Chapter Three : Ghostly Tidings
"Well, now that that's settled, we can continue." Clockwork brought every ones attention back to the matter at hand. "Danny, I came here today to tell you something that is little known by most mortals or even many ghosts. As you may know, ghosts are not locked into one shape for their entire existence. They change over time, either quickly or slowly much like humans might though it is more psychological. There are instances, however, when a ghost has gathered so much power to themselves that they...leap forward so to speak. We call it Ascension, and it is very rare. It happens no more than once every few hundred years or so." Danny sighed.
"Let me guess..." Clockwork smiled at him.
"Yes Danny you are approaching an Ascension. Hence the constant attacks. The more sensitive of the spirits can feel the power changing in you, and it frightens them. The older ones, namely those like Skulker and Desiree, were around for the last ascension, and they fear you becoming more powerful."
"Great. I really am going through evil puberty." Danny sounded almost resigned at this point. He was quick to protest though. "I'm not that powerful. I mean, sure I can get the ghosts back into the Ghost Zone, but..." Clockwork laughed, a wheezy sound as he was an old man at the time.
"Danny, you've been a ghost for a year plus correct?" Danny nodded. "Skulker had been hunting the ghost zone for going on seven hundred years, and is considered one of the strongest specters around."
"That little guy? How in the world did he get a reputation like that?"
"My dear boy, are you aware of the power required to run a full combat bodysuit like that? Of course you are, you've done it before. Now, consider that he is wearing it all day, every day." His mouth fell open at the thought. Just one fight in the Fenton Battle Suit had nearly killed him, he couldn't imagine a lifetime in it. "And you have bested him time and again. It was Skulker who destroyed the last ghost to ascend, and you are already more powerful than he was." He let the information sink in, observing those around him.
On the whole, Danny's family looked both concerned for him and proud of him. He had gained power that might have inflated the head of another teen and used it to the benefit of the whole. His friends reactions were similar, but they held a dash of something else. The technological one, Tucker, was at the same time slightly jealous and slightly relieved. He had been granted ghost powers at one point and his decisions hadn't been nearly as altruistic. The girl, however, was another story entirely. Her emotions were all over the place where it concerned the half-ghost. She was angry that he was so stressed, concerned for his well being, proud of his choices, happy that he no longer had to lie to his family...the list went on and on. She was tied to him with strands of emotion and experience that even his family could not match, and he was interested to see where it would lead.
"Clockwork, isn't that changing from baby to man to old guy thing just a little annoying? I mean it's got to be, I'm annoyed just watching it." Trust Tucker to use the subtlety of a tactical nuke. Danny groaned while the ghost in question stared at his friend. Thankfully, the master of time was not offended.
"Indeed, young one my shifting is most vexatious. Unfortunately, it is not in my control." He stopped talking when he saw the bright smiles on the faces of Danny's friends, almost worried by the malicious nature of them. A louder groan was heard from Danny. Tucker turned his PDA to the microphone setting
"Are you tired of those shape-shifting ghosts giving you the slip?" Sam took the PDA and added her own line.
"Unwilling changes of form got you down?"
"Newest in the quality line from FentonMart-"
"Danny is proud to present-" Sam reached into Danny's abandoned backpack and pulled out a bracelet which she and Tucker presented for their viewing pleasure.
"The Fenton Form Fixer!" Tucker pressed a button on his device, bringing forth a tinny trumpet sound. Danny clapped at their little presentation and spoke with much evident embarrassment.
"Geez, you get a little over excited one time, and your friends can't let it go. Anyway, I was going to recommend this to you. You just put it on your wrist and it locks you in the form your currently occupying. I made it so that I could wear it in ghost form when there was an audience. That way when I got too tired, I wouldn't change back." He took the bracelet from Sam and snapped it onto Clockwork's wrist just when he went into his adult mode. "The best part is, it goes intangible with you and no one can take it off without the key, which I can make you a copy of." Clockwork actually laughed out loud, losing himself in the freedom of only one form.
"Daniel, I thank you for this great boon!" He caught sight of the wince that accompanied his use of the name Daniel and nodded. "I'm sorry of course Danny, but I was rather excited." He nodded back, but his mother caught the quick exchange.
"What was that all about?"
"Somebody I really don't like calls me Daniel, so I prefer not to be referred to that way."
