Chapter 6

Danny looked up, finding Kale as a speck far above him as he flew through the Ghost Zone. They had only been flying for a few minutes but the green haired ghost was faster than Danny had expected. He repositioned the Fenton Fone resting in his ear, knowing his parents had him on speaker just in case. It had taken both himself and Jazz to convince them quickly enough that Danny could follow the new ghost without their help. Though he had promised to be home before ten. "Superhero with a curfew," Danny mumbled.

"What was that, Danny?" Maddie's voice asked through the ear piece.

"Sorry, nothing," Danny quickly said.

"Any idea where our dinner guest is heading?"

"We're heading towards Dora's domain, but he doesn't strike me as dark ages," Danny offered, keeping the ghost in sight.

"Dora's the dragon, right?" Maddie asked.

"Yap." Danny smiled, proud his parents were trying to learn his ghost allies.

"And that clock face ghost," Maddie started. "Who's that again?"

"Clockwork," Danny corrected with a laugh. "I'm gonna tell him you called him that."

"Hey, I'm learning," Maddie defended, good humor in her voice.

"Clockwork's one of the ancient ghosts I was telling you about," Danny tried. "He sorta broke the rules to help me so he kinda became my guardian."

"That's all really vague, Danny."

"It's all really weird," Danny tried, watching Kale as he tried to figure out how to explain what had happened to his mother. He hadn't even told the full story to Sam and Tucker, though he was sure Jazz had figured it out. "You remember the CAT Jazz had gotten the highest score on record on?" Danny started. He heard her grunt, getting him to continue, "I had ended up with the answer sheet-"

"Ended up with?" Maddie interrupted to echo his wordage.

"I didn't mean to steal them," Danny tried. "Anyway, I found out that cheating then would end up with a lot of death and becoming the worst ghost anyone had ever seen. I saw it happen, that's what was supposed to happen, but then Clockwork stepped in. He turned back time and saved everyone. Gave me a second chance."

"Danny…" Maddie mumbled his name, hurt once again in her voice.

Danny checked on Kale, still following far below the green haired ghost. "Don't," Danny tried.

"You said he broke the rules," Maddie said. "He wasn't supposed to step in, was he?"

"No," Danny admitted. "He was only supposed to watch as time plays out. Something about things being as they should or something. He got in trouble a bit from the Observers for doing what he did. Hey, hang on." Danny stopped, righting himself to float as he stared in surprise as Kale pulled open a door floating through the Ghost Zone. Once the door closed Danny floated upwards and took in the purple wood. There wasn't anything to differentiate it from most other doors he had seen, wondering what could be behind it.

He carefully took hold of the door handle, his curiosity getting the better of him. This ghost said he had come from the future and Danny wanted to know if that dark future still was in his. Just in case, Danny made himself invisible and pulled the door open a crack. Putting his eye to the door frame he took in what looked like it belonged in an Indian Jones movie: sand stone walls, torches on the walls, and one green haired ghost kicking over an urn in frustration.

"You're kidding me! It's not here yet!?" Kale exclaimed, gripping his hands into fists at his side.

"What are you, Ghost Zone's Greatest Hunter of Artifacts?" Danny asked, announcing his presence as he pulled the door fully opened and became visible again.

Kale turned in surprise, quickly recovering himself as he said, "You could say that. Not surprised you followed me."

"What are you looking for now?" Danny asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"The eyes of Osten and Westen, ever heard of them?"

Danny shook his head, hoping his mom was picking up their voices.

"You should, your wife's got the more powerful one," Kale said. "Well, at least in my time she does. How old are you? You don't even look like you're out'a high school yet."

"I'm not," Danny simply said, tucking the idea of his wife aside. "Look, I'm heading to Clockwork's. Maybe he'll send you back to your time."

"No, thank you," Kale said, storming passed Danny. "I've gotta finish this list so I can move onto better finds."

Danny turned, still standing in the doorway as he now faced the Ghost Zone, and asked, "Wasn't the Chrono-watch on the list?"

"No," Kale said with a smirk. "That was just for me."

Danny watched the ghost turn around and fly away, heading in the Far Frozen or Skulker's direction. He dropped his arms and asked, "You think I should still follow him?"

"You still wanted to make it to Clockwork's, didn't you?" Maddie asked.

Danny grunted in the affirmative, floating out of the doorway to push the door closed. He gave one last glance at Kale, admitting, "I just wish I knew more."

"While you fly, I can look up those two objects," Maddie offered, key strokes sounding under her voice.

"Thanks, Mom." Danny flew away from the door and headed in almost the opposite direction than the green haired conundrum. He flew in silence for a while, able to hear a mouse clicking every once in a while through the Fenton Fone. He focused on the world around him, avoiding a patch of purple blob-like ghosts as they traveled now below him. In the distance he could make out the ghost of time's tower before his mother broke through his thoughts.

"They're old German artifacts," Maddie announced. "The Eye of Westen was found in the Flevo Lake and the Eye of Osten was found in the waters around Glothones, neither are inside Germany now. Legions claim the west jewel, the Eye of Westen, can implant thoughts into the person it looks at while the Eye of Osten, or east, can read the thoughts of the person it's looking at."

