Sorry, but I'm on a job right now," Valerie said, turning back around and leaving—or in the process of leaving.
She was hit in the back with something cold, spinning her out of control for a second. When her sled stopped doing a merry-go-round number, she reached behind her and grabbed what had hit her.
"Ice?" she asked of no one.
She looked up, the once whiny ghost no longer that whiny.
"Will you be my friend?!" it yelled, sucking up breath at the last of its sentence and blowing hard.
Snow flew at her and she veered upward to avoid the attack. Using her wrist, she activated the new net-cannon and aimed for the spector. The net landed on it and constricted like a snake so the ghost couldn't move.
"Now," Valerie said, hands on hips and a scowl behind her visor, "you are going to tell me what you know about Phantom's whereabouts."
The ghost stopped struggling in the net and stared at her incredulously—she had seen that look a hundred times when she said the same thing to every ghost she captured.
"You don't want to meet him, he's mean," the ghost said, voice still high-pitched and whiny.
"Actually, I need to find him—it's a life and death thing. So are you going to tell me, or not?"
Valerie grabbed the ghost by the shirt and dragged it forward so that it met her angry gaze.
"He doesn't like us," it whined. "He doesn't want to be my friend, but he leaves me alone."
"Why does he leave you alone?"
The ghost shrugged.
"You're starting to get on my nerves," Valerie hissed, bringing out a gun and pointing it in the ghost's face.
"WAIT!" it screamed. "He likes cold places, like me. He wonders the abandoned parts of the Ghost Zone. No one goes there anymore because of him."
"Where are the abandoned parts?"
"Don't know, I've never been there. They are just rumors after all!"
The ghost wasn't going to talk any more. She let it go roughly and sped away, leaving it trapped in the net. It would get out eventually.
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After roaming the Ghost Zone for hours, Valerie's body was complaining of standing up for so long and her back was starting to cramp.
"I really need to land," she said, searching below her for a good spot.
She guided her sled over to a forest-looking piece of land that was floating in the air, just like everything else in here. Landing among a thick cover of trees, Valerie removed her visor and let her hair breath. It wasn't long like it had been in high-school, but it was cut short, just shoulder length though, any shorter and she would look like a guy.
The humidity here was almost exactly like a rainforest would be on earth and she found herself sweating in the heat. She pulled out her canteen to drink from it, but as she brought it to her lips, it disappeared.
"What the . . .?!"
She turned her head to look at her left and saw her canteen—nailed dead center to a tree with a barbed arrow. She swerved on her feet to look to her right, hearing animal sounds—sounds that belonged to a big animal—and the crashing of underbrush. She could also hear a sound similar to her jet-sled and the rapid firing of a gun.
She jumped back onto her sled when she saw the trees bend to the sides as the animal sounds grew louder, as did the gun sounds. She got out of the way barely in time for a large black wolf-dog thing to hobble past her rest sight, not even glancing in her direction. Following it was a metallic suit that was flaming green at the top, and the emission from its own jet engines of some kind filled the area, making Valerie cough and wave the smog away from her vision so she could see what was going on.
"What was that?" she asked herself between coughs.
She gave up trying to wait for the smog to clear and stepped on a button, giving the sled the command to hover upwards. Once out of the smoke, Valerie could trace the fight by the line the animal was making in the cramped forest. The path was clear like the parting of a hairline on someone's scalp, and the smog from the engines on the hunter was also like a signal fire among the trees.
This seemed vaguely familiar to Valerie, but when?
"That stupid flour sack assignment!" she growled. "I hated that one."
The anger fueled her motivation and she dived towards the smog. She got her new net-cannon ready and balanced herself for a fight. Aiming carefully as she came steadily down on her target, Valerie fired the net and heard a surprised scream from below.
"Got ya!" she said and went to check out what exactly it was that she caught.
The green net had trapped the familiar hunting ghost known as Skulker. He was the same as she remembered, and old looking. His suit looked battered and it was creaking as he moved, like an old car that belonged in the dump. His green eyes fixed on her as she jumped off of her sled and came over to him. The net had him held tightly, but she brought a gun out just in case.
"Remember me?" she asked aiming the gun at him.
"Oh yes," Skulker said, almost as if he wished he could forget. "What are you doing here?"
"Hunting my own quarry, preferably the one you never caught."
Skulker chuckled darkly at this.
