Danny sighed as he looked through what felt like the hundred-thousandth record. Between Sam's connections and Tucker's computer skills, finding death certificate records of people and censuses past wasn't that difficult. It didn't take them too long into going through the files that they realized they didn't exactly know what they were looking for... and that made things infinitely more difficult, especially seeing as most of the certificates didn't have pictures, descriptions or many other defining factors besides the name and some few details of death.
They'd narrowed their searches of who the Box Ghost could be to a hand full of people who used to work at or died around the docks, but there was really no way to be sure. While Danny and Jazz went through the actual records, Tucker and Sam were working on tracking down the families of the people on each certificate, hoping for some sort of way to get visual confirmation and recognition. It... wasn't going well.
On top of that, going through death certificates was... depressing. Dock workers didn't seem to have the happiest of lives in Amity Park... or maybe it was just because they were going through death records and thus got the very minimal details of some rather sad (and often somewhat horrifying) stories. Despite his age and being half-dead himself, Danny still found it hard to read case after case after case of how these people died. Some of them didn't have family currently alive and so had been forgotten by time. Some of them had just gone missing. Every now and then, he'd come across someone who seemed to have lived a decent life with a family at home that they provided for, but that was definitely not the majority.
Comparatively few of the records hit the age range (18-30), weight and height (which hadn't always been recorded on every certificate) they were going for (5' 3" – 5' 7" and between 170 – 230 lb). Most of those they did come across were even younger and smaller. At this point, he wasn't entirely sure if finding the right record was even possible. Maybe if he could talk to the blue specter again, get a name at least? He actually hadn't seen Box Ghost for a while... maybe he'd go and search him out in the Ghost Zone?
Yeah. That was likely going to give him more returns (and far less depression) than... this.
"Hey, Jazz," Danny said with a sigh, "take a break for the night. Text Sam and Tucker and get them to as well. I'm going to look for Box Ghost and see if I can get some more information from him."
"Yeah," his sister agreed, not looking up from what she'd been reading. Was she that tired? Maybe this was a better idea than he'd thought. And he'd been meaning to head into the Ghost Zone for a while. He had some unfinished business there.
"I think I'm also going to run a few other errands while I'm there."
That got her to look up from her desk worriedly. "Are you sure you'll be okay in there by yourself?"
Danny nodded. "Yeah. I mean, the only real enemy I have at this point is Skulker. At least to my knowledge. I'm just going to stop by Walker's prison. If something goes wrong there, I know I can get away from him if I really need to. He doesn't know about the whole 'humans are ghosts in the Ghost Zone' at this point. I may also stop by Clockwork's and say hi."
She bit her lip. "Are you sure? Mom and Dad haven't finished making the radios that filter out ghost noise yet, and you said phones don't work there."
"No, they don't," Danny sighed. "Mom and Dad do have two-way radios we can use, though."
"Only within a certain area..."
"Jazz, I'll be fine. If you don't hear from me in an hour, call Sam and Tuck and you guys can come after me, okay? But I'm part ghost. I know my way around the Ghost Zone."
She still didn't look convinced. "I thought you said the Ghost Zone tended to move and was difficult to map."
He shrugged. "Some areas. Some areas stay the same for centuries." Like Pariah's Keep and the space surrounding it. Of course, that still moved, but more like some kind of invisible whirlpool or orbit more than anything else.
"I'm not comfortable with this, Danny."
It was really bothering her... but he did have to go deliver his list of rules to Walker and the Box Ghost would come back himself if Danny didn't go and look for him to give him updates. He may come back anyway, knowing the Box Ghost.
"Jazz, I'll be fine. I'll even take some ecto-weaponry if it makes you feel better."
She didn't look happy, but she also didn't protest again. Danny decided to take that as a win.
"Don't worry too much, Jazz. I used to do this all the time in the future."
"Yeah, in the future," she muttered.
Danny rolled his eyes fondly. "Thank you for caring, Jazz."
Before she could say anything else, he turned and stalked into his room, grabbed the list of rules for Walker, and then phased down and into the living room. He went to land in the kitchen, but ended up phased right through the floor again. He hadn't meant to do that. So he decided to just go all the way down to the basement and managed to stay floating and invisible.
His parents were gone again... and he couldn't remember if they seemed to be gone more this time around or not. Well, either way, he wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth. Opening the portal, he stood before it, took a deep breath, and dived in.
xXx
He knew about where the Box Ghost's lair was, and thought that would be the best place to look first. If he had issues with Walker, he wanted to get right back to the human world.
Smiling, he took in a deep breath of the ecto-rich environment, even though he didn't really have to breathe. Well, he kind of did, but not as much as if he were in his human body. He just took a moment to revel in how being here in the Ghost Zone felt so... welcoming. Like he was coming home. Well, kind of. It was difficult to explain, but he'd gotten to where he rather liked being in here.