"Sounds like something I'd rather no one like him got his hands on," Danny retorted.

"It continues. If a single wearer holds both, they would have the power to control the person the eyes see. They were last seen around 962 AD when recorded during Otto the first's party." She clicked another button and said, "I'd guess he meant your wife'd have the Eye of Osten. I wonder if that means I'll have grandbabies."

"Mom," Danny whined, dropping to his feet as he continued his momentum. He slowed down to a walk, looking around the piece of castle still remaining, as his mother's laughter filled his ear. "I just landed," Danny informed, hoping to change the subject before he thought too much about this new future. Cupping his hands he called out, "Clockwork?" He heard his voice echo a bit as he dropped his hands. He knew he wouldn't hear anything in response, but sometimes the ghost of time would warp things to make finding him easier. Sure enough, Danny walked through a doorway, aiming to get to the hall, and found himself in the observation room at the top of the tower.

Clockwork watched the screen before him, it showing Kale as he flew through the Ghost Zone. The ghost of time shifted from his adult form to that of an old man as he turned to face Danny.

"He was supposed to land here, wasn't he?" Danny asked, throwing his thumb at the screen.

"You're learning well," Clockwork said, a hint of a smile on his face. He turned back to the screen and pointed his staff at it, causing it to ripple. A new picture came through, showing an eighteen year old standing in a desert with an older man to one side and a middle eastern on the other. "Dakota Davis, born in 1891, died in 1909, was the son of Egyptian archeologist, Richard Davis."

"Where'd the name Kale Canoe come from?" Danny asked, stepping over to get a closer look at the color image only to realize it was time playing out slowly in front of him. He almost reached out to touch it, but stopped himself short as he looked up at the floating ghost beside him.

"Not everyone keeps their living names, or even remembers them," Clockwork pointed out, changing to that of a child.

"Right," Danny said, instantly regretting his comment. He shook the regret from his mind and pulled out the broken Chrono-Watch. "Here. I think this belongs to you."

"Thank you," Clockwork said as he took the broken device.

"Do you want me to bring Kale here so you can send him back to his own time?" Danny asked, sounding uncertain.

"No, his path has brought him here," Clockwork said, looking over the cracked device. Lowering his hand he looked at Danny and added, "Don't get too curious with your currant future."

"Tell that to my mom," Danny laughed, pointing to the ear piece still in his ear.

"I heard that," Maddie's voice said, coming from both the device and the tower room. Danny turned to her voice, seeing a smaller screen had turned to watching her work on the Fenton Ghost Peeler with her goggles up as she soldered something inside it.

"Don't ask for too many grandkids, Maddie," Clockwork said with a smile as he changed to an old man. "Not until you know what you're asking for."

-.-.-.-

Danny flinched as the ecto-converter initially started sucking power from him only to quickly power down, ending the green glow forced out of his hand.

"Perfect!" Jack exclaimed, putting a mark on the piece of paper he held on a clipboard.

"I don't know, Jack," Maddie said, stepping over to Danny and the ecto-converter that was hooked up to a spare car battery. "I'd rather it didn't suck any energy from him."

Danny took a step back and dropped into the folding chair as the lights appeared to change him back. "Can we call it a night?" Danny asked, fighting to keep his eyes opened. Sam had already texted, saying she couldn't come over, and now that Danny had gone flying through the Ghost Zone and back all he felt was exhaustion. Glancing at the clock on the wall, the green ghost dancing to the seconds, he noticed it was a few minutes to midnight.

Maddie straightened her back and looked at Danny with a sigh. "I guess it'll do for now," she admitted. "Danny, help us put everything up, then you can go to bed."

Forcing himself up and out of the chair, he started collecting different weaponry that had all passed his mother's testing. He grabbed the Ghost Peeler and asked, "Where'd you find this thing? I thought it went missing."

"Oh, it was in the garage," Jack said. "We must've missed it when we were looking."

"It needs to go in the vault," Maddie pointed out.

Danny stepped over to a work bench that held cases, putting the Fenton Rifle in its gun case of foam.

"Jack, didn't we have the Fone Fritter out to work on?" Maddie asked.

"Yeah, I put it next to the Fenton Bazooka," Jack said as he opened the small fridge under a table to put away ecto-samples.

Maddie let out a sigh, mumbling to herself, "I'll have to look for that in the morning."

"What is the Fone Fritter?" Danny asked, the name unfamiliar to him as he closed the small case for the Ghost Peeler.

"You remember that large contraption that was bike powered?" Maddie asked, getting Danny to nod his head as he gripped the cases in his arms. "We compacted it so it could be more functional and portable."

Danny had a sinking feeling, remembering the weird feeling he had had when all he could find was the tiny elephant. He froze, looking at the Fenton Thermos still on the workbench. "Shoot," Danny cursed.

"What is it, sweetie?" Maddie asked, looking over her shoulder from backing away the bazooka.

"I forgot to put the elephant up," Danny admitted, knowing he wouldn't get to go to bed until after he got the small elemental to its new home.