"You're hunting that ghost-brat? Somehow I don't think his pelt is appealing to you."
"No, but his services are."
Skulker laughed as if she was a moron.
"He doesn't go around helping people anymore," Skulker said, his jaw squeaking as he spoke. "Who else could do this to me?"
His bound fingers twitched to indicate his battered-up state.
Valerie looked him over and winced. Significant damage was done that, if he were flesh and blood, his whole body would be in traction right now.
"Why not fix yourself?" Valerie asked.
"He destroyed my tools," Skulker said as if it was obvious. "When someone gets on his nerves, he destroys everything. You should have seen Ember; everything just blew up before her eyes. The only thing she didn't lose was her voice, which many of us wish she did lose."
Valerie rolled her eyes. She didn't care a whit about what these masses wanted and she didn't want to hear about it.
"Do you know where I can find him?" she asked.
"Sorry, but if I knew, that punk would have been on my wall a long time ago," Skulker growled. "You owe me a pelt."
"I don't owe you anything ghost," Valerie said, turning back to her jet-sled.
"Did I mention that the prey I was chasing before you interrupted is an associate of Phantom's?"
That caught her attention again. She spun back around and waited for more information, but Skulker grinned as if he wasn't going to give more.
"Have it your way," Valerie mumbled and left.
Skulker was shouting things at her, but she ignored him as she went after the wolf-dog thing that Skulker had been chasing a moment before.
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It was obviously a smart beast because it backtracked and left false trails all over the place. It took a ridiculously long time to find it and when she did, she wished that she had been prepared.
She had abandoned her jet-sled since it was no good tracking something from the air, and began to trek on foot for the beast. She had followed what she hoped was the right trail to a clearing, where a cave was set up and the tracks led inside. She followed them like a fool and got pinned from behind. The creature was breathing in her ear, keeping her down on the ground with its huge paws and long green claws.
"Hey! I won't hurt you," she tried to say, but the beast growled as if it was unlikely that he believed that. "I'm looking for someone, I'm looking for Phantom."
The creature stopped sounding so menacing and began to sniff the back of her head and worked its way down to her boots. When it finished, it let her sit up, but not get anywhere close to her weapons or itself.
"Phantom," she repeated when it was silent for a while. "Do you know where Phantom is?"
The dog cocked its head and Valerie could see that it was wearing a torn up sweatshirt, the ones where you pulled them over your head. It didn't seem very bright either. This wasn't working—it kept staring at her as if waiting for more information, but she didn't have any more to give.
"This is ridiculous!" she yelled. "How am I supposed to find that ghost-boy with this idiot for a guide?"
The dog's ears perked up at her ranting and it reached inside its shirt to pull out something old and torn. It grunted as it pointed to something at the object it produced. Valerie looked closer and had to gasp. It was an old photo of Danny Fenton and his friends, Sam Manson and Tucker Foley—his friends had died in the explosion and he mysteriously disappeared without an explanation. How did this beast get a photo of him and his friends?
"Where did you get that?!" she yelled, jumping up and taking the picture from its paw.
The wolf got up on its hind feet and grabbed the picture back. Valerie wasn't about to try and fight for it since it towered over her.
"Gift," it said in a husky voice, as if it didn't speak much English.
"Okay, so one of them gave you that picture?" Valerie didn't believe a word of that.
It nodded and pointed to Danny, "Friend."
"What!? His parents were ghost hunters. He was taught not to make friends with ghosts."
The wolf didn't react to the question. It only blinked and seemed to look annoyed.
"Follow," it said, using its paw to motion outside.
'Am I fool enough to trust this thing?' Valerie asked herself.
Well, she was desperate for answers, and this beast seemed to be the only one willing to help her right now. Valerie let out a growl of her own and followed. The ghost-wolf led her back to her sled and she grabbed it. The dog then began to run, fast.
"Hey! Wait up!!" she yelled at it.
She hopped on her sled and followed, just barely dodging the branches that were in her path. The wolf lead her to the ledge of the floating forest and, without stopping, jumped to the next one like a horse leaping over a simple log. It landed on the next patch over and stopped to make sure she was following. Valerie blinked after the amazing feat had registered in her brain, then she followed after it easily floating in the air like the land masses.