It didn't take him very long to find the Box Ghost's door. It looked like any other door, but he could just somehow tell this was the door he'd been looking for. It was closer than it would be in the future. Huh.
Shrugging, he knocked on said door and waited for a couple of minutes. He was about to knock again when the door swung open to reveal the Box Ghost. The blue specter blinked at him for several seconds in surprise.
"You actually came."
Normal voice! They were definitely making progress!
"Well, yeah," Danny said with a chuckle. "I thought you'd want an update."
The Box Ghost raised one eyebrow and stepped aside, allowing Danny to float into the lair. He'd been here a couple of times before, but always found it interesting. It was very... minimal. Nothing but the floating remnants of whatever got lost in the human world. Danny wondered where all of those things went before the Box Ghost had been around.
"What have you found?" the Box Ghost wailed.
Danny sighed. "Sadly, not much. Finding the records isn't all that difficult. Finding people that match your description... that's more difficult because not all records have it. So, I came to ask if you could remember anything about your life? A name? A face? A place? Anything specific?"
"I told you it would be difficult!" the Box Ghost replied in the same, ridiculous voice.
"Yeah, you did. But that's why I need something else to go on. We can keep looking through the records, but we have to know what we're looking for."
The ghost crossed his arms and studied Danny for several seconds before he finally spoke again. "Beasley."
Danny blinked.
The Box Ghost rolled his eyes (actually rolled them... and here Danny hadn't thought the ghost got sarcasm... maybe he had a higher GEV rating than he'd given BG credit for).
"That was my naaame!" he said in his usual voice. Then he went back to a normal tone. "At least, I think it was."
Danny grinned. "That's great! Was that your first name or your last name?"
"It was my last naaame!"
"Awesome! Do you remember how to spell it?"
Another pause and scrutinizing look. "B-e-a-s-l-e-y."
"Great," Danny said, committing it to memory. "That will make this much easier. Did you have a first name?"
"I do not remembeeeer!"
Too bad. "That's fine," he said placatingly. "It just would have been easier. That's all. Is there anything else you can tell me? Anything you're comfortable with?"
"... I... was crushed... by a crate. That's how I died."
Ah, so not only is he looking for a box, but he was also killed by a box. His obsession was starting to make a lot more sense.
"I'm sorry," Danny said softly. "But that will help too. This will make it a lot easier, and I'm sorry I didn't ask for more before." He was usually better than that.
"Are you dead?" the Box Ghost asked.
Danny blinked at the non-sequitur. Then he sighed. "No, not technically. But I did die. I was just kind of revived after I became a ghost. I was electrocuted simultaneously with electricity and ecto-energy." It was a little more complicated than that, but the explanation should give the Box Ghost an idea at least.
It did. He cringed.
They floated there in an awkward silence for several seconds. Then Danny smiled.
"Anyway, I have one more place I have to go. So, I'll keep you updated."
He went to leave when he heard something behind him. Pausing, he turned around.
"What?"
"I said, 'thank you'," the Box Ghost repeated, a little louder. "I... am in your debt."
Danny smiled. "You're welcome." Then he contemplated saying what he thought next, eventually deciding that yes, it would be worth it. "You know, it's a lot easier to take you more seriously when you talk normally. Just saying."
The Box Ghost didn't answer or even turn around.
Danny figured that was his cue to leave.
"Anyway, I'll see you soon. Latter, BG."
With that, he left, shutting the door behind him. Just outside the lair, he paused and looked back at the door. That was definitely not how the Box Ghost usually acted... he hoped he hadn't actually hurt the ghost by treating him like, well, a normal ghost.
Shaking the thought from his head (there wasn't much he could do about it now), he flew off towards Walker's prison.
xXx
No matter what angle he came from, Walker's prison still looked intimidating. Not that he'd let it show, but it was rather impressive. As he approached the structure, he made sure to keep his hands in the air where everyone could see them and floated slowly forward.
"Halt!" one of the guards (Danny could never tell them apart, even now, and wondered if the helmets were specially made to make them all look the same) said, moving so he floated between Danny and the Prison. "State your business!"
"I'm a new ghost and I live on the other side of the permanent portal," he said by way of explanation. "I heard that the warden of this prison likes rules, so I thought I'd bring mine by so he could know what was going on with my haunt. That's all."
The ghosts looked back at his guard companion for a moment before the one further back said: "Wait here."
"Thank you!" Danny said after him. Then he waited in silence with the first guard.
"So," he said after a few moments, "how long have you worked here?"
The guard frowned and didn't answer.