"Who exactly calls you that? The only one I can think of is some of your teachers and-" His mothers voice cut off as she reached the name of someone that she couldn't, until recently, stand.
"I'm afraid, Mrs. Fenton, that I have another piece of news to impart before I leave, and this one comes with a nifty video attachment." He waved his staff and a screen appeared floating in the air. "Now Danny I want you to watch the beginning very closely and tell me what you think of it." He tapped the screen with his staff and it started playing. Danny showed up, bursting through the doors of the castle. He was taunted by Pariah, there were some words, and then the fight began. Everyone else watched the fight in awe, but Danny was stuck on the beginning.
"Why don't we skip the banter and get straight to the part where I beat you?"
"I accept your terms!" There was something about those words that worried at his mind. He was so preoccupied he failed to notice the end of the fight where he collapsed. He was engulfed in a hug from his mother.
"Oh honey that looked terrible. The Fenton Suit was so dangerous, I can't believe you wore it for that long."
"She right man. But you totally defeated the Ghost King in an awesome battle! If only you could show that to the idiots at school." Tucker was more than excited by the viewing. He wasn't very physical himself, but the enjoyed action as much as the next teen. The fact that it was his real life friend kicking but made it all the better. Danny, meanwhile, let the words echo in his head. Defeated the Ghost King-defeated the Ghost King-defeated the Ghost King. Then it struck him. He turned back to Clockwork, who was staring at him intently.
"No way! I mean, there has to be no way I can be held to that!"
"There is a small loophole, but I'm afraid you've already passed that mark." Nobody knew what they were talking about, following the conversation as if it were a tennis match. "If you don't mark someone as your right hand within a certain time period, the claim will diffuse. However as I said, it's to late to attempt to avoid it."
"How could it be too late? I haven't marked anybody...have I?" Sam decided she would be the one who posed the important question.
"Danny, what are you guys talking about? I mean, all I saw was a fight with a really powerful ghost, and you act like the world ended." He turned to her started gesturing with his hands.
"Sam, the Ghost world is really complicated, with lots of rules, but its base is very simple. Its structured after an ancient warrior type society, and it follows those same codes." A gasp from Jazz told him that she had uncovered his problem. "What was the main thing about warrior cultures that you can think of?" Sam closed her eyes trying to remember everything she knew about history, which wasn't much.
"The strongest one was the leader." This from Tucker, the technophile.
"Exactly. Now, what happens if you beat the strongest warrior in what amounts to one on one ritual combat?" There was a collective intake of breath at the implications of what he was saying. Sam looked unsure while his parents were teetering between unbelieving and shocked. Maddie spoke first.
"Son are you tying to say that you accidentally became the king of ghosts?" Clockwork shook his head, as he had the most information on this matter.
"Not exactly. You see, when he defeated Pariah Dark, he was technically fighting for the 'ownership' of Amity Park. As you may recall, Pariah had claimed it earlier, and Danny was in effect attempting to wrest back control. It is only as a side effect that Danny has a claim to the throne of the Ghost Zone. If nothing further had happened, the claim would have dissipated in a couple of months. That's not what happened though. There are some things only a claimant or the King himself can do. One is the marking of someone else to act has your right hand, the leader of your men. You may remember the ghost in black armor that led the attack on your town?" Maddie and Jack nodded, interested in learning something more of the way the enemy worked.
"Yes, what was he called? Was he special in any way, because I noticed he was much more intelligent than the others? What-" Danny decided to interrupt before his mother overwhelmed them with questions.
"I'll give you access to the Ghost Files after this okay? Right now there's only a couple of things you really need to know: he's called the Fright Knight, and he was the right hand of Pariah Dark." He paused, then spoke thoughtfully. "You know, now that he betrayed Pariah, he's snapped the connection between them right?" Clockwork smiled at his intuition.
"Correct. In the line of our original conversation, Danny's claim was going away. The ghosts still piled on him, hoping for his destruction before the ascension. Danny was slowly wearing out from all of the ghost attacks combined with his school life." Clockwork failed to notice Danny's shushing motions or the horrified looks on his parents faces. "This is the way things were headed when something interesting happened. Danny marked a ghost as his servant, probably without even knowing what you were doing." It was Sam who put things together.
"You marked the Box Ghost!"