She didn't know how long it had been since they had left Skulker's lair, but she did know that they were far from the portal she had come from. As they traveled deeper into the Ghost Zone, it seemed to become brighter and the ghosts around here seemed much more light-hearted. They didn't come up and attack either Valerie or the wolf like the other ghosts would. Something about this area of the ghosts' world seemed more peaceful and content, less savage and hostile.
The wolf landed hard on a land mass that held an old castle that looked like it belonged in the medieval ages. Gargoyles were rising up out of the building's depths as if rising from a murky bog, and Valerie thought she saw a few blink as she came in for a landing. The drawbridge came down for them with a foreboding thud. Valerie stared at the dark tunnel before them and began to rethink about this course of action, but before she could, the wolf took the bridge and started to walk along its creaky planks.
"Are you serious?" Valerie asked, incredulous.
The wolf ignored her and kept walking on. Valerie groaned, taking a gun out just in case it was an ambush, and followed reluctantly after the wolf. The tunnel opened up into a large chamber with a table laid out like a carpet in the long hall. Chandeliers were hanging from the high ceiling, at least a hundred chairs surrounded the table, and the stone walls displayed tapestries and paintings of long-ago heroes.
"Welcome huntress," said a voice from above.
A ghost descended from the ceiling, her dress long and her blond hair braided and curled around her head. Her odd amulet hung from her neck and the red piece seemed to be staring at Valerie, as if it was an eye of some sort. The ghost landed a distance from Valerie, no doubt cautious because of the weapon in her hands.
"Who are you?" Valerie asked.
"I'm Lady Dora," the ghost bowed slightly, "I run this castle. Wulf brought you here, he says you seek information."
"That wolf thing that I followed here?"
"Yes, he told us what you did for him and we are grateful for it. It has been a good time here with Wulf to help us keep peace in this part of the Ghost Zone. When he disappeared, we began to worry. Now, what is it that you seek huntress?"
"I need to know where Phantom is."
Dora's face froze for a second, as if someone had unexpectedly put ice down her back. Then her face darkened slightly, but it seemed more in concern and debate with herself then anger at the huntress or Phantom.
"He is reclusive," she said after a moment.
"That much I know," Valerie said dryly.
"By that I mean he doesn't want to be found."
"I know that too, but I haven't been known to be sensitive towards a ghost's needs."
Dora nodded curtly and started to walk around the tableside opposite of Valerie, as if keeping a barrier between hunter and prey, her long fingers brushing the tabletop and stirring up dust.
"Six years ago," Dora began, looking at the walls as she spoke, "Phantom came here, but I do believe it wasn't voluntary. He was beaten, bruised, and lost. We took him in, but we didn't have the knowledge to fully heal him, but we couldn't move him either. He had to heal at least a little before we could take him elsewhere for better treatment. He spent the better side of a month in a coma, and when he woke up . . . let's just say he was greatly disturbed.
"We later learned that he was in a great battle, and he lost what he loved most because of it. He had no desire to go back to the human side of this existence. He didn't have the heart to face what had happened. He's been here ever since. That is all I know."
"At least it's something," Valerie said, almost dancing with joy at finally getting some answers, but they still didn't make any sense. "All the ghosts I beat the information out of, and they still didn't give me anything useful other than that he wants to be left alone."
"Smart ghosts," Dora said shaking her head and stopping at the foot of the long table. "I can't tell you where he is, but I do know where I took him for the better half of his treatment."
"Okay, but I picked up a ghost here that said he's been seen in the abandoned parts of the Ghost Zone. Is that true?"
"I have no doubts," Dora said walking up to Valerie now. "Phantom's a scavenger of sorts, lives like a lone wolf with no desire for any company, but I don't think he lives alone."
"How do you know?"
"It would be difficult for him to live alone, let's leave it at that."
"Can you tell me more about why he left the human plain?"
"I'm afraid that is not my business. If you want to know, ask Phantom yourself."
Valerie sighed heavily and brushed her hair out of her face, she then realized that she had left her helmet at Skulker's lair.
"I can take you to Frostbite's realm, that is where we took Phantom," Dora said stopping in front of Valerie then. "You can ask Frostbite what happened after that. He would know better than anyone. He and Phantom were good friends, even before his losses."