"That long, huh?"
Still no answer. Sheesh. Stiff.
Yeah, Danny realized he probably needed to work on his morbid sense of humor.
And now would probably be the best time to shut up. So he shrugged and waited in silence.
Several minutes later, the guard came back with Walker trailing right behind him.
"What's going on, here?" he asked angrily. To be fair, Walker was always angry.
"Sorry to bother you," Danny said, "but I hear you're a stickler for rules, and I want to play nice with my neighbors. I'm from the haunt on the other side of the permanent portal and I'm claiming it as mine, so the area immediately on this side as well, according to the Ghost Zone council treaty section 27, subsection gamma. And here are the rules I've come up with."
He handed the folded piece of paper over to Walker, who hesitantly took it with a frown. He opened it and began to read through it.
"My rules are subject to change at any time, but I'll hold anyone accountable to the most recent update they know of. Anyone who comes through has to sign with me, or they'll be in violation of the laws," although it would more or less amount to an hour in the thermos and then they'd have to sign it to get out anyway, "and other than that, I think it's pretty straight forward."
Walker raised an eyebrow and looked up at Danny. "So, even if you update your rules, you won't hold ghosts accountable for it if they haven't seen it? Why not?"
Danny shrugged. "Then I could change my rules on a whim and people wouldn't be able to trust anything I say. That creates more chaos than it does order, and tends to drive people into a corner where they're happy to revolt against the rules – or at least the one in charge of enforcing them. I'd like to avoid that.
"Oh, and sorry for bringing that to you on human-world paper. It was all I had available at the time. I figured since I was turning it over to you, it shouldn't be a problem."
"Hmm," Walker said, his skeleton-like face unreadable as he looked down at the paper again.
"Oh, and before I go," Danny said, "what are your policies on visiting the inmates?" He had an option here: he could mention either Wulf or the Box Ghost's box... and honestly, he felt he had a better chance with the former right now. He doubted Walker would be patient enough to answer both questions.
The warden's eyes narrowed as his gaze shot to the half-ghost yet again. "You know someone in here?"
Danny shook his head. "No, but I've heard of someone I'd very much like to meet. His name's Wulf?"
A pause, then, "Visits are against the rules."
"Oh," he slumped a little bit. If he wanted Walker to follow his own rules, then he'd have to go by the Warden's. "Is there any way I can go about getting the rules changed? Any way to petition?"
The white ghost studied Danny for several seconds. "No."
"Oh. Well, if you could tell him that Danny Phantom dropped by and wanted to meet him, I'd appreciate it. If that policy about petitioning ever changes, please let me know. Do you happen to have a written copy of your own rules I can take to look over?"
"No. I own the only copy."
"Pity," Danny said. It would have been nice to get the guy with his own game. Ah, well. He smiled. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Walker."
"Warden Walker," he corrected.
"Warden Walker," Danny repeated cheerfully, holding out his hand. Walker just stared at it for several seconds before slowly reaching out and clasping the appendage, shaking it firmly.
"I'll look over... this," Walker said, holding up the piece of paper. He didn't sound thankful or grateful at all. Still, Danny was walking (floating) out on his own accord under his own power, so he'd take it.
"Have a great day, sir," he said again, waving happily at the warden and his guards before turning and jumping into the air, headed for his portal.
xXx
Walker watched the boy go for several seconds. Part of him couldn't help but respect the kid for being so organized and on-top of things that he'd give Walker a set of his rules as well as a run-down of how they worked. The other part of him did not like the kid. He was different... that half-human everyone was talking about, perhaps? Half-humans were not natural... they went against the natural rules...
The warden's frown deepened.
"Sir," one of his guards asked carefully. "What would you like us to do?"
Walker folded the paper and turned to head back into the prison. "Have the patrol keep an eye out for Danny Phantom and observe him whenever possible. We'll play by his rules... for now."
"Yes, sir!" the guard replied and returned to his post. Walker nodded in satisfaction before returning to the warden's room. He still had a lot of work to do.
xXx
Danny found Clockwork's tower easily. He wasn't sure if that was simply because he had a somewhat decent memory of how the Ghost Zone had moved since he first started exploring it, or if the time ghost wanted him to find it, but figured it didn't really matter much either way. He landed in front of the large gates with the interwoven gears on it and knocked loudly. After a moment, the enormous constructs swung slowly open and Danny walked inside.
He heard two voices discussing something in the distance and frowned. Clockwork had another guest?
Cautiously, he advanced anyway, knowing that if there had been a problem, Clockwork would have found a way to tell him.
"Very well, Clockwork," he heard as he approached the time-ghost's main work room, and froze. He knew that voice. "We thank you for your council."
