Another long A/N at the bottom.

WHOA. Thanks for those reviews Hordak's Pupil, Dreaming-Of-A-Nightmare, princess moon shadow, Miriam1, Esme Phantom, Invader Johnny, Bloxham, MutantLover09, Plushiemon, Cantdecideonaname, lily moonlight, FernClaw, Nylah, bloodmoon13, Jag Lady, Grumbles


2. Mysteries of the World

"Operative O? Are we still on schedule?"

The 2007 Guys In White were the exact polar opposite of their 1940 counterparts. Frankly, they could have given less than a damn about what happened to the ghost realm at the moment. All they wanted was to accomplish their goal- to study and destroy all evil ghosts that inhabited the lands. All that mattered, in their eyes, was the fact that ghosts were against humans and needed to disappear off the face of both worlds forever. Then they would take their remains and study them under a microscope or something, dissecting every piece of data they could from a single drop of ectoplasm they obtained through... rather unorthodox methods.

But today was not about dissecting ghosts. Yes, it was about dissecting data- but not from a single blob of green goo. No, today was about obtaining information... from books?

Operative O looked up from the encyclopedia and grimaced, putting down the pencil and rubbing his right hand. "I don't appreciate having to do the grunge work by myself when you're staring over everyone's shoulder," he snarled to his teammate. "Why don't you sit down for a couple of hours and go through all these books while I stroll through the place like a death god?"

Operative K gave a snort and kept his hands behind his back in a military position. "As your superior equal, I see no reason for me to get my hands dirty in those ancient books. They've been around for as long as this organization has existed, and I don't want to destroy the archives we have kept for so long." He frowned, glancing over his shoulder. "You've been writing the same word over and over again. You're not getting anywhere."

"No thanks to you," O muttered in disgust before picking up the pencil again and erasing the words furiously.

K looked down at the book and squinted, taking off his sunglasses and blinking in the light of the room. Wearing sunglasses all the time did both good things and not so good things. Taking them off in a brightly lit area was one of the bad things. He scratched his head and gave his friend a strange look. "These pages are yellow and the ink is fading! How do you read them?"

O shrugged, popping open the Tylenol next to the papers on the table. "Painkillers," he replied simply before putting two in his mouth. "They do wonders when you're working long hours on one subject." He shooed away the other man with a pencil and cracked his fingers, bending over the book again and watching the other scientists fervently take down notes. "I need a raise for this," he grumbled.

Before K could offer a smart retort, there was a loud beeping heard throughout the facility, and both operatives gave each other a quick glance before suddenly jumping up and bolting to the security center. K stared at the screen in shock and gave Operative M a glare. "What's going on?"

"Our sensors have picked up on a life form somewhere in the ghost zone that could help us in our quest to find the lost City of Phantoms!" he replied excitedly. "It appears..." He typed in something on the computer. "...that right here, there's a hidden ghostly object that may actually help us in finding the door to the city. Want me to send out a patrol and go check it out?"

K crossed his arms, his eyes narrowed to slits. How come they had suddenly found a clue to the whole mystery of the Phantom City with a ghost probe- and not by staring at textbooks for long hours? It didn't make sense. He typed something into the computer for a moment before staring at the data that flashed on the screen.

"Probe launched in 1940. Estimated time of gathering data: 67 years, 94 days, 18 hours, 6 minutes, 32 seconds."

O's jaw dropped. "Is that even possible?"

More importantly, was the data that the probe gathered still viable information about the ghost zone itself?


Danny dropped his bag on the floor and stared at all the book on the table in front of him. There had to be at least ten books on the table, all containing various pieces of information relating to historical subjects they had reviewed over the year. He swallowed and picked up the first book, staring at the front cover and getting a sick feeling in his stomach. "The Days of the Phantom City?" he questioned skeptically, putting it down and picking up another book. "In the Time of Phantoms? Guys, what is this stuff?"

Sam sighed and sat down in the chair, fingering through her folder and pulling out a sheet of paper. She placed it in front of the teen and gave him a curious look. "This is what Ross will be lecturing about tomorrow. I know it seems weird and everything- believe me, I've heard a good amount of muttering from everyone else in the class about this. No one actually knows how this fits into the curriculum and..." The Goth laughed. "I overheard Ross asking Principal Ishiyama a couple of weeks ago about the whole idea and wondered about how it took place in history. And she simply stated that if he asked another question of that nature, he'd get fired."

Tucker frowned and glanced up from his laptop, which was taking a mild beating from the furious pounding on the keyboard. "Fired? Why would she want to fire the newest teacher at Casper that's arrived in some-odd fifty years?"

"Your guess is as good as mine," she replied, flipping open a book and reading the inside of the cover to herself.

Danny got out his notebook and gave his friends a fierce glare. "So why do I get to do the report on legendary cities involving ghosts, and you two get to do... normal subjects?"

The technology fanatic shrugged. "Because your parents are obsessed with ghosts and you're the ghost teen of Amity Park?"

The hybrid merely snorted at this observation and looked down at the book in frustration. How was it that ghosts not only interfered with his personal life, but with his public and school life as well?


He made it. Sure, he had gotten nearly murdered on the spot again, but he had made it. Then again... when hadn't he been shot at, mauled, thrown into a pit of snakes... he had done everything.

And yet sometimes, it felt as if he had done almost nothing.

Indiana sighed and sat on the floor in the cargo hole of the plane, leaning back against the cold metal and staring into the darkness, wincing. He was getting slightly old for this, and that much had been proven since his quest to try and grab the Holy Grail. He had been sore for nearly three weeks after that trip, but he hadn't uttered a complaint to anyone. It would have made him seem like some sort of softy looking for a pity party. And that was the last thing the archaeologist wanted.

He took off the jewels and examined in them as best as he could with the small sliver of light now shining in. They were beautiful, made of rubies and diamonds and other various jewels that could have been available at the time. The older man smiled to himself and wrapped them up in a cloth, stowing them inside his bag and listening to the roaring wind outside the plane. 'I've got to go back tomorrow and teach about the City of Phantoms,' he thought, a bitter feeling crawling up his spine. 'Every year I teach it, it gets the same mixed reaction... is it real or not?'

Personally, the professor didn't believe in ghosts or all the hocus pocus stuff his students entered his room with. And he made that clear on the first day of class he had with them. "This class is about fact, not fiction. If you're looking for fairy tales, please see Professor Barker's room for Fantasy Literature." That would always get a laugh out of the students.

Heck, even Jones chuckled at the comment once in a while.

But as he sat there in the cargo hole on a plane bound for the United States, he couldn't help but wonder about what the future held for him in his next adventure. He tilted the hat over his eyes and slowly tuned out to the world, knowing that someone would awake him when he got to the US. 'Time for a long nap,' he thought groggily before falling asleep against the wall.


Eh-heh... -laughs nervously- I'm going to get killed for this, but ah well. Indy and Danny aren't going to meet for a few chapters. We've got quite a bit of ground to cover before we get Danny into Indiana's time, so... give me a bit of time here. Don't worry- all plot twists and fun stuff will play out in the end. I promise. Like I said- LONG. I'm already up to thirteen chapters in the planning stages, and... you know. It's not done yet.

Thanks for reading this. Reviews shall be answered! -leaves out platter of frosted cookies-