Valerie nodded and looked to the ghost for instructions. Dora gave her very clear directions to Frostbite's realm. It was a big land of ice and snow, like the North Pole of the Ghost Zone. Dora said that Frostbite's people were peaceful, but she had better be careful because they didn't respond lightly to threats from humans. Valerie's best bet would be to keep her weapons down and keep her hands up. She had to say Phantom's name to Frostbite's face before anything else happened and to say that Dora had sent her.
It didn't go exactly as planned.
She was thrown into their dungeons before Frostbite could see her. She was sitting in the corner, shivering from the cold when the large wolf came into the hall and stared at her through the bars.
"You Frostbite?" Valerie asked angrily.
"Yes, and you are?" the wolf asked, his voice loud and ringing in her ears.
"Valerie Grey, I need to find Phantom, Dora sent me here. She said that you could give me more information."
Frostbite's look turned from stone angry, to interested and shocked.
"Open the doors. She is a friend. I can smell Phantom's scent on her as easily as I can smell my own."
The guards acted quickly and almost pulled her out of the cell. One wrapped a blanket around her to stop the shivering and she didn't force it away. She tucked it closer and looked up at Frostbite with an angry glare.
"Sorry," he said, smiling slightly, "we can't take chances. The Ghost Zone has become a dangerous place lately and we never know what the humans might do to rat us out and kill us all."
"I understand," Valerie nodded. "It's the same back on earth. Can we get to talking? I'd like to get my job done so I can get home."
"First off, why must you locate Phantom? No human has tried to find him for years."
"Someone tried before?"
"Once, but it was years ago. Phantom nearly pulled his visitor's limbs from their sockets in his rage. It really wasn't his fault. The man was a heartless ape and Phantom was delirious with pain of both body and mind."
"Is he so hostile now?" Valerie had to gulp.
"Only to those he deems as enemies. Friends he helps out, like us. He helped organize this part of the Ghost Zone from his sick bed. Put Wulf with Dora, and persuaded some other ghosts to see the brighter side of his argument. Troublemakers he kicked out himself."
"So he isn't mad or insane?"
"I believe that his mind is troubled, but he is perfectly sane so far as I know. I haven't seen him in months."
"Months?! That's great! Does he come here often?"
"Only when he needs something," Frostbite walked out of the dungeon, Valerie following with lifted spirits.
"Okay, so what happened after Dora dropped him off here for treatment? What were his injuries?"
Frostbite's face clouded over in a dark memory as it resurfaced.
"Come, I'll show you."
The large wolf led her to the hospital area of the realm and dug through some files before he pulled out some old papers. He laid it out before Valerie so she could read. Her hands had stopped shaking by then so she picked up the file and read it.
"Oh man . . ." she couldn't finish. "It was that bad?"
"Worse actually," Frostbite nodded. "He was in extreme pain when he came here. Dora and her people did what they could, but they just didn't have the technology to help him properly. He almost died on us twice. He had lost the will to live and we kept bringing him back. He didn't care what happened to him, I still think he doesn't care what he makes of himself anymore. He's not afraid to die, that's for sure."
"What made him want to 'clean up town'?" Valerie asked.
"A visit from a very famous but reclusive character around here," Frostbite seemed to frown at this, "Clockwork, the master of time. He's not a ghost to just be friends with. Phantom seemed to look up to him, like a mentor, even a parent. Clockwork brought comfort to Phantom during those long months here. Clockwork seemed eager to help him, even saddened at his state. He sort of took Phantom in, trained him well and taught him everything he needed to know to live here for his kind, to survive is a better expression. Phantom still wasn't quite right, but then again, when you lose your motivation to live, you are never the same."
All of a sudden, Phantom's reason for leaving didn't seem so cowardly.
"So, this Clockwork might know where he is?"
"He might," Frostbite said nodding, "but I warn you, he may not open his doors just for you, unless you are expected."
"I'll take my chances."
Frostbite gave her directions and sent her on her way. He warned her about the other ghosts lurking in the shadows here, even though this was the most peaceful part of the realm, they still had some shady characters.
As she zoomed through the green hue of this strange world, Valerie thought about the new information about Phantom. These ghosts made him out to be more human then ghosts. They kept saying odd things: 'He had lost the will to live' was one that she was confused about. Weren't ghosts already dead? Plus something that Frostbite said, about how Clockwork taught Phantom to survive here for his kind, which made her think Phantom wasn't a regular ghost. Could he be different somehow?