No answer, but as Danny peeked around the edge of the door, he saw his mentor straightening up from a respectful nod. To two Observants.
Just as he was about to back away, though, Clockwork turned and smiled at him. "Ah, Danny. Welcome."
Swallowing a little, Danny stepped into the room, feeling every inch the 14-year-old he looked. "Um, hi," he said awkwardly.
"Danny, these are the Observants. We were just discussing you."
His worry increased. "You... were?"
"It is good to meet you, young Daniel Phantom," one of the Observants said as he floated forward and held out a hand. Danny just stared at him. The Observants had never been this nice to him.
"This is the correct custom to greet you, is it not?" the Observant asked.
That shook the half-ghost out of his stupor. "Oh, yeah. Um, sorry." He reached forward and shook the other ghost's hand firmly. Then he turned to the second one and did the same.
"We are not entirely happy about the creation of those with one foot in the world of the living, and one foot in the world of the dead," the second one said.
"But Clockwork has shown us the good you plan on doing and evidence of your strength of character," the first explained.
"It is quite impressive," the second added on.
"As we have seen nothing that would contradict him, we are willing to give you the benefit of the doubt," said the first.
Danny's head was spinning a little. The Observants had known about him and his this early on? Had they initially been gunning for him from the get go? What a terrifying thought...
"Oh. Um, thank you," he said, nodding his own head into a small bow. "I won't let you down."
"See that you do not," the first replied with a nod. Then he turned to the second one. "Come."
With that, they both made their way past Danny.
"I hope you understand how fortunate you are to have such a wise and powerful ghost as your ally," the second remarked offhandedly as they floated into the hall and then out of sight.
Danny just blinked over at Clockwork with a grateful smile. "Oh, believe me," he said after them, "I do."
They waited for a couple of minutes for the Observants to leave before Clockwork turned back towards the many round time-windows situated in the room.
"What brings you here?" he asked.
Danny snorted. "Like you don't know."
The time-ghost glanced over his shoulder and raised an eyebrow in amusement.
"I just came to say hi, actually," he finally conceded, then looked back to where the Observants had disappeared. "I didn't think I'd run into... Wait! You set that up on purpose!" he accused, unsure as to whether to feel annoyed or amused himself.
"Perhaps. Or perhaps they just happened to come when you were coming."
Danny snorted again, fighting the grin on his face. "You wanted me to meet them."
"No, I wanted them to meet you. It is far more difficult to condemn someone you've met."
The half-ghost finally just gave in and grinned widely. "Already looking out for me? Your other self said he was responsible for me. You aren't. So, why?"
"Well, Danny, I usually do have pretty good taste, if I do say so myself. And I'd rather like to have a friend again." His voice faded off a little sadly, and Danny decided that he wouldn't ask right now.
"I know how lonely having powers no one else seems to can be," he commented, his own voice soft. "And what it's like to watch friends and family die." Even if he hadn't had to live with it like Clockwork had apparently had to.
"Indeed," Clockwork replied, switching to his old-man form.
They floated there in silence for several seconds before Danny decided to change the subject.
"I did have one small thing I wanted to ask you," he said. "I'm looking for the Box Ghost's box... his original box, the one that started him on his obsession. You wouldn't happen to know about it, would you?"
Clockwork raised an eyebrow. "This is one of those things that I can't tell you unless you have exhausted all other forms of pursuit."
"Because I'll find it eventually, or because I'll learn something valuable on the way?" Danny asked, folding his arms and staring pointedly.
"I find it interesting that you keep asking, despite knowing what I'll say."
He sighed. "You can't tell me. Yeah, I got it. I just figured I'd ask."
"The worst I can say is 'no'," Clockwork pointed out. Danny nodded and fell silent. After a few moments, the time-ghost spoke again. "Well, I do happen to have some tea ready, if you would like some."
Danny chuckled and shook his head. "Of course, you do. Sure, I'm game."
"Good. Will you have a seat?" the time-ghost asked, gesturing to a table with a teapot and two teacups.
"What kind of tea, if I may ask?" Danny said, sitting down in one of the chairs.
"I hear you're fond of some herbal teas, strictly human as your core is too unstable to handle concentrated sources of external ectoplasm."
The half-ghost raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Where did you hear about my tastes?"
Clockwork changed into his child form as he smiled mischievously at Danny. "From you, of course."
Danny laughed and settled in for a good conversation.
xXx
AN: Danny isn't ready to talk to his Clockwork from his previous timeline yet. Give him a bit and we'll get to the duplicate and his world.
Also, I can see the Observants still not liking Danny, per se, but any actual nastiness they could have held towards him would be gone if Dan's gone. Give it a bit... it might change int he future.
Thank you so much for reading!