"What!" Tucker was just as surprised as Sam. The idea that Danny would chose, accidentally or not, the bumbling Box Ghost as his right hand was hilarious. He burst out laughing even as Danny started scowling.
"He's not that bad guys! Sure, he's a little clumsy and one track minded, but that's no reason to be down on him." They stared at him, convinced he had lost it. "It's just...I see things differently about him now." They continued to look at him and he turned red again. "Just take my word for it, alright. I didn't know I was marking him at the time, but I don't really regret it. I mean, it's doing some good, right? I haven't had to fight for a little bit, and besides the horrible ache in my muscles and the burned skin covering my torso, things are definitely looking up." He was so earnest about it they decided to drop it. "So what can I do about this?" Clockwork shrugged and tapped his staff on the ground absently.
"There's not really much you can do about it. Once a vassal has been marked, the claim is cemented. All you would have to do to get the throne would be acknowledgement of most of the Ghost Zone...I believe the specific requirement is seventy-nine percent." Sam and Jazz both blinked.
"That's a really weird number." He just shrugged again.
"I'm not particularly concerned with the Ghost Zone or its inhabitants and their rules. The only person, ghost or monster that really concerns me is Danny." Maddie jumped in with a question, eager to know more about this strange ghost's relationship with her son.
"Exactly why is that? I mean, by all appearances you should be a neutral spectral being, guarding time. Why are you taking such an interest in my son?" Her tone may have started out curious but there was a definite edge of suspicion at the end. She didn't notice Danny shaking his head for all he was worth.
"That is a rather long story, and not even Danny knows the whole of it. Rest assured, I have Danny's full well-being in mind at all times. As I was saying, even if you get the acknowledgement of the zone, it doesn't really accomplish much. 'King of Ghosts' sounds very impressive, but it comes with few perks or responsibilities. You have an army of skeletons at your command, and you can overturn things like Walker's rulings, but all in all it's really a prestige thing. You know: giant castle, minions, etcetera." Danny looked at him, his mouth gaping open slightly. "Of course you can chose to ignore it all. You don't technically have to attempt to gain the throne. You can live the rest of your life with just the claim, never advancing it further."
"Well that's good news..."
"I wasn't finished yet." Danny's face fell. "As I said, you could go through the rest of your life like that, but I wouldn't recommend it. For one, there is the matter of others. You may not want the throne, but other ghosts do. And while they weren't willing to awaken Pariah Dark for a chance at power, they are more than willing to try taking you out." Danny out his head in his hands once again. "Don't misunderstand, you have garnered quite the fearsome reputation for yourself in the Zone, but they would still rather face you than he." Maddie and Jack raised their eyebrows. Their son was feared in the Ghost Zone?
"What do you recommend then? I'm kinda at a loss here." Clockwork patted his head (which was still in his hands) and smiled.
"No worries Danny, we'll work it out. "We'll just wait until your ascension before we plan anything. " Danny lifted his head again.
"Wait, isn't this going to get you in trouble with those watcher guys?" Clockwork laughed, more than happy to share his tricking of the Observants with everyone.
"The fools that they are, the Observants have decided that I was to be your guardian. As such, I was given carte blanch to act as I see fit with concern to you." He smiled slyly, bringing something similar from Danny. The others looked amused at the loophole they were taking advantage of. Clockwork eventually cleared his throat. "There is only one thing left that I want to address, and I think it would be best if we discussed this privately." Danny was going to protest, but he saw something in the ghost's eyes that made him keep silent. "I can't really stay away too much longer, so we should continue at my place. Mr. Fenton, Mrs. Fenton, Jazmine it was nice to formally make your aquaintance. Danny if you'll hold on to my staff I'll transport us." Danny nodded his assent.
"Sam, Tuck could you get the Ghost Files up for Mom and Dad, password's Perish. No it won't let you into the rest of my files Tuck, just the ghost ones." Tucker pouted.
"I'm still not sure how you managed to make a program I haven't been able to hack yet." Danny smiled at him.
"Don't worry, it's nothing too important. Mom, Dad I'll be home as soon as I can. Alright CW let's go." Clockwork raised his eyebrows at the nickname before tapping his staff on the ground. They disappeared with a flash of light, leaving a slightly confused father and a very curious mother.
"Alright children, let's get started in explaining, hmmm." Sam, Jazz, and Tucker had the feeling that it was going to be a very long day.