Before she could think on it, the giant clock tower came into view. Valerie slowed a little, trying to find the door among the cogs and gears that surrounded the time master's haunt. As she came closer, a small door opened at the top of the tower, just above the large clock that was fixed into the center like Big Ben. She took it. Frostbite described this ghost to be a loner as well, much like Phantom had become, and he didn't let people into his home without reason.
She flew in and stopped in a large chamber where a big mirror like thing was hanging among other clocks. Their ticking was constant, not one moment of silence. It sort of looked like Clockwork's work shop. It reminded her of her dad's office, so stacked with papers and his telephone line tangled up by the plug in the wall. It certainly felt like a work place. Many clocks kept flashing back and forth from different time periods, others spun backwards, still others were still, or slow.
"Hello?" Valerie called out, a bit nervous. "Is anyone here?"
"I am here."
The ghost came out of nowhere, making Valerie jump and stare as he changed from an old man into a toddler. He had on a purple robe, the hood drawn up, making his red eyes and the scar on his face look frightening and intimating. He carried a staff that seemed to operate the clocks around him as he changed something at the top. The mirror thing changed from dormant to active and showed the scene of Washington crossing the Delaware.
"You are the master of time," Valerie said, taking her vision from the historical sight and fixing it on Clockwork. "Mind if I ask questions?"
"You can ask, but I may not give anything to you," Clockwork said shrugging his broad shoulders as he changed from toddler to young adult. "I know that you are seeking out Phantom, and I know why as well."
"Then you mind telling me?" Valerie asked. "I would really like to know."
"Phantom knows it as well," Clockwork said. "You must ask him when you find him."
"So I will find him?"
"Or he'll find you."
Valerie's eyebrow shot up at this. Why was the ghost being so cryptic? Then again, all ghosts liked to play their little games.
"Do you know where he is now?" she asked to get back on track.
"Yes, I know where everyone is," Clockwork said this as if it was obvious.
"Fine, be that way!" she grumbled, deciding to take a different course. "I was told by Frostbite that you took Phantom in after he healed?"
"Physically," Clockwork said as if she had left it out, "he still has a long way to go mentally."
"What exactly happened to him?"
"It's not my place to tell, but I can tell you what happened when I took him in. Phantom was still very young, only fourteen and with no one in the world to go to, he turned to me. I could hardly say no to him, I had been watching him for a very long time. He is a pivotal element in time; one that can change history with just one decision."
"People like that exist? Is he that powerful?"
"Every person can change history, but not so fundamentally like Phantom can. His state of body and mind was difficult to overcome for him. Things weren't easy any more, something simple as raising a finger was very painful for him. As time went he grew in strength, and knowledge. He loved to read, listen to music to calm his nerves. I could always find him sleeping in the library when it got late and I knew he wasn't in bed.
"I must admit, I didn't expect to feel like a parent to him, but that's how our relationship grew. His parents had died in a horrible accident and he looked up to me for support. I consider myself his ghostly parent, his teacher and mentor. He is the same for me. I have learned many things from him. Anyway, about a year ago, he decided to leave here. He was getting restless and I knew it was time for him to move on. He still comes by every now and then."
"So where did he go?"
"Everywhere," the ghost said, spreading his hands out to emphasize his point, "he found an old friend, whom he lives with and she helps him live. They are very close, almost brother and sister you might say. Phantom is a very accomplished chemist. He goes around, collecting rare plants and the like for his work."
"Chemist? What exactly does he do with his chemicals?"
"Many of his potions have cured cancer patients. Those miracles you hear on the news? It's Phantom leaving the cures behind and had already administered them in the most severe cases. Doctors don't know who to thank, but Phantom wishes not to be seen."
Phantom? A doctor?
"Where does he live?"
"On earth, with his sister of sorts."
"What!? I'm busting my butt here for nothing!?"
"You did get the information you wanted?"
Valerie couldn't argue with that.
"He's taken residence up in Italy as of late," Clockwork continued. "I can put you close by his house, but be prepared to confront the worse."
"How can he be? He won't hurt me, right?"
"I'm not talking about him attacking you. His physical appearance has changed and you may find it disturbing."
Valerie straightened her back and waited for Clockwork to open a portal. The time ghost sighed heavily and turned the mirror into a portal.
"It's an isolated cottage in some woods," he said before she stepped in. "I'll place you about five miles from it, when you get there, go north. You're sure